Weather Chart 2012 by CLEVER°FRANKE

Each year, CLEVER°FRANKE (C°F) publishes a weather chart. In these annual charts, we explore methods to visualize last year's weather. CLEVER°FRANKE has a special affinity with the weather; the names CLEVER and FRANKE have been combined with the aid of the degree symbol. A reference to the astronomer Anders Celsius (C°) and physicist Daniel Fahrenheit (F°).

This degree symbol served as the basis for the design of our visual identity: two researchers within the same field, found different approaches and references. Something definitely recognisable in the personalities of the founders of CLEVER°FRANKE.

For 2012 we focused on the relationship between weather data provided by the KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute) and the sentiments in social media about the weather. Is the way people rate the weather on the internet in accordance with the meteorological facts? To analyse this, we have used 714,843 messages concerning the weather in this chart. The messages were collected from a variety of websites, social media platforms and internetfora. This data was provided by Finchline, a company specialized in social media monitoring.

Our weather chart of this year provides several interesting observations; sunshine is prominent in the way most people rate the weather. The correlation between sunshine and weather sentiment is stronger than the correlation between weather rating and sentiment.

Overall, the Dutch weather is predominantly rated negatively (58%). Only in April and March people rated the weather mostly positive. Along with the increase in general use of social media in 2011, the amount of messages about the weather rose throughout this year. As the months passed, people rated the weather more negatively, especially in the month December.