Wednesday, October 18, 2006

"Slight chance of rain, with a high of 84 degrees"

Some readers of the blog may wonder what the temperature is in American Samoa (if you think it gets cold here, well, I've got some property to sell you...). Not long ago, Mike recognized that the weather guy on "American Samoa's #1 Top 40 Radio Station - 93 KHJ" (which happens to be the ONLY station that plays top 40 hits in American Samoa) has a similar theme to his weather reports. "Today there is a slight chance of rain, with a high of 84 degrees. Tomorrow, clear skies, with a high of 84 degrees." Next day, "tomorrow, expect rain, with a high of 84 degrees." And the next day, "tomorrow, sunny, with a high of 84 degrees." Yadda, yadda, yadda. You get the picture.

What Mr. Weatherman's real report should say, is something like this: "Today, there is about an 80 % chance of rain, because it almost always rains in American Samoa. And, although I always say that the temperature is 'a high of 84 degrees,' what I don't tell you is that there is about 90 % humidity, which makes the temperature ACTUALLY around 105 or so. But who cares? I've got the easiest job on the island; there's a 'high of 84 degrees' EVERY day!"

So, when you're feeling a little frigid in these cold months leading into winter, just remember: in American Samoa, it's probably "raining, with a high of 84 degrees!"

1 comments:

Proud Mum said...

LOL! You're right about the weather reports, they never do say what it actually feels like with the humidity! When I was fresh off the boat from Idaho I thought every day was hot -- what did I know? My thermometer became the Tongans -- when they said it was hot, then I knew it really was!