While I like the general point of the article (just tell me what I care about), there are those of us for which the particular example doesn't exactly work. I walk ~ 3 miles a day to and from work in Chicago. I have a thermometer outside which has a digital display inside of both the temperature and a digital "weather boy" whose clothing indicates how to dress.  I check this every (winter) morning. The weather boy is ok, but is not nearly specific enough: a few degrees in either way can easily mean replacing a sweatershirt layer with something warmer, adding a scarf, wearing long underwear, etc. At this point, the pure number is far more important to me than any cute graphic could be.