Forecast for The Solent

simonjk

simonjk

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Joined
6 Mar 2003
Messages
2,342
www.sailingweather.co.uk
Hi,

A client ordered this forecast ( http://www.weatherweb.net/swsolent.pdf ) earlier and has said that they are happy for it to be more widely distributed.

I know that not all of you reading this message sail in The Solent, but for those who do it may be useful for you planning your sailing the rest of this week and into the weekend.

Your feedback about this format would be welcome as there is a possibility of attracting sponsorship to make it available daily.

My client didn't want to be named, but thanks to them anyway for allowing this to be distributed.

With best wishes,
Simon
 
I like the way you distingush between different parts of the Solent.

However, more precision in timings would make a big difference to how useful I think it would be. I fully appreciate that there is uncertainty in the data and you don't want to mislead, but vague, wishy-washy terms like 'later' are virtually meaningless. Getting things down to three hour windows, even with qualification where you have real doubts, would make a big difference. Or use equivalent terms like early, mid, late evening if you wish, just please don't replicate the poorer aspects of the Met Office forecast.

If you get sponsorship are you planning thsi just for the Solent?
 
Thanks for the replies so far, my client is a YBW member so they will see you thanks too.

Taken on board comments about timings....fair point, noted!

Simon
 
lancelot said:
Yes, a big thank you to you and your client - extremely useful.
Click to expand...

Indeed, very useful.

Not sure how you will get on with sponsorship although hope it works out. If it doesn't, is there the possibility of distributing a standard forecast like this to a number of people on a subscription basis, perhaps on a range of frequencies. So those of us confined to an office Monday to Friday might want them Thursday to Saturday, the lucky ****** can pay more and have it 7days a week?
 
Yes, like the format and it provides sufficient graphical detail and balanced narrative which I would try to collate myself when planning trips over weekends etc. The detail is disappointing in content as it means that its another weekend lost due to poor weather. Thanks to you and your client for sharing and can they share some more every weekend from March 14 onwards?. :)
 
I like that layout and would wish to see it for the Western Channel/Devon/Cornish Coast area. Further, I'd like to see an indication of sea surface temperature away from the estuaries.

Now, I note from tonight's broadcasts that pro interest is now being focused on a 'bulge' developing in the flow to the SW of a a large Atlantic Low, and that there is some potential for this to deepen into a 'Secondary Low' of some vigour.

Is it appropriate to post a 'heads up' for this feature....?
 
Thanks to both of you. I've not looked yet and WindGuru says purple for the foreseeable future so I'm not sure I want anything more specific or I'll worry about the boat!
 
OK I looked. Really like this format - it makes everything pretty obvious with really nice qualification of certainty. Despite the fact that you also think the wind is purple (F10) I feel much more relaxed about it for some reason, probably due to the less dry format on the pdf. Is this a costly service? I'd probably pay a few quid for this type of thing when needed for a cruise.

On another note...pPresumably with sufficient beer tokens you could extend it into the future with appropriate lower certainty? You seemed fairly gleeful earlier in the year when you had a guess at January! I think it would be worth a fortune for us all to be able to ask for a months notice of expected "good" weather for booking holidays in the summer. With weather forecasting this would obviously be forecasted "not terrible" but that would be good enough for most of us if you were able to predict a week where sailing would probably not be called off :)
 
As always the YBW forumites are generous in their comments, and positive in your suggestions, so again, thank you!

Please keep them coming and I'll keep you informed as to developments.

I wonder is YBW might be interesting in sponsoring the forecast? ;)

Simon
 
Many thanks to your client for allowing you to publish this.

Regarding your request for feedback, I very much like the level of detail and format. I particularly like your percentage level of confidence.

I would like to know the cost of commissioning such a forecast, and also if updates are provided. In this particular case, having looked at weather-online sea level pressure, the exact position of the secondary low is critical and five days ahead is a long time to predict such development. 100 mile variation in the position of the centre of the low, with its passage overhead, or north, or south of the forecast area, would radically change the forecast as we get closer to Monday.
 
Thanks again to all.

Well, as always I need to cover our costs of producing this forecast. I do run a professional company and employ meteorologists, operatre an office, technology etc... so all these costs need to be covered. It takes around 2hrs to produce the Solent and Channel forecasts. Yes, if the funds are there the forecast would be monitored and updated as needed. I would add other areas too as the sponsorship comes along, so we can target areas as required.

Feel free to email me ( simon at weatherweb dot net ) if you'd like more information or you think you might be able to help.

We can get this up and running, just need the support of all to do it. That support could be financial but also showing your club/marina, displaying on notice boards, emailing other sailors etc... anything that helps get the word out and builds support. That's want sponsor will want to see.

Excited about the possibilities of what could be a real service to the sailing community.
Simon
 
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