Tonight's Low: 18°C

Does that sound cold? It's not. 18° Celsius is equal to 64° Fahrenheit. And while that is cooler than it has been, it's still a little warmer than our average low.

Beginning today you'll see the temperature in Celsius on the weathercasts during 13 Eyewitness News. It will be included every day, along with the temperature in Fahrenheit, when we show the current weather conditions in Houston and Galveston.

We are not trying to convert people to the metric system! Rather, it's the other way around. Houston is an international city. There are lots of people from around the world moving here, working in our energy and technology companies, and visiting our renowned hospitals. We hope this helps them transition to our city. Furthermore, kids learn the metric system in school. This will be one way they can apply their knowledge everyday.

The suggestion came from one of our viewers. H.O. from Katy sent me an email last month and I posted the idea here on the Houston weather blog. The feedback was overwhelmingly favorable.

We always appreciate hearing from our viewers so whether or not you like the idea, let us know!  Post your comments below.

Today's date, by the way, is 10/10 which has been unofficially designated International Metric Day since the metric system uses multiples of ten to designate length, weight, speed, etc.

Comments

[Cori]

Remember Americans that the friendly & Internationally savy Canadians beside you also use Celsius. So at times it seems you are floating on your own island of ignorance... learn something new! You have many extra unused brain cells waiting for information!

[Josh in California]

America has become a land of intellectual free-loaders. People in this country are happy to consume the fruits of scientific labor, but they loathe science.

I propose that an alternate weather forecast be offered, completely free of the taint of metric units, and I do mean *completely* free. That means that the alternate weather forecast must rely on climate measurements and modeling conducted using *only* the old imperial units. If, as I suspect, it turns out that all professional meteorological work is done in SI units....well, the alternate forecast could advise viewers to look out their window.

[bp]

It is quite simple. All the people who so vehamently oppose the temperatures being shown in Celsius are simply suffering from American Superiority Syndrome. To date, a cure has not been discovered, but thankfully, not all of us are inflicted with it. Kuddos to Channel 13!

[DGA]

Thanks Channel 13, for allowing the general population the opportunity to prove that they are narrow-minded jerks. HOW DARE you make them have to THINK!

I was born and raised in Houston, and have watched Channel 13 for nearly 50 years. Once-upon-a-time, this really was an open-minded and friendly city. After reading some of the ignorant comments here, I'm ashamed of all of us.

For heaven's sake, what harm is it going to do anyone if the weather forecast includes BOTH systems of measurement? It's not hurting anyone! Nobody ever asked you to have to convert, and nobody ever suggested that Celsius was being added to accommodate the "unwanted" people in our city. Think again... International business and tourism brings millions of dollars into this city! That's money that is used to provide services to the residents of Houston every single day! And not to mention the tens-of-thousands of people that come to our medical center from all over this planet.

Get over yourselves people. Get into your gas-guzzling overpriced SUV and go do something constructive with your ignorance. (By the way, the pipeline that provides your gasoline for that SUV is using Metric instrumentation.)

I salute Channel 13 for their recognition of the international community in Houston. Keep up the excellent work.

[Dunc]

Fahrenheit is as American as saurkraut. Gabriel Fahrenheit invented the scale in Germany and there is nothing American about Fahrenheit. Celsius is not a foreign scale but an international one. There should be a concerted effort on all weather broadcasts to include Celsius. Hopefully, one day, we can all put Fahrenheit behind us and set a date for nation-wide elimination of this truly foreign scale.

[Windstone]

Do you know how potatoes became popular in France ? A 17th century minister made them popular by... prohibing them. After that, some potatoes were grown in a field guarded by soldiers. So people wondered what kind of vegetables were growing in this field. So there were a lot of robberies in this intentionally badly guarded field.
It seems that the US government is doing quite the same for the metric system. I don't know how representative of the public opinion are the posters here but it seems that the metric system is more popular in a country where it's taught but not used than in an English speaking country where it's compulsory, like the UK or Canada. Maybe one day within ten years, a pro-metric politician will win the elections.
But a pessimistic question is : How will some of these self-proclaimed pro-metric react when they are really thrown into a world made of a 3'4" length unit ? Will they moan a lot before getting used to it ?

[Bruce M. Herbertson III]

Are they still doing weather with Celsius in the broadcast? I have looked around the site and haven't seen anything since. I hope that they haven't abandoned it. All it takes is one to promote change.
Bruce

RESPONSE from Tim Heller: I take it from your comment that you don't live in the Houston area. Yes, we are showing the temperature in Celsius in all our weathercasts now.

[Daniel]

Kudos. The metric system is easier to learn and easier to use. It's kind of sad that it's taken the United States so long to recognize what the rest of the planet has known for years.

[Scott Hudnall]

Technically, since the National Weather Service is a part of the Executive Branch of the federal government, they should report weather in metric ONLY.

President George H.W. Bush issued Executive Order 12770 and it has never been rescinded. http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/laws/eo12770.html

Sadly, it seems President George H.W. Bush was the last forward-thinking government official we had on this subject.

[Bruce M. Herbertson III]

Just to politely respond to Shawn, I was never taught fractions in school. The school system I went to in South East Georgia only taught us metric until my junior year of high school. This was during the 70's and 80's when we were supposed to be converting. When it became apparent that we were not converting as fast as hoped, they gave us a crash course of customary units. But fractions were never covered. They just made sure we had a grasp of temperatures, distance (miles,feet) and weight. So for me to not understand that 11/32 is larger than 5/16 is not my fault. To this day I still don't understand fractions and refuse to learn them when 99% of everything is decimal based anyway. It is obvious that we are going metric in this country. One can either adjust and deal with it or they can be left behind and floundering. I for one am glad that I do know metric. My life will be much easier when the change is complete. I live in a very small town in North Eastern Tennessee now (but grew up in South East Georgia). Most people in this town that I have talked to about metric could care less one way or the other. If we were all metric that would be fine. Most just want us to have one or the other. I have the fortunate task of making shelf signs for the grocery store I work at and when I put the quantity and size of the product on the sign I always put it in metric. I have the full support of my management team and customers seem to find it easier to make comparisons. If people in this small town can accept metrication then I am sure people in larger cities can certainly accept it. If people are so dead set against metrication in this country then I would suggest that they move to Liberia or Burma (Myanmar). They aren't going metric anytime soon. If people are so dead set against metrication then they should stop using paper money, coins, cheques, or debit/credit cards. All of which are metric. Face it 99% of everything around you is in some form of metric.

[Shawn Fahrer]

To answer Bruce, the fact that so many things ARE in metric is a sign that we are losing the battle against this metricization (and forced conformity to the WORLD's lower standards-- see Red Chinese products-- instead of our own formerly higher standards). Despite the USA for Africa song of 1985, we are NOT the world-- we are America. And some of us DO have a problem with two liter bottles of soda (trying to fit their contents into quart containers will leave you WASTING a few ounces here and there). Do you want to promote WASTE via the metric system???? And finally, if you can't do simple multiplication to determine that 5/16 is less than 11/32 (by mentally multiplying the numerator and denominator of the first fraction by 2 to give you 10/32 to compare with 11/32), then I (to borrow from Mr. T) "pity the fool". The Metric System is part and parcel of the "dumbing down" of America (along with an awful lot of other things). Just say NO to Celsius/Centigrade/metric system!

[Bruce M. Herbertson III]

I think what they are doing is wonderful. I live in Tennessee and I have been trying to get my local CBS station to do the same thing. I was taught mainly metric in school in the 70's and 80's and have also done my history lessons as well. I know that we were the first country to use a decimal based money system. Which is a 10 base system. I know that we were one of the first countries to sign the Treaty of the Meter. I know that Metric has been the preferred system of measurement since 1866. Metric is all around us. Everything we do see touch, consume is in some form of metric. Whether it is in whole metric or exact conversions. The US customary measurement system was fine in its day. Since our country's founding the metric system has been refined and exacted to a much better degree than the customary units. 16 Fluid Ounces doesn't always weight 1 pound. Likewise 16 Dry Ounces doesn't always have the same mass as 16 Fluid Ounces. And honestly can one really tell the difference in 70 °F - 75 °F? A 10 base system is inherently easier to understand and work with. I recently had a situation with my mother when we were purchasing garden hoses. One has 5/16 inch diameter and the other had 11/32 inch diameter. She asked which one was bigger? I told her I didn't know but to look at the metric measure. One was 15 mm and the other was 19 mm. She immediately saw that the 19 mm was the larger of the two. Her next comment was how easy is that. Metric is much easier. My mother by the way is 60 she wasn't really taught metric in school. Just an FYI. To those of you who think that metric is un-American. Take a look at the money in your wallet and pockets. Guess what? Our beloved currency is metric and measured in metric. Bills are 155 mm by 65 mm. Coins are measured in metric as well. If metric is so un-American then why is our money measured in metric? Just some food for thought.

[Bob]

Geez people, calm down. It's not like the fahrenheit readings are not dissappearing from the forecast, it's both Celsius and Fahrenheit. There is no linguistic barrier to changing or importing someone else's system so you don't have to speak English to use Fahrenheit (note the GERMAN name), and you can easily speak English and use Celsius.

[Frank]

In these days of talk of a American Union and the problems with illeagle immigrants you should rethink this idea. It appears that you are pandering to illegal immigrants or ushering us into the the international community, which IS NOT popular with most Americans. Things like this CAN be misconstrued very easily. Once again, I ask that you that reconsider this idea as it could mean a loss of viewership and leave the internationalism to Telemundo and to cable tv's international channels.

[John]

I forgot to mention that the Celsius temperature is another reason I will watch ABC 13 more. Can you put the barometric pressure in kPa, wind speed in km/h, and other measures either along with the Colonial measurement or alone. One example is that the switching around from millibars when talking about hurricanes to inches of mercury for everything else is confusing.

P.S. Don't forget the space between the quantity and the unit (including the degree symbol and/or prefix-base unit). Ex: 20(space)°C NOT 20°C.

To indicate "per" use "/" instead of p. Ex: 20 kilometers per hour: 20 km/h NOT 20 kph.

And to those saying that this is "catering to illegals," why must we cater to you, the MONARCHISTS? Are you attempting to destroy the American Republic by using the monarchical RULER over the egalitarian meter (which is Greek for measure; metron)? Are you trying to prepare America for the reintroduction of British rule?

This is AMERICA not Britain. In America, we separate classes by income unlike in Britain which separates classes by social status acquired by birth. In fact the Colonial system is UN-AMERICAN since it is British! That means the monarchists must be anti-American then. What did we do from 1776-1789? We threw the British out of our government! Let's finish the job by throwing them out of our everyday lives and enjoy the blessings of this Republic.

[John]

Please remove the English temperatures from the forecast. It's unpatriotic. We are not part of the British Crown; we revolted against it! Thank you for being the first one to do this in America. I thought Houston would be second-place again.

I prefer Celsius because what's the difference between 70F or 71F? They are both 21C. The best way to learn metric is to forget the old, monarchist system; use metric units only on the forecasts and the time & temp bug. (While you're at it, please use a 24-hour time format. It's confusing to non-Houstonians determining whether if the podcast was a story from the 5AM or 5PM news.)America's downfall was gradualism, something MLK disdained. Australia was very successful when they carried out their quick conversion. Try telling an Australian you're 5'4"; they won't understand unless you say 163 cm.

[David]

I love the comments claiming that Metric is Un-American. "This is America... we don't use Metric."

The United States Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy ALL use Metric. Distance is ALWAYS measured in Metres and Kilometers. Weight is ALWAYS measured in Kilograms. Temperature is ALWAYS measured in Celcius. You mean to tell me that our brave men and women in the Armed Forces are un-American for using Metric?

These same people who deride Metric seem have no problems with 2-Litre bottles of Coke, 9mm Hand Guns or 4.6L V8 Engines.

God-forbid we do something in the US that another country has done first.

[Foo]

It's "metric" because instead of arbitrary points for freezing and boiling water (32 and 212F), it uses the more sensible 0 and 100 for those points.

Yes, this means that the Celsius degrees are larger, since there are fewer of them between those two fixed points.

Frankly, I think they should stop printing either Fahrenheit OR Celsius on the weather page, and publish the temperature only in degrees Kelvin. Don't know how to convert? Tough.

[Scott Walker]

Good on you, ABC 13! Now, if we could just get all the other stations to go along with you...

The metric system is not un-American. As mentioned earlier, the US was one of the original parties to the Treaty of the Meter and the metric system has been legal for use here since then, just not colloquially preferred. The "English" system has been, but was kept mostly because American trade was primarily with the British Empire. Now even the English use metric units for (nearly) everything (beer is still sold by the pint in pubs--but not in stores--and they use yards and miles on the roadways, but that's it). Our traditional units have been legally defined in terms of metric ones for many years now (1 inch = 25.4 mm, 1 grain = 0.06479891 grams, 1 degree Fahrenheit = 1.8 kelvin etc.)

We're the weird ones, with our feet and inches, Fahrenheit temps et cetera, et cetera ad nauseam.

These days I work at a large home-improvement warehouse, and I find myself at least every other day wishing we used the metric system. I'm fairly good at math, but I really hate having to deal with all the fractions. It's not difficult for me; I just hate it.

Again, kudos to ABC 13.

[LemmusLemmus]

Maybe I am missing something here, but could someone explain to me what is metric about Celsius measurement? It does not use multiples of 10, does it?

Fun fact: Here in Germany we use metric measurement of lengths for everything except the size of Blue Jeans.

[Mr. Gunn]

I guess all the commenters who are complaining also make a fuss whenever they go to a hospital and demand that the nurses convert everything into ounces and tablespoons?

[Tony]

Dump the C.

[Frank]

Indeed, there is certainly nothing "un-American" about the metric system at all. What seems to have escaped many posters who are against such inclusion is that the metric system was approved for official use in the U.S. way back in 1866. In fact, CONGRESS CALLED FOR THE CONVERSTION TO THE METRIC SYSTEM BACK IN 1975 using logic that is just as valid today as it was then. See, 15 U.S.C.A. § 205a. Using both seems reasonable and logical to me. Inclusion of the metric system is long overdue.

[Mac]

I remember a few years back there was an advertisement (funny I don't remember the company that aired it) that featured the first man to wear pants. All were in awe of this strange "goat-legged" man, but he explained that the pants do the same job and are more comfortable. At the end of the spot, a single primitive man declared, "I fear change, and I shall keep my bushes," as he held said foiliage over himself. Seeing the parallel here? Sure, Farenheit works, and it's what we're used to, but it's not really the best system, and it never hurts to be proficient in more than one way of looking at something.

[Mathias]

We live in the US. We speak English, we use Fahrenheit and English units of measurement. What is good for us should be good for the millions of immigrants that come here, and we shouldn't change our ways just for the good of foreigners.

We are also human, though, and we make mistakes. Sticking with Fahrenheit, inches, ounces and gallons has been a mistake, and this mistake will cost us more and more unless we start correcting it. As others have already mentioned, we do live in a global community, whether we realize it in every-day life or not, and when it comes to units of measurements, the rest of the world will not change just for our convenience.

I applaud your decision to show temperatures in Celsius as well.