Posted on Feb 23, 2021

I Just Learned "Chance Of Rain" Doesn't Mean What I've Thought It Meant My Whole Life

It doesn't just mean that there's a 30% chance of rain.

BuzzFeed Staff

But this TikTok has blown the doors open on that thought. Because apparently, IT IS NOT THAT SIMPLE.

@sydjkell
#stitch with @sooklyn #ColorCustomizer I have toooo many of these. I’ll do another weather one. #embarassing #iwastodayyearsold
♬ original sound - Syd

But there's help! The Weather Channel further explained what the truth is, and it's more scientific than just a simple percentage. THERE'S AN EQUATION AND EVERYTHING.

@weatherchannel
What is your chance of precip? It’s complicated... @sydjkell #todayyearsold #weather #askameteorologist #fyp
♬ I'M CONFUSED - Brian C Rice

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I Just Learned "Chance Of Rain" Doesn't Mean What I've Thought It Meant My Whole Life

We all see it when we open our weather apps: the percentage chance of precipitation given for a day. Sometimes it's 20%, sometimes it's 40%, sometimes it's NO percent, which I love.

And because I'm a normie simpleton, I just assumed the percentage was straight-up the chance it would rain that day.

But this TikTok has blown the doors open on that thought. Because apparently, IT IS NOT THAT SIMPLE.

Assuming you're like me, you are probably confused right now. Like, I get that I was wrong but also don't totally understand what is right.

But there's help! The Weather Channel further explained what the truth is, and it's more scientific than just a simple percentage. THERE'S AN EQUATION AND EVERYTHING.

This was still confusing to me because I'm dumb. So I researched more and was basically met with the same information from a meteorologist in Memphis.

It was getting obvious that this thing "PoPs" is the key here.

But I still needed more clarity because, tbh, I'm extra confused what the hell is going on here. So then I found this simple explanation from a meteorologist in Cleveland, and she used a graph, which is cool.

View this video on YouTube

Okay so there it is, the percent regarding the chance of rain is not what you really think. This probably will not affect your life in any way, but NOW YOU KNOW. Bye.

I Just Learned "Chance Of Rain" Doesn't Mean What I've Thought It Meant My Whole Life

We all see it when we open our weather apps: the percentage chance of precipitation given for a day. Sometimes it's 20%, sometimes it's 40%, sometimes it's NO percent, which I love.

And because I'm a normie simpleton, I just assumed the percentage was straight-up the chance it would rain that day.

But this TikTok has blown the doors open on that thought. Because apparently, IT IS NOT THAT SIMPLE.

Assuming you're like me, you are probably confused right now. Like, I get that I was wrong but also don't totally understand what is right.

But there's help! The Weather Channel further explained what the truth is, and it's more scientific than just a simple percentage. THERE'S AN EQUATION AND EVERYTHING.

This was still confusing to me because I'm dumb. So I researched more and was basically met with the same information from a meteorologist in Memphis.

It was getting obvious that this thing "PoPs" is the key here.

But I still needed more clarity because, tbh, I'm extra confused what the hell is going on here. So then I found this simple explanation from a meteorologist in Cleveland, and she used a graph, which is cool.

View this video on YouTube

Okay so there it is, the percent regarding the chance of rain is not what you really think. This probably will not affect your life in any way, but NOW YOU KNOW. Bye.

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