All Things Met Eireann Related Go in Here (MOD NOTE #1)

blindsider · 04-05-2014 5:44pm

tphase wrote: »

in what way is it more detailed? The ME image resolves 15 rain intensity levels, the UKMO resolves 8. As for being more accurate, how did you determine that?

The UKMO image has 3 fixed zoom levels but is the same image enlarged (or reduced) at each zoom setting. It would be much more useful if it gave better resolution at higher zoom.

The contrast is better on the UKMO image but I wouldn't say it is significantly clearer than the ME image ie you can still make out what's happening.

UKMO image covers a larger area because it needs to....

"far superior" ? I think not. If the ME image could be zoomed (properly) and the background changed to make it slightly clearer, IT would be the far superior image.
As it is, I still prefer it... :cool:

@piuswal - you're bang on about the relative staff numbers. UKMO have about 10 times the staff of ME, about 1800 vs 176.

Ok, so firstly, I'm just an average Joe User, with no agenda.

When I compare the 2 radar sites, ME says 'almost no rain', where UKMO says 'a fair bit scattered around'. Now assuming that the UKMO radar isn't making it up for the fun of it - who do i believe?

Well, ME says no rain, UKMO says 'abit of rain over you right now'. When I go outside, it's raining! so, which is more accurate? Hmmm. Well, maybe it's a one off. Yep - maybe. But I've conducted this highly complex scientific experiment, at great cost and personal sacrifice, 3 times in the last few days.

So far, the score is ME 0 - 3 UKMO.

BTW - the colours used by ME for rain intensity are not intuitive - why not just go light to dark. "15 rain intensity levels" - why? Surely the average user doesn't need that? UKMO's 8 levels seems far clearer to me.

Oneiric 3 · 04-05-2014 8:47pm

Storm 10 wrote: »

Completely agree it is the most stupid thing I have ever seen, showing stormy weather when we have had enough of it and want Summer now, how could they come up with something like this you could not make it up

Would it seriously matter what picture they showed at the start of a forecast as surely it is the forecast that is important? They may have just liked the photo for itself.

Hopefully some stormy weather on the cards though, anything would be better than the current non-descriptness.

piuswal · 05-05-2014 2:29am

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

Would it seriously matter what picture they showed at the start of a forecast as surely it is the forecast that is important? They may have just liked the photo for itself.

Hopefully some stormy weather on the cards though, anything would be better than the current non-descriptness.

While I agree that it is the forecast that's important surely the opening shot should have some relevance as to the forecast content!

The headline (usually)indicates the content in newspaper articles.

Video · 08-05-2014 7:05pm

Can someone tell me where the "sunny spells" are right now? just watched the forecast on rte and she's on about good sunny spells around the country... showing a white cloud with sun popping out of it... it's been 100% cloud cover here all day and i haven't seen the sun once. I wish the BBC would cover ireland in more detail.

piuswal · 08-05-2014 8:14pm

Where are you.
It's been "sunny spells" north of the Liffey since about 1430.
What would the BBC do for you?

snubbleste · 12-05-2014 2:05pm

Today 1400

Video · 12-05-2014 5:07pm

snubbleste wrote: »

Today 1400

Thats an error in radar... should be gone now

mattser · 12-05-2014 6:07pm

Video wrote: »

Can someone tell me where the "sunny spells" are right now? just watched the forecast on rte and she's on about good sunny spells around the country... showing a white cloud with sun popping out of it... it's been 100% cloud cover here all day and i haven't seen the sun once. I wish the BBC would cover ireland in more detail.

The weekly forecast on Countryfile, BBC1 Sunday evenings is excellent. The only weather forecast I watch now. The north is just up the road.

joujoujou · 20-05-2014 1:52pm

I wonder who draws maps for them...

Anyway, whoever did so 3 days ago, I'd recommend a few geography lessons.

mattser · 20-05-2014 2:20pm

joujoujou wrote: »

I wonder who draws maps for them...

Anyway, whoever did so 3 days ago, I'd recommend a few geography lessons.

Ha Ha Ha Poland....Capital, Minsk.

droidman123 · 01-06-2014 10:51pm

Once again met eireann make fools of themselves,and the public.weather forecast at 12.00pm was that heavy rain was to sweep across the country from the west,reaching the east in the early evening/afternoon. What happens here in Dublin?a beautiful summers evening! Its about time this comedy charade was stopped and my TV license fee went to more competent forecasters.

signostic · 06-06-2014 11:12am

D-Day landings 70 years ago today 6th June 1944, some weather related articles linked on Met Eireann`s Facebook page -

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Met-%C3%89ireann/123518233000

lolie · 07-06-2014 11:42pm

Looking at the storms up north this evening on the netweather/raintoday radar's shows how poor the met eireann one is for the northwest of the country.

FWVT · 08-06-2014 7:15am

droidman123 wrote: »

Once again met eireann make fools of themselves,and the public.weather forecast at 12.00pm was that heavy rain was to sweep across the country from the west,reaching the east in the early evening/afternoon. What happens here in Dublin?a beautiful summers evening! Its about time this comedy charade was stopped and my TV license fee went to more competent forecasters.

Your licence fee does not pay for Met Eireann, it pays for RTE.

Onthe3rdDay · 08-06-2014 7:37pm

FWVT wrote: »

Your licence fee does not pay for Met Eireann, it pays for RTE.

If RTE pays Met Eireann for it's Services, part of the licence fee is used to finance Met Eireann. It's indirect but it's still License fee money going into their Bank Account.

whitebriar · 08-06-2014 8:59pm

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

If RTE pays Met Eireann for it's Services, part of the licence fee is used to finance Met Eireann. It's indirect but it's still License fee money going into their Bank Account.

Have you ever watched the tv forecasts,have you noticed they are sponsored.
Regardless your point is moot as your taxes pay for Met Eireann in large part,its a public body with some commercial income.

No forecast is ever meant to be precise,it cannot be as weather is chaos.It is guidance only really.

Onthe3rdDay · 08-06-2014 10:09pm

whitebriar wrote: »

Have you ever watched the tv forecasts,have you noticed they are sponsored.
Regardless your point is moot as your taxes pay for Met Eireann in large part,its a public body with some commercial income.

No forecast is ever meant to be precise,it cannot be as weather is chaos.It is guidance only really.

I made no reference to the forecasts themselves, just the way they're paid for. The fact here is that while sponsorship would pay for some of the forecasts it probably doesn't cover all of the expense. (most sponsorships don't) I can't say for sure and nether can you because it's commercially sensitive information that belongs to RTE.

I do find it bizarre the amount of keyboard warriors that defend Met Eireann on these boards. Hopefully there will be a full tender process at some point for the forecasts on RTE Radio and Television. If an organization is operating commercially it should have to play by the same rules as everyone else. Again this isn't a comment on the forecasting, just the funding.

piuswal · 08-06-2014 11:49pm

lolie wrote: »

Looking at the storms up north this evening on the netweather/raintoday radar's shows how poor the met eireann one is for the northwest of the country.

There are 3 weather radars on the Island. Met Eireann has 2, one at Shannon Airport and 1 at Dublin Airport.
The BMO has one at Aldergrove.
What you usually see on the Met Eireann Web site is a composite picture of the 3 and that is the most you can see at any other source.
Radars have quite a limited range. Ideally Met Eireann, I'm sure, would like to have a radar somewhere in Donegal but given that the Government has not funded one up to now, it's hard to see how there is likely to be one in the next decade at least.
Perhaps more intense Atlantic weather systems may eventually lead to such a radar as part of an improved severe weather warning system but I would not hold my breath for it to happen.

mattser · 09-06-2014 12:22am

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

I made no reference to the forecasts themselves, just the way they're paid for. The fact here is that while sponsorship would pay for some of the forecasts it probably doesn't cover all of the expense. (most sponsorships don't) I can't say for sure and nether can you because it's commercially sensitive information that belongs to RTE.

I do find it bizarre the amount of keyboard warriors that defend Met Eireann on these boards. Hopefully there will be a full tender process at some point for the forecasts on RTE Radio and Television. If an organization is operating commercially it should have to play by the same rules as everyone else. Again this isn't a comment on the forecasting, just the funding.

Thread should be re-named " Chat all things good Met Eireann."

droidman123 · 09-06-2014 12:52am

FWVT wrote: »

Your licence fee does not pay for Met Eireann, it pays for RTE.

And who do you think pays met eireann? RTE.....with my and everyone else's licence fee

piuswal · 09-06-2014 1:50am

droidman123 wrote: »

And who do you think pays met eireann? RTE.....with my and everyone else's licence fee

As far as I know, RTE went to tender a number of years ago for their TV weather and Met Eireann got the contract.

droidman123 · 09-06-2014 11:49am

piuswal wrote: »

As far as I know, RTE went to tender a number of years ago for their TV weather and Met Eireann got the contract.

Exactly,I really can't understand why some people actually think met eireann don't get a cent from RTE for their services.

sunnyagain · 09-06-2014 2:30pm

RTE is part funded by TV licence and has a public service remit.
Met Eireann is part of the Dept of the Environment.
Why does RTE go to tender and incur a cost?
It pays Met Eireann and the money simply goes to the Dept, not Met Eireann; they gain no benefit from it.
You could argue that there is a lot of accountants effort in transferring public money from an organisation with a public service remit to a Government Department, to what benefit?

sunnyagain · 09-06-2014 7:37pm

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

I made no reference to the forecasts themselves, just the way they're paid for. The fact here is that while sponsorship would pay for some of the forecasts it probably doesn't cover all of the expense. (most sponsorships don't) I can't say for sure and nether can you because it's commercially sensitive information that belongs to RTE.

I do find it bizarre the amount of keyboard warriors that defend Met Eireann on these boards. Hopefully there will be a full tender process at some point for the forecasts on RTE Radio and Television. If an organization is operating commercially it should have to play by the same rules as everyone else. Again this isn't a comment on the forecasting, just the funding.

Met Eireann is part of the Dept of the Environment.

All of its staff are Civil Servants.

I suspect that it is not Met Eireann's choice to have to act commercially in some situations.

Back in the 90's the FF Government of the day, Seamus Breannan R.I.P. (I think ) was the Minister who instructed them to earn some revenue by charging for some services.

So, in some situations, they have to compete with commercial organisations without any of the flexibility of a private company and gaining no benefit from any income as all of the income accrues to the Dept of the Environment.

whitebriar · 09-06-2014 11:15pm

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

I do find it bizarre the amount of keyboard warriors that defend Met Eireann on these boards. Hopefully there will be a full tender process at some point for the forecasts on RTE Radio and Television. If an organization is operating commercially it should have to play by the same rules as everyone else. Again this isn't a comment on the forecasting, just the funding.

I'm extremely critical of M.E at times in this thread actually.
The actual fact of the matter is they are providing a service with the known tried and trusted scientific methods available and are probably generally as proficient as similar organisations in their own bailey wick.
I repeat,no science as yet has or probably ever will have the ability to pin point where exactly where showers will exactly form track or end up wetting the ground.
Only when rain systems are big enough can that be done with better accuracy.Showers No way. Too much chaos.
So when they are the subject of a wet forecast and it ends up dry in your area,it's time to rejoice,not pull out the Met Eireann bashing tools.

Oh and yes they are paid for out of the public purse mostly.
If you feel you don't get value out of their service,that's ok.
They are much lower down my list of public bodies worth moaning about in that regard,personally speaking.

Onthe3rdDay · 10-06-2014 12:29am

whitebriar wrote: »

I'm extremely critical of M.E at times in this thread actually.
The actual fact of the matter is they are providing a service with the known tried and trusted scientific methods available and are probably generally as proficient as similar organisations in their own bailey wick.
I repeat,no science as yet has or probably ever will have the ability to pin point where exactly where showers will exactly form track or end up wetting the ground.
Only when rain systems are big enough can that be done with better accuracy.Showers No way. Too much chaos.
So when they are the subject of a wet forecast and it ends up dry in your area,it's time to rejoice,not pull out the Met Eireann bashing tools.

Oh and yes they are paid for out of the public purse mostly.
If you feel you don't get value out of their service,that's ok.
They are much lower down my list of public bodies worth moaning about in that regard,personally speaking.

My original comment was on financing alone, I wasn't saying anything about their actual forecasting. I don't actually have an issue with their financing either, but to be fair some of the licence fee money does go from RTE to provide the service. (even if it is a small amount)

I'm not going near the forecasting debate.

Presentation of the forecasts on Television is very poor at times. However that's as much RTE's fault as Met Eireann's.

whitebriar · 10-06-2014 7:46am

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

My original comment was on financing alone, I wasn't saying anything about their actual forecasting. I don't actually have an issue with their financing either, but to be fair some of the licence fee money does go from RTE to provide the service. (even if it is a small amount)

It might be none if the sponsorship is priced to cover their fee which in all likelyhood it is.

Onthe3rdDay · 10-06-2014 2:41pm

whitebriar wrote: »

It might be none if the sponsorship is priced to cover their fee which in all likelyhood it is.

Again none of us can know that because of commercial issues. However what information that is known, sponsorship of other RTE programmes almost never covers all the costs, for example sporting events, soaps etc.

Padster90s · 25-06-2014 2:47am

Since the thread is speaking of how ME is funded this might tie into it! I'm off work the last two weeks with a broken ankle and have been watching far to much television. I've been catching RTE, TV3 and TG4 weather forecasts and RTE and Met Eireann seem to have the worst weather graphics of them all, I've seen weather forecasts on TV in other countries, some of them much poorer then Ireland and they have better weather graphics than RTE/ME. I don't really know how they are being funded but what are they spending the funding/income on? The wardrobe department must get most of it! Its about time RTE Weather had some 3D graphics and maybe actually name some cities and towns and be more specific with temprature forecasts and maybe saying when it will be uncomfortably humid(has been the last few days), not to mention giving the 5 day forecast at the end a facelift. Anybody have any idea if RTE/ME are looking into this? I do have to give them their dues though with the pollen, UV and water safety warnings during the Summer.
This is definitely a result of to much time on my hands and strong painkillers!

piuswal · 27-06-2014 8:44am

TV weather graphic systems are expensive and I suspect that given their budgetary constraints RTE do not have Weather graphics replacement as their top priority. They probably budget for a major change with every new contract, however long they might be, anything from 2 or 3 to 4 or 5 years I suspect, with some minor updating in between if money is available, and the availability of money has been a major issue for RTE for the past 5 to 7 years as far as I can recall.

Then you must look at who you are comparing them with! ITV, BBC possibly, all organisations scales of magnitude greater than RTE in size and budgets.

Wardrobe budgets do not need to be anything near graphics to allow for greater variation and more frequent updating and from what I notice, it seems that one person seems to dominate the fashion stakes and that makes me wonder if it's all done on RTE budget. Would they allow one to monopolise? Of course I could be all wrong here.

All Things Met Eireann Related Go in Here (MOD NOTE #1)

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