What's with the negative temperatures on CKNW?

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What's with the negative temperatures on CKNW?

Postby radiofan » Thu Dec 08, 2016 9:43 pm

The past couple of nights I've noticed the evening newscaster on CKNW giving temperatures as "negative" rather than the generally accepted "minus".

In sixty plus years, I've never heard anybody on any station, anywhere (or any non-radio person) refer to the temperature as "negative 5" etc.

Is this the way they're teaching future broadcasters in schools these days?

To my ears, hearing someone say "Currently in Coquitlam negative 5, Downtown Vancouver negative 3". The word "currently" is required either.

Not trying to be negative, but it's minus!
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Re: What's with the negative temperatures on CKNW?

Postby kal » Thu Dec 08, 2016 11:49 pm

Yes, it should be minus.

This person may have been a math major!
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Re: What's with the negative temperatures on CKNW?

Postby PicturesForYourEars » Fri Dec 09, 2016 12:05 am

She also says "southern' really weird.
Oh well.
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Re: What's with the negative temperatures on CKNW?

Postby Aaron » Fri Dec 09, 2016 7:18 am

I've, more than once, had teachers complain that we say 'minus.'

PicturesForYourEars wrote:She also says "southern' really weird.
Oh well.


Let me guess; "Southerin"?
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Re: What's with the negative temperatures on CKNW?

Postby jon » Fri Dec 09, 2016 9:21 am

Can't remember now if it was a radio person or non-radio person who told me that, back in the day when Celsius first replaced Fahrenheit for temperatures in Canada, they always knew which temperature scale radio announcers were using by how they said winter temperatures. "Two degrees below zero" was Fahrenheit, while "Minus Two" was Celsius. With "above" and "plus" also used in the winter in the Prairies.

I'm trying to think back to my High School Physics. Even though it would be another decade before Canada switched to Metric, everything in Physics was Metric. For temperature, it was Minus and Plus, and never Negative. Only in Math and Arithmetic did we ever use the term "Negative".

Speaking of Fahrenheit, some stations with older audiences were still giving temperatures in both Celsius and Fahrenheit a decade or more after the change came in Canada. Canada's "sorta" conversion really confuses immigrants. With the exception of a few government buildings, Construction is still done in Feet and Inches. And ovens are still in Fahrenheit.
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Re: What's with the negative temperatures on CKNW?

Postby Howaboutthat » Fri Dec 09, 2016 11:01 am

jon wrote: And ovens are still in Fahrenheit.


Mine has Centigrade in big numbers and Farenheit in small.
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Re: What's with the negative temperatures on CKNW?

Postby jon » Fri Dec 09, 2016 5:22 pm

Howaboutthat wrote:
jon wrote: And ovens are still in Fahrenheit.


Mine has Centigrade in big numbers and Farenheit in small.

Interesting. It has been a couple of years since I looked seriously at Stoves. Then, it was only European-made models that had any markings in Celsius.

My wife just pointed out that anyone who says Negative Five as a temperature, should be saying Positive Two after any cold snap that took the temperature below Freezing.
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Re: What's with the negative temperatures on CKNW?

Postby the-real-deal » Sun Dec 11, 2016 10:31 pm

Why is it that the weirdest complaints about radio announcers come from CKNW ? It is because, all of you listen to that radio station? LOL

I have to say, radiofan, that I have listened to CKNW for a very long time and I have never heard any radio announcer refer to the outside temperature as "negative" ?

It must be a "first" for any announcer in all of Canada, actually ! Only scientists, high school teachers wearing white lab coats and very green radio announcers, say negative.

I have even listened to the bilingual Environment Canada weather radio station up in Kamloops (they have perfect announcers) and even THEY don't say "negative" when reading temperatures !

By the way, Norm Grohmann, Wayne Cox, Phil Reimer, Flip Spiceland, Bill Matheson, Mark Madryga, and even the late Percy Saltzman...NEVER said "negative two." LOL
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Re: What's with the negative temperatures on CKNW?

Postby TRENT310 » Sun Dec 11, 2016 11:45 pm

Lately listening to pre-recorded weather bumpers on stations like CKBL and CKGY the announcers seem to just omit the negative entirely and say it's 22 or 26 when running through various locales quickly within the allotted time, with the understanding that it's -22°C not +22°C. Perhaps it's like when morning shows announce the time without mentioning AM or PM, likely with the day or night part understood by most of the listening audience.

Is this exciting because Vancouver gets their once a year taste of winter? Haha

Environment Canada (and Nav Canada) use STR StarCaster on their VHF WeatheRadio (and ATIS) broadcasts ... the system gets quite glitchy at times and doesn't always concatenate speech correctly, resulting in some anomalies such as "and and" being broadcast. The same recordings are heard on their WeatherLine service. https://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/defa ... B76F4495-1
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Re: What's with the negative temperatures on CKNW?

Postby pave » Tue Dec 13, 2016 7:49 am

I am also reminded it was Trudeau The First who stuck us with the metric system.
Now I have to contend with Justin - Trudeau The Second.
That would qualify as a "negative 1". :orclown:
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Re: What's with the negative temperatures on CKNW?

Postby Talker » Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:42 pm

Early in my career I was told by Environment Canada that in Metric temperatures below the freezing mark were to be called "minus". Above freezing, just the number. No, "plus". No "negative" or "positive" in either case. I see no reason to change that now. Sometimes rookie announcers strive to be creative and different by going with what they consider to be unique without realizing that either, it's been done before or, it's just plain wrong.
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