Is Met Eireann's weather reporting fit for purpose

Agent_47

I find their reports more Glam than weather detail, particularly the lunchtime weather report following the tv news today.

I don't believe waving the hands over a map of Ireland to indicate which way the weather is going towards is sufficient or relevant to where I live, nor is it fit for purpose in todays high tech world.

I would prefer that the weather specific to the region or provences was given even if that means splitting the map of Ireland up with more emphasis on the localised temperatures and weather expected per region / provence.

I find no relevance in the weather reports as they currently are presented and will watch them no longer. Is there a complaints process for Met Eireann weather?

Do other boardsies find the weather reports accurate or fit for purpose?

Agent_47

I put in a complaint to Met Eireann, it won't do much but if you feel as I do then lodge a complaint.

Comhrá

To be honest I think ME does a very good job the vast majority of the time.

Ireland is a relatively small country and they do mention the different regions, both by province and county when specific conditions merit a county by county mention.

Their website http://www.met.ie/forecasts/county.asp gives a specific forecast for each county though this level of detail would not be possible to deliver within their allotted time-slots after the news bulletins in RTE.

All in all I think they do a pretty good job. As for accuracy of forecast temps, I check my local temp several times each day and the values usually broadly concur with what Met Eireann have predicted.

I'm happy with their efforts.

ronnie3585

Agent_47 wrote: »

Do other boardsies find the weather reports accurate or fit for purpose?

And that's why is called the weather forecast. It cannot, by it's nature, be 100% accurate.

Given their resources, the size of the country and the nature of the weather we experience, predominantly Atlantic dominated - I think they do a very good job.

Agent_47

To be honest, given Ireland is a small country they could do a similar forecast to the Met Office on the BBC and roll through the regions in a zoomed up version of the country map. I personally find a monkey could throw darts better as to where Met Eireann put their weather symbols. Their forecasts mean nothing to me in my region so what is the point of the forecast?

I have been toying with Accuweathers local service app and found it highly accurate for weather in Dublin and will try it here locally for results for the time being as an alternative to watching the Met Eireann "forecast"

Macy0161

I don't know do they need the regional sweep, but I really like the BBC's for the progression in the forecast (watching the rain/ cloud/ snow come in).

In terms of the forecasts, I like it when they give a bit more detail behind the forecast/ reasons why it's hard to forecast (Siobhan Ryan can be excellent at this at times). I generally find it fine to be honest, my one complaint is I wish they'd give more updates on "potential" events/ scenario's rather than the tendency to leave it until an outcome is more certain (and therefore sometimes short notice). But I get that the way elements of the public and media heads would melt if they gave possible scenarios that didn't materialise more as time goes on tbh.

Tactical

Yrs they are most definitely fit for purpose.

Its a forecasting service and while incredibly scientific, they're not going to be able to say at what exact time it will start snowing in a particular locality.

With a set amount of time for the forecasts to be delivered be it on television or on radio, there is a lot of information to be dispensed.

More detailed information can be found on the Met.ie website and on particular radio forecasts.

my3cents

I always reckon that the forecast I can manage to see behind the elbow of the BBC TV weather forecasters gives me much more useful information than ever I get from Met Eireann.

Its a standing joke here that my wife will say look its pouring down and I'll look at Met Eireann's rainfall radar and say no dear it can't be look there's no sign of rain on the rainfall radar.

eviltimeban

my3cents wrote: »

I always reckon that the forecast I can manage to see behind the elbow of the BBC TV weather forecasters gives me much more useful information than ever I get from Met Eireann.

Its a standing joke here that my wife will say look its pouring down and I'll look at Met Eireann's rainfall radar and say no dear it can't be look there's no sign of rain on the rainfall radar.

I find the rainfall radar to be pretty accurate.

Alun

eviltimeban wrote: »

I find the rainfall radar to be pretty accurate.

Me too, it's the only thing I look at on their site to be honest. For everything else, yr.no.

my3cents

I check the rainfall radar regularly and when we have rain up above 2 mm it gives me a good idea of what is still to come (important to me because of local river levels) but below 2 mm looking out the window is much more accurate.

Hammer Archer

The accuracy of the radar greatly depends on where you are in the country. The further you are from Dublin or Shannon, the less accurate it'll be as the radar will "see" less of the rain due to the curvature of the Earth. The northwest obviously suffers most from this but I'd say the accuracy in the southeast would also slightly poor.

Graces7

Happy with it. As I do not have TV or radio it is the online forecasts I see and always glad of the alerts, warnings etc a I am in a remote area and the forecasts matters re going out etc. As others have said it is a "forecast" and subject to...... weather variations. Things change either way swiftly and they need to err on the side of caution and worst case scenario. Someone here grumbled re a yellow alert for frost which I was very glad of. It has been a hard slog this winter for all weather folk.. Well done met ie

Iancar29

One word ... BUDGET

Speak Now

Agent_47 wrote: »

To be honest, given Ireland is a small country they could do a similar forecast to the Met Office on the BBC and roll through the regions in a zoomed up version of the country map. I personally find a monkey could throw darts better as to where Met Eireann put their weather symbols. Their forecasts mean nothing to me in my region so what is the point of the forecast?

I have been toying with Accuweathers local service app and found it highly accurate for weather in Dublin and will try it here locally for results for the time being as an alternative to watching the Met Eireann "forecast"

Accuweathers app is amazing, had it snowing here in Waterford for the first time in 3 years last week. Looked out the window and all I could see was stars. Still the app said it was snowing so that's all that matters

Jpmarn

The met.ie website has been improving over the last few years. For latest weather you get reports from the last available hour. You don't get information for previous hours. You don't get total rainfall so far in the current day, pressure trend nor max and min temperature.

Agent_47

Iancar29 wrote: »

One word ... BUDGET

Maybe they should spend less on the wardrobe and more on the technology :rolleyes:

ShoulderChip

Agent_47 wrote: »

Maybe they should spend less on the wardrobe and more on the technology :rolleyes:

its a public service and the public are stupid, they have to give the stupid people what they want.

Tactical

ShoulderChip wrote: »

its a public service and the public are stupid, they have to give the stupid people what they want.

As a member of the public, thank you.

PukkaStukka

Agent_47 wrote: »

Maybe they should spend less on the wardrobe and more on the technology :rolleyes:

I found your argument somewhat weak to begin with, and following your smart little barb above, perhaps this is the real core of your grievance? Would you rather they presented the forecast in track suit, runners and baseball cap?

Iancar29 wrote: »

One word ... BUDGET

Got it in one Ian And I for one think that in the current circumstances, Met Éireann do a very good job, irrespective of what attire is worn when presenting a forecast. Their budgets are minuscule compared to what the likes of the UKMO operate with and anyone in the know will understands the sheer cost and effort needed in maintain a national forecasting infrastructure. All of this obviously goes invisible to those who critique an entire organisation on the appearance of a forecaster..

mickdw

Why not display a qr code on screen towards end of forecast. Scan with phone- This would take you to met.ie and directly to location specific data based on the location reported by the phone. Surely met eireann have very detailed location specific forecasts. They would just need to put together a nice little app. It would drive alot of traffic to their site also.

Agent_47

PukkaStukka wrote: »

I found your argument somewhat weak to begin with, and following your smart little barb above, perhaps this is the real core of your grievance? Would you rather they presented the forecast in track suit, runners and baseball cap?




Got it in one Ian And I for one think that in the current circumstances, Met Éireann do a very good job, irrespective of what attire is worn when presenting a forecast. Their budgets are minuscule compared to what the likes of the UKMO operate with and anyone in the know will understands the sheer cost and effort needed in maintain a national forecasting infrastructure. All of this obviously goes invisible to those who critique an entire organisation on the appearance of a forecaster..

Lack of relevant detail in the forecasts Pukka, that's all it is, I cannot see the detail but I can see the glam. I have switched from Met Eireann weather to online apps, no glam but all the detail Pukka so am happier now.

JCX BXC

AccuWeather is absolutely terrible! It under estimated last nights low by 7c!

average_runner

Carnacalla wrote: »

AccuWeather is absolutely terrible! It under estimated last nights low by 7c!

Accu weather is just a software program that can change within the hour. Its only good up to a hour or two

jd

Agent_47 wrote: »

Lack of relevant detail in the forecasts Pukka, that's all it is, I cannot see the detail but I can see the glam. I have switched from Met Eireann weather to online apps, no glam but all the detail Pukka so am happier now.

Use the model outputs on the site, I think they're pretty accurate
eg
http://www.met.ie/forecasts/short-range.asp

or

http://www.met.ie/forecasts/5day-atlantic.asp

JCX BXC

I like Met Eireanns descriptive forecasts as I think it gives people an actual insight into what the weather could be like and the possible outcomes. Also gives a more personal and relate-able feel.

For example "The further outlook to beyond the weekend is for a somewhat milder regime as the weather becomes a little more unsettled with spells of rain at times."

You try get that out of an 'INPUT DATA' application.

mattser

Gave up looking at M.E. forecasts a few years ago. Got caught out too often. I find BBC far more accurate.

Discodog

I depend on accurate forecasting for my business & the only ME service that I use is the radar, which is down at the moment. Sky New Weather tells me more in 15 seconds than ME does in a whole forecast. The graphics are simple & reliable.

Accuweather is the worse. yr.no the best.

JCX BXC

Discodog wrote: »

I depend on accurate forecasting for my business & the only ME service that I use is the radar, which is down at the moment. Sky New Weather tells me more in 15 seconds than ME does in a whole forecast. The graphics are simple & reliable.

Accuweather is the worse. yr.no the best.

The Shannon radar was down, back up now though. Dublin one was up all the time.

screamer

I don't think there's any need to have people stand there on screen at all. Some of them can't even seem to point to a specific place in the map!
The amount of money wasted on hair make up strange outfits stranger jewellery and thick waist belts (what the hell is that about) could be put to much better use IMHO.

JCX BXC

screamer wrote: »

I don't think there's any need to have people stand there on screen at all. Some of them can't even seem to point to a specific place in the map!
The amount of money wasted on hair make up strange outfits stranger jewellery and thick waist belts (what the hell is that about) could be put to much better use IMHO.

I'll give ya the ridiculous outfits, but without someone actually describing the weather, its just gonna be another unpersonal AccuWeather style forecast.

Discodog

Sky News sometimes use a presenter but they also have the show host reading a script as the graphic plays - there is no difference except that the "weather girl" might be a bit more chatty.

It's an old fashioned idea & a waste of money.

Discodog

Carnacalla wrote: »

I'll give ya the ridiculous outfits, but without someone actually describing the weather, its just gonna be another unpersonal AccuWeather style forecast.

Unpersonal ? Weather is factual.

JCX BXC

Discodog wrote: »

Unpersonal ? Weather is factual.

Theres so much wrong with you subconsciously said:D

Forecasting is predictions, with many variables that only a forecast like RTE can truly project. It's not AT ALL factual, that's past weather.

An example of an Accuweather forecast is "Tomorrow, 10c, 39km/h wind, partly sunny"

When an RTE forecast would be like "Tomorrow will start off cold, dry, calm and frosty, temperatures will quickly rise during the day aided by early sunshine. An atlantic weather front will move in during the day bringing cloud, increasingly strong southwesterly winds and some drizzle by evening."

Which is useful?

boardise

I'm a golfer and as I don't like playing in the rain -I watch weather forecasts like a hawk.
I have to say I find Met E to be generally unreliable and frequently downright wrong.