Weather Forecasts

[Guest]

How come the BBC and The Weather Channel website have such differing views on the weather?

What variations in their feed and calculations can give TWC predicting constant rain in Taunton today and the Beeb say that from 1pm the rain will have gone and even sunny intervals by 4pm. that's quite different...

[evilC]

Weather Forecasts

I've wondered the same.

I tend to swear by www.weather.co.uk* but temper whatever it says with a reference to the BBC site's opinion.

(* - Really www.uk.weather.com, which is, of course, The Weather Channel, but the first URL - which I find more memorable - takes you to the same site.)

[evilC]

Weather Forecasts

(Barndoorio - I always imagined your name in a Brazilian or Italian accent, but now I know you're in Somerset (or, at least, looking up weather forecasts from there) I know that it should in fact be pronounced with the same lilt as "'Ello, me-deario".)

[Stumpy Pepys]

Weather Forecasts

The beauty of internet weather forecasts is that -- if you don't like the prediction on one website -- you can just try another until you get one you're happy with

[Guest]

Weather Forecasts

evilC, i'm from Watford really, so it needs a near Essex like chavvy twang. Except I'm told I have a really posh voice which doesn't fit with the area I'm from. So imagine the queen and family discussing a player who couldn't hit a Barndoor but with italian flair (silver boots) and you get Barndoorio.

[The Exploding Vole]

Weather Forecasts

Stumpy Pepys wrote:

The beauty of internet weather forecasts is that -- if you don't like the prediction on one website -- you can just try another until you get one you're happy with

With this in mind, I propose a new internet site that predicts wet and chilly weather for the whole of the UK every day. This would set us up for occasional pleasant surprises.

[Guest]

Weather Forecasts

Shitbags. The weather channel wins, kind of. It's not raining now, but the cricket game I was checking the forecast for has been called off for this evening.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Weather Forecasts

With this in mind, I propose a new internet site that predicts wet and chilly weather for the whole of the UK every day. This would set us up for occasional pleasant surprises.

In the UK, this is Yahoo Weather. Every forecast is essentially the sun, partially obscured by a cloud. This covers most things apart from thunderstorms, snow, plagues of locusts etc.

[The Exploding Vole]

Weather Forecasts

I see. Out of curiosity, what icon does Yahoo Weather use to denote "plagues of locusts"?

[WOM]

Weather Forecasts

It's a combination bible/frowny face.

[Moonlight Shadow]

Weather Forecasts

The variations are due to the models used. In the UK, there are three "big guns" being used, the UKMET model, the GFS (from the USA) and the ECM (the European one). Quite often they disagree in the longuer term and, when it comes to ppn, even in the very short term. Precipitations are very difficult to forecast.

For example, last week, the modelisations for this current week showed enormous amount of ppn that have so far failed to arrive. Even now, I abstained to go out this evening due to forecasted heavy rain (which couple with gales when walking on boggy terrain kind of make it rather disagreable even for someone like me...) but I have only seen a few drops so far.

In short, don't trust predictions for rain, look at the amount of clouds forecasted for a certain area, the direction of the wind and the geography of the area (the higher the terrain, the more it will attract ppn) then just assume it will rain anyway...

[WOM]

Weather Forecasts

You think I'm okay for the ride home, then?

[Felicity, I guess so]

Weather Forecasts

I rely on the weather forecast to decide whether to cycle to or from work, and the BBC not only often gets it badly wrong, their website now has a bizarre routine you have to go through to get local weather (you used to just change 'London' to 'whatever' in the location box)-it takes you automatically to the USA 1st.

It used to be that if you watched Tyne Tees local news you at least got something recognisable local, but since the cuts the ITV news is for 'Tyne Tees and Border' (just as BBC local is 'N East and Cumbria') and generally speaking we don't get the same weather as Dumfries and Galloway.

[The Exploding Vole]

Weather Forecasts

"Sunny and dry in the south; cooler and showery in the north."

That's one that always bothered me when I lived in the midlands.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Weather Forecasts

I can only pay any attention to the weather forecast if it's delivered by a pretty blonde girl. Preferably with a very warm front.

In Italy, on Rai Uno, I noticed last week, the weather forecast is habitually delivered by a stern old man in what appeared to be a naval uniform. Given that their major news programmes are fronted by young women who look like they've just arrived from a Hugh Hefner pool party, that was a bizarre role-reversal. It would be like having Ulrika Johnson interviewing Lord Tebbitt about MPs' expenses, before cutting to John Simpson dressed as Nelson to sternly explain how much rainfall Cumbria could expect in the next six hours.

[ursus arctos]

Weather Forecasts

Air Force officers. In uniform. Always.

Signora Maria wouldn't have it any other way.