Weather forecasters and the word "gusting"

[Jeff Maginty]

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[mudskipper]

I've recently noticed that weather forecasters never fail to use the phrase "gusting" then talking about windy conditions.

When I was a lad, we used to talk about "a strong wind blowing".

Nowadays whenever I watch the tv news weather forecast, regardless of which channel, I never hear them say "blowing". It's almost as if they were legally bound to say "gusting". Doesn't matter whether it's 20mph winds or 80mph winds, it still "gusting".

What is it with this phrase? Have they band all other adjectives relating to wind? Am I the only person who has noticed this phenomena?

In our house, wind is usually passing.

[Jeff Maginty]

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[suityou01]

Year ago they all described the wind as "a chill wind" rather than "chilly". Just doesn't sound right.

Last year or so they have reverted to chilly, so I don't have to dig my fingernails into the arm of the leather sofa while they read the weather out.

[doodab]

The gusting refers to the peak wind speeds. So it might be a 40mph wind gusting to 60mph.

[VectraMan]

It annoys me when they talk about temperatures "into the 80s" or whatever. If the temperature really reached 80 degrees C it'd pretty much be the end of human life as we know it, so they must be talking about some other measure of temperature that nobody uses anymore, perhaps one from the middle ages or from a backwards country like the US.

[BolshieBastard]

I wouldnt mind Ms Kirkwood 'blowing' me.