People are only just realising what the percentages on the iPhone weather app really mean.
Most of us check our weather app religiously. This is especially so for us living in unpredictable places like the UK, where you never really know if you’ll need sunglasses or an umbrella. Thanks to today's technology, we can check the forecast with just a few taps on our iPhones or Android smartphones.
But it turns out, not a lot of people know what the percentages mean on the weather app. So, another round of cheers to the Reddit community, as one user explained it to the rest of us.
Reddit user Wonderscout1 revealed their understanding of rain percentages after switching to using a 'local weather app' instead of Apple Maps.
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“I’ve had to start using my local weather app I’ve learned something new," they posted on the r/Apple board.
“If the forecaster was 80% certain that rain would develop but only expected to cover 50% of the forecast area, then the forecast would read 'a 40% chance of rain' for any given location.
“If the forecaster expected a widespread area of precipitation with 100% coverage to approach, but he/she was only 40% certain that it would reach the forecast area, this would, as well, result in a '40% chance of rain' at any given location in the forecast area."
In other words, the percentage called the Probability of Precipitation (PoP) is the chance it’ll rain in a certain area. Another commenter helpfully described that the percentage basically means ‘the probability that any specific spot in an area will get rain’.
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They added: “There’s the area (city/county/whatever) and the specific spot (e.g. where you are). The probability of rain in a specific spot is estimated as the probability of rain anywhere in the area times the % of the area the rain covers.”
Another user joked: “This has always been a pet peeve of mine on this sub since the first 'apple weather bad, maahh!' post, people complaining that it's not raining directly on the curb they're standing on when the weather app (or any weather app) says x% chance of rain.”
Someone else called out: “I’m convinced that meteorology is just one big inside joke. It started out as a bit of fun like astrology, but now they’re in way too deep because all these people actually depend on knowing what the weather’s going to be like.”
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Others admitted they were still confused and the explanation made them '100x more confused.'
One Reddit user claimed: "Im confused. Screw this, i’ll just bring my umbrella every time there’s a rain icon on the weather app."