Meteorology statistics on postcards

Several times I’ve heard from people in the northern hemisphere who don’t know that the seasons are different in the southern hemisphere. It surprised me every time, although I should probably be used to it by now.

Sharing the local weather helps build a bigger picture of the world.

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While I’m aware that the seasons are opposite, it inevitably catches me off guard when someone writes, “We’re in for a hot summer!” when I receive a card in late November.

How long has this card been traveling…?!, I ask myself, because I’m a moron. :neutral_face:

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Loving the last option :sweat_smile:

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I don’t mind if the sender wrote down the weather and date on the card. However, I myself don’t have a habit of writing them on my card even if the person requires so (sorry! :sweat_smile:). I’m just too lazy to check the weather in my phone and there is usually hardly any extra space for that on my card.

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I learned it when I was reading a book years ago. I was so confused why the characters said it is so hot out there and were preparing for Christmas. It took me some time to realize that 1) the setting is in Australia and 2) the seasons are changed there.


I write about the weather when the profile doesn’t give me any hint of what to write. It is better than rewriting my profile text and of course better than writing nothing.

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That’s more than I know, as I can only remember by heart that -40 Celsius is -40 Fahrenheit. We had that temperature in a chapter in our English textbook in high school and the whole class was sure it was a mistake. :sweat_smile:

A counter question: what would you think if I wrote the distance my card has travelled in kilometres? I usually write the distance between my location and the recipient’s on the card. Sure you can see the same info on the card page and in miles if you have opted to have distances measured in miles instead of kilometres.

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I don’t ask to write the weather, though sometimes I read and notice how the weather differs :upside_down_face: I write the weather when asked or when there’s enough space after the ID+date.

@Oo_Hawkwind_oO, these stamps are so cute! :heart: I want to steal the idea and draw similar icons :slight_smile:

@PinkNoodle, the most mind-blowing thing for me is the U.S. date format MM/DD/YYYY. Why not from more to less (YYYY-MM-DD), or from less to more (DD.MM.YYYY)? :face_with_raised_eyebrow: Thanks to PC I started writing the month in words :laughing:

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@Regndroppar, a counter-counter question for you: What if I wrote “kilometres” as kilometers? :sweat_smile:

You know, I had to check back on the main site to see how the distance traveled was measured; I just assumed it was kilomete–…kilometres. It’s miles for me; I probably selected my preference years ago and forgot (I generally don’t pay much attention to the exact distance, anyway).

To answer your question about writing the distance in metric, I wouldn’t think twice about it; if anything, I would think, “Well, that’s a lot of kilometers.” Conversely, if anyone besides a Brit wrote the distance in miles, I would be equally appreciative (“Aw, she converted it for me!” :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:) and embarrassed by our anomalous measurements (“Why are we like this?!” :weary:).

There are actually times when I prefer to use metric measurements–sewing, for example. Centimeters are a lot easier to add and subtract than fractions of inches. My husband does some woodworking, and also prefers metric.

@yarrow, funny that you should mention it–when I write the date, I write the day number and then spell out the full month name, too. :joy: I realize that our wacky way of writing the date causes some confusion when we say, “My birthday is 4/11!” and you don’t show up with a present until November. :sweat_smile:

I definitely write MM/DD/YYYY on nearly all domestic forms, because that is what’s expected, and to do so otherwise would cause confusion. But I also became used to writing the date as day number/month fully spelled out/year number on essay headers since grade 9 in school, where we mainly used MLA formatting rules. So I stick with that to avoid confusion. :blush:

In essence, I know we Americans are the weirdos here, so I never expect anyone else to follow our formats or units, even when you’re here in the States. :cowboy_hat_face:

@bom_dia …I don’t believe you. :rofl:

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I suppose you measure distances in smoots, too! :joy:

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@PinkNoodle, I would be totally fine with Fahrenheit on my card too. Though I think the °F-scale is way too confusing for me, °C is a lot easier, or °K, Kelvin is fine too.
And I have the same problem with sewing as you :sweat_smile: I own a lot of old patterns with yards and inches and that kind of stuff. I always standing in the middle of a shop with my phone trying to calculate how many meters of fabric I need :joy:

@yarrow, I always write DD/MM/YYYY and feel a little bit sorry as soon as I finish writing. I just hope that the american person receiving my card can figure it out, and didn’t think I sent the card during some bizarre 25th month of the year :face_with_hand_over_mouth:
I probably should start spelling the month too.

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I usually write city, date, time, weather. I just type “weather” in google and I get the current weather in °C and °F in my location. I always put °C.

One time I got hurrayyyyy message saying “what a lovely warm summer in your place, 30°C. Here we feel cold, -5°C.”

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For me, it’s just a habit and in most of my cards I write at least the temperature. I don’t expect the receiver be specially interested about it, nor the date, not even what I write, because I don’t know the receiver, so I write the card as a part of me, part from my life, and mostly write how it comes naturally.

I write the date like this:
5th December 2020
Oulu, Finland -2 C (and sometimes draw)
Card id

Actually, when I wake up, I walk to kitchen and open the fridge (to get some light, if it’s dark time of the year) to see what’s the temperature outdoors :slight_smile:

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@PinkNoodle Well I’d shrug it off as an American spelling. :wink: I am more comfortable with the British spelling myself. :uk: For me, miles aren’t so bad, as it’s easier to do math and calculate how many kilometres they are approximately.

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I definitely prefer the way that the British measure their beer! :beers:

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I also find it interesting that so many do it and it is so important to them. I am not too interested or uninterested. I am more interested if it is part of the text, telling me what the day is like, rather than the stats.

If I am asked to do it, most of the time I will forget.
Some of my postcard pals do it and initially I diligently did it for them, but then I stopped, partly because I forget/don’t want to take space on the card from all I want to say, and partly because in Singapore it never really changes much so I don’t notice it as much. It was more satisfying in the UK when I could complain that it was 15 (Celsius :sweat_smile:) in July and tell about how I was cold all the time and wanted to leave so badly :joy:

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I like receiving cards with information like the weather, because it gives me a window into the sender’s world, even if only for that very second. I, in turn, send the temperature and a little weather icon to bring the recipient into the present moment with me. I use C unless I’m sending to another state in the US.

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Same here. :sweat_smile:

It’s something I really don’t care about - whether the statistic or as a text - and although I try to add it if asked, I might end up forgetting it if I don’t do it right away (which I usually don’t).

I find interesting that it’s important, one way or the other, for many people. Always wondered about that. I am more interested in knowing about the miles/kilometres traveled than he weather, for example. But after reading this topic and understanding the importance of it for some people I’ll try to not forget when asked. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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This is exactly why I started drawing little weather icons on my cards, too. Initially I didn’t even think to do it, but then I received some postcards with the weather and temperature on and I liked the little extra connection with the other person. I add them in automatically now, and it just adds to the picture of where the card came from and what it was like there at the moment I was writing the card. If the recipient isn’t interested in it, that’s perfectly ok!

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(Just like with almost all other wishes, from book recommondation to fridge magnet) If a user asks for something, I usually obey. In fact, as I live close to a meteorological station, I go online and check its recent temperature update. We also have distinct seasons in my town and even a local weather phenomenon regularly (wind Foehn), so I can see that it can be interesting for outsiders.

Like with date (Central European style), I stick to Celsius when giving temperature. If only to show that not the whole world follows the same scale.

If there’s weather on a card to me, I’d notice it. Maybe I’d even think ‘wow, 22°C, that would be nice here today too’. But it’s nothing I would start an excel sheet for. (Therefore I also would never transfer Fahrenheit to Celsius - it’s nice so see but not that important to me)

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I don’t mind talking about the whether - as ever, a description does a lot more for me than raw data.

Now that’s something I never even looked at until recently. I noticed recently how so many of my cards travel thousands and thousands of km (8-10k to Europe, but also a similar amount to Australia/NZ! And 15-16k to the USA!). But I still don’t check it regularly.

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