I've seen both on the weather forcast... They seem to be the same thing to me, but I'm no weather man...
Or the difference between "Isolated thunderstorms" and "scattered thunderstorms"?
2006-06-05 16:37:04 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
Partly generally means less than half. Scattered storms are said to have a percentage "chance" or coverage.
2006-06-05 16:42:28 · answer #1 · answered by rockEsquirrel 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sunny/Clear: No sky cover
Mostly Sunny: 1/8 - 2/8 sky cover
Partly Cloudy/Partly Sunny: 3/8 - 4/8 sky cover
Mostly Cloudy: 5/8-7/8 sky cover
Cloudy: 8/8 sky cover
**For opaque cloud sky cover**
It depends on the meteorologist whether Partly Sunny means "cloudy with some peaks of sun" or is the same thing as Partly Cloudy, "sunny with some fair weather clouds".
The NWS glossary lists them as the same thing, however.
Isolated/Slight: 10-20% chance
Scattered/Chance: 30-50% chance
Likely: 60-70% chance
Thunderstorms: >80% chance
2006-06-07 06:57:03 · answer #2 · answered by Bean 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Partly in 'weatherman terms' means 25%. Partly cloudy means there is less cloud cover than sunshine. Partly sunny, which you may see more often, means there are more clouds than sunshine.
Isolated means the storm is focused on a specific area. Scattered means the storm is spread out across an area, with no main focus.
2006-06-05 16:45:45 · answer #3 · answered by Tejou 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I often wondered this myself! Is your glass half-full or half-empty? But seriously, the way I understand it, Partly sunny would mean just a little sunshine, while partly cloudy really means mostly sunny.
isolated thunderstorms are just a few here or there, but scattered thunderstorms are storms in more places...clear as mudd??
2006-06-05 16:44:12 · answer #4 · answered by bonbon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Partly cloudy indicates a little more cloud than sun, and partly sunny means a little more sun than clouds.
2006-06-05 17:08:50 · answer #5 · answered by robpardee 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's all to do with marketing. What will people perceive as more pleasant. Sunny with just bits of cloudiness, or cloudy possibly rainy with just bits of sunshine?
2006-06-05 20:59:25 · answer #6 · answered by quntmphys238 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on whether you glass is 1/2 empty or 1/2 full!
2006-06-05 16:42:53 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
partly cloudy is there is more sun than there is clouds
partly sunny is there is more clouds than there is sun
2006-06-12 11:49:19 · answer #8 · answered by Shelle 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on if the weatherman is an optimist or a pessimist ;)
2006-06-12 13:40:04 · answer #9 · answered by becky r 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a good glossary.
http://www.weather.com/glossary/
2006-06-05 17:20:54 · answer #10 · answered by Peter Boiter Woods 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋