Temperature Stated As a "Negative"

[Doug Harris]

I've heard this a couple of times recently, once from someone in Nebraska, once from a CNN
presenter who _may_ have been in or from the midwest:
A below-zero Fahrenheit temperature reported as, say, _negative 15_.
I tried to convince my Nebraska friend (who's also lived in Iowa and ND) that that terminology
isn't correct, but she's continued using it.
Is that phrasing as uncommon as I suspect? Is it specific to a certain geography?
dh

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