Meteo Consult forecast app no longer free?

[franksingleton]

I find it more accurately reflects what I see and feel.

I had a chat with one of the guys from the Met Office at the Sailing and Weather day at Greenwich a few years ago. It was interesting to learn that the Met Office always gives the maximum in any sea area in its forecast.

Although it is many years since I had overall responsibility for shipping forecasts on my watch, I would like to offer an explanation for that. A gale warning MUST be issued if a F8 MIGHT occur within the next 12 hours. A warning is only cancelled if the forecaster is sure that winds everywhere in a sea area are less than F8. Inevitably, that leads to some over-prediction of winds. The rules are set by and agree by the MCA jointly with users.

 

[Poignard]

You are not quoting from an independent source. Ire reminds me of a quote from the early days of ITV, “They speak well of it in the adverts.”



Unlike some other private weather services, MeteoGroup is staffed by professional meteorologists. However, they can be no better than the models that they use. Any broadcast or automatically genersted forecast is limited in accuracy not only by the imperfections in the models but also by the constraints in presentation. If you are paying for a tailor made service then MG would be better in detail - just as the Met Office would be. For services that you pick off the internet, there can be little overall differences between suppliers. There will be differences in detail between models as I am currently seeing sitting in Piriac sur Mer. Differences are largely random and probably due to small differences in data analyses and models. If you use the Windy,com comparison facility, you will find thst each model is usually within the uncertainty range of the other models. If one is an outlier, trust none.

A final comment, remember that Weather forecast models have in-built smoothing of about 4 or 4 grid lengths. For the ECMWF and the Met Offic4, that is about 40 or 50 km. For GFS, ICON ets it is about 70km. That is the highest resolution these models can predict. ICON-EU should do better with its 7 km grid although I can not see any better performance although I have not done a detailed study. Nobody ever tells you about model smoothing, apart from me. See the Skippers Cockpit Weather Guide . Modesty forbids thst I should give the name of the author!

" Skippers Cockpit Weather Guide"
Link please.

 

[franksingleton]

" Skippers Cockpit Weather Guide"
Link please.

Adlard Coles Skipper's Cockpit Guide - Weather - Franks-Weather - The Weather Window

Skipper's Cockpit Weather Guide - Frank Singleton; | Foyles Bookstore

 

[Poignard]

Adlard Coles Skipper's Cockpit Guide - Weather - Franks-Weather - The Weather Window

Skipper's Cockpit Weather Guide - Frank Singleton; | Foyles Bookstore

Thanks.

 

[John_Silver]

Strange (but good).....I've still got Inshore Areas (which is what I use - I always just 'interpolate,' between the two areas either end, when crossing Biscay, Celtic Sea, Channel). On iPhone (not updated since end of April, when I left UK), using a UK SIM in N Spain. No idea which (if any) of those variables might make a difference, to requiring a subscription. Hope I'm not in for a rude shock. Meteo C is the most accurate forecast I've found.

Ahhh……the (still free) loophole has been closed. In the Gironde today. When I tried to get the inshore forecast, on MC, I kept getting ‘internet connection failure.’ Until I updated the app….when I got the subscription screen.
Have coughed up. I trust MC, for wind and swell…..

 

[franksingleton]

Ahhh……the (still free) loophole has been closed. In the Gironde today. When I tried to get the inshore forecast, on MC, I kept getting ‘internet connection failure.’ Until I updated the app….when I got the subscription screen.
Have coughed up. I trust MC, for wind and swell…..

Why piss around with MC? For Biscay, quick links to Meteo France rexts are at Marine Forecast Texts for METAREA II[[<<]]Atlantic coasts of France. Spain, Portugal and High Seas - Franks-Weather - The Weather Window. On that page, also, are links to the free MF app, good apart from the annoying adverts.

 

[John_Silver]

Why piss around with MC? For Biscay, quick links to Meteo France rexts are at Marine Forecast Texts for METAREA II[[<<]]Atlantic coasts of France. Spain, Portugal and High Seas - Franks-Weather - The Weather Window. On that page, also, are links to the free MF app, good apart from the annoying adverts.

Excellent link - Thank You!
Will look at the two (MC & MF) in parallel while we work our way homeward……See which is the more accurate. MC certainly not perfect - led us into a 12 hour wind hole, on the passage from Hondarribia into the Gironde.

 

[franksingleton]

My experience - confirmed by our current cruising, Dart, St Pete Port, St Cast round the coast to Piriac, Le Palais and now returning Is as follows:-

Computer models, GFS, ECMWF, ICON are very similar ie within a few knots of each other for the first 2 or 3 days. After that, ECMWF with its later start and better data analysis is better for planning ahead. MC gives the GFS. On the day, I always want to see Meteo France mainly for warning purposes. Remember, they have a very few words to summarise the weather over a large area. Today, Lorient to Loctudy, MF said NE 4/5. No mention of a decrease to very light after midday - as shown on GRIB data. For outlooks, MF are not very good.
But, all GRIB forecasts, whether GFS, ECMWF, ICON or any one else, will always underestimate strongest winds. This is because computer Weather models smooth out detail to about 5 grid lengths.

So, use GRIB files from wherever they are free, Allow for the smoothing, watch the human product for warning purposes and, usually, a better indication of wind strength.