Is it time to ban weather forecasts?

Maireadio

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Weather forecasting is simply tea leaf reading for people that drink coffee.


Spend enough time doing it and you'll guess right as often as wrong.

They're right most of the time actually, if people actually paid attention. People just remember the odd time they get it wrong. It's not an exact science and I think the forecasters do very well to intrepret the data.

The Backwards Man wrote: »

It's raining here since before that was tweeted, and you can't get any more north than that.

Like I said, I've known Saturday was going to be rainy since about Wednesday due to reading and watching things with my eyeballs and listening with my ears.

Maireadio

thisonetaken wrote: »

All week they had been saying we were in for a heatwave with temps in the 20s, then today they look out the window and say o yeah it's raining and send out a tweet. Proves my point.

Newspapers said that. On Monday. Did you actually watch any forecasts this week?

NiallBoo

Met Eireann said it was going to piss today.

T'was the meedja that said we were having a "heatwave".

Harry Palmr

I think a lot of people watch the BBC forecast and see London 25C and think Dublin will magically get the same.

Spanish Eyes

Umbrella, jacket with a hood, gloves, thermal underwear,

Sunscreen, sun hat/visor, sunglasses, water.

All required for day out in Ireland. The visitors know it, we just read the meeja.

Met Eireann forecast heavy rain for this morning. I think they more often than not get it right for a day or two anyway.

Anyway, the horrible cold has gone, that's good.

uck51js9zml2yt

Have had torrential rains since leaving tralee 2 hours ago ,heading to Dublin.
I don't know what was worse, not being able to see out my window or the hoards of first communion kids and parents crossing the road in Newcastle west and holding up traffic after Mass.

Spanish Eyes

Zavier Important Track-and-field wrote: »

Have had torrential rains since leaving tralee 2 hours ago ,heading to Dublin.
I don't know what was worse, not being able to see out my window or the hoards of first communion kids and parents crossing the road in Newcastle west and holding up traffic after Mass.

Rathkeale would have been interesting too on First Communion Day!

murpho999

thisonetaken wrote: »

All week they had been saying we were in for a heatwave with temps in the 20s, then today they look out the window and say o yeah it's raining and send out a tweet. Proves my point.

No they haven't.

It's the other media outlets such as The Journal , Indo and even the Irish Times interpreting the information wrongly and running stories of a heatwave of 18 degrees and scorching weather and 'summer at last' even though it's still Springtime.

Watched Met Eireann forecasts on RTE all week and they have been very accurate.

mrcheez

I know people love to complain about the weather here, but seriously it's the price you pay for living on a island on the edge of the 2nd-largest body of water on the planet.

The climate we have keeps us from freezing our asses off in winter as other locations on the same latitude do (e.g. Berlin, Kiev, northern Canada): http://s1107.photobucket.com/user/Beardsley_Klamm/media/europe_usjuxv2.jpg.html

I guess we can be thankful we have relatively cheap flights to escape it, but I'll put up with some bad summer days for the sake of having a relatively mild winter.

Discodog

I rely on accurate forecasts & I don't bother with Met Eirann. It's a sad state of affairs when yr.no (the Norwegian weather service) provide a more detailed & accurate forecast. On the TV Sky News are much better.

The only really useful thing from ME is the rain radar. I didn't just know that it would rain, I knew exactly when it would start & I will know when it will end.

murpho999

Discodog wrote: »

I rely on accurate forecasts & I don't bother with Met Eirann. It's a sad state of affairs when yr.no (the Norwegian weather service) provide a more detailed & accurate forecast. On the TV Sky News are much better.

The only really useful thing from ME is the rain radar. I didn't just know that it would rain, I knew exactly when it would start & I will know when it will end.

This is really unfair on ME.

Also, find Sky News weather pretty bad as they hardly cover Ireland and focus on UK only.

Samaris

Where I'm living you can predict the weather pretty damned accurately a week in advance.

All through the week when you're in work, it will be glorious (albeit with intermittent hail). As soon as Saturday hits, the rain will start.

Your Face

No.

bur

forecast.io was pretty bang on.

cbyrd

It's not the forecasters that get it wrong it's the media blowing everything out of proportion.. as usual.

Discodog

murpho999 wrote: »

This is really unfair on ME.

Also, find Sky News weather pretty bad as they hardly cover Ireland and focus on UK only.

It may seem unfair but it's true. In 10 seconds Sky News told me when it would start raining here. That's what most people want. ME will of said something like rain spreading North West. Sky's graphic showed how the rain would move across the country together with times.

This simple graphic tells anyone when it will rain & when it will stop.

http://beta.meteoradar.co.uk/expected-rainfall

Compare the accuracy with ME's version:

http://www.met.ie/forecasts/short-range.asp

The ME one is a computer guess. The meteo one looks at the actual radar.

murpho999

Discodog wrote: »

It may seem unfair but it's true. In 10 seconds Sky News told me when it would start raining here. That's what most people want. ME will of said something like rain spreading North West. Sky's graphic showed how the rain would move across the country together with times.

This simple graphic tells anyone when it will rain & when it will stop.

http://beta.meteoradar.co.uk/expected-rainfall

Compare the accuracy with ME's version:

http://www.met.ie/forecasts/short-range.asp

The ME one is a computer guess. The meteo one looks at the actual radar.

I don't know what you are basing that on. They both look the same to me.

Sometimes Irish people like to criticise Irish things for the sake of it.

ME is not a bunch of amateurs making computer guesses you know.

Discodog

murpho999 wrote: »

I don't know what you are basing that on. They both look the same to me.

Sometimes Irish people like to criticise Irish things for the sake of it.

ME is not a bunch of amateurs making computer guesses you know.

One is a series of blobs based on what a computer thinks will happen. The second is the actual rainfall. ME, like every other forecaster, rely on computer models. Sites like this just make the data easy to understand.

http://www.yr.no/place/Ireland/Connacht/Galway/hour_by_hour.html

Discodog

bur wrote: »

forecast.io was pretty bang on.

Yes because it monitor the actual rain via the radar. For those with Android phones the Arcus app is staggeringly accurate concerning when it will rain in the short term. For example a typical Arcus message might be Rain starting in 40 mins stopping 15 mins later.

Cienciano

Discodog wrote: »

It may seem unfair but it's true. In 10 seconds Sky News told me when it would start raining here. That's what most people want. ME will of said something like rain spreading North West. Sky's graphic showed how the rain would move across the country together with times.

This simple graphic tells anyone when it will rain & when it will stop.

http://beta.meteoradar.co.uk/expected-rainfall

Compare the accuracy with ME's version:

http://www.met.ie/forecasts/short-range.asp

The ME one is a computer guess. The meteo one looks at the actual radar.

Use this:
http://www.met.ie/latest/rainfall_radar.asp
I use met.ie every day, its bang on.

Discodog

Cienciano wrote: »

Use this:
http://www.met.ie/latest/rainfall_radar.asp
I use met.ie every day, its bang on.

I agree & I did mention that it is the one good offering from ME but this projects the radar forward for a couple of hours - so I know when the rain will stop.

http://beta.meteoradar.co.uk/expected-rainfall

But ME radar isn't a forecast as in for tomorrow.

fullstop

ShiddyArze wrote: »

What is more annoying is people throwing around the word heatwave..

"Heatwave this Sunday/Monday,"

A heat wave is an extended period of above average temperatures, about 5 days

And te temperature barely touching 20 isn't a heatwave.

philstar

because of where we're situated irish weather will always be unpredictable i'm afraid

... it will never be sorchio!

VinLieger

Gorgeous out today is the OP happy yet?

ShiddyArze

VinLieger wrote:

Gorgeous out today is the OP happy yet?

Really? Its raining here since 11am, heavey cloud all morning, temperature currently 14.3c

namloc1980

Lashing rain and quite cool.

PARlance

OP if fine, a bit sore, but fine.

PLL

Alf Stewart. wrote: »

That's subjective.

Might be a welcome change to a Saudi Goat herder for example.

Or someone studying for a bitch of an exam.
Anyone want to explain the spiral method to me?

philstar

PARlance wrote: »

OP if fine, a bit sore, but fine.

farmer's tan

*btw - that how the phrase "redneck" came about, all the farm workers getting burnt necks from working in the sun all the time

monkeysnapper

I was doing a sponcered cycle on Saturday and the morning seemed nice, the Mrs said put sun cream on its supposed to be a scorcher today so forecast says plus wear sun glasses.

Mr snapper packs his jacket and normal eye wear .

Mr snapper is wise.... Brass flippen monkeys it was , rain and cold .

But look hay, nothing comes in the way of a bit of charity raising .come rain or shine Mr snapper is taking care of ye all