What do you think of this Weather forecast format?

[simonjk]

Hi everyone,

You may remember that a few years ago I trialled a new format of forecast for specific areas of the UK.

Now, several of you have emailed to ask if I can issue similar forecasts for the coming season.

Here's a sample of the forecast. Initially it would be for The Solent area (apologies for those who do not sail there but other areas would be added). http://www.weatherweb.net/wxwebsolent.pdf

What I'd like to know from you is..

1. What do you think of the format, is it easy to use?

2. Would you prefer the forecast emailed downloadable from a website or both?

3. Most crucially, would you be willing to pay for it?

I hope you agree it is a premium product which takes a forecaster some time of careful work to produce. Therefore it would not be a cheap 'n cheerful forecast, but something that I hope would benefit you and your sailing.

My hope would be that some sponsorship revenue could be raised for it too, but would you pay for it to be issued each day throughout the main sailing season (and possibly beyond)? Anyone know of any companies who may be willing to do this?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Simon

 

[DaveS]

I can't really comment usefully on the Solent since I have no knowledge of sailing there, other than to suggest that it's a very small area, and if your intention was to ultimately make detailed forecasts of similarly small areas around the UK then a) there will be a lot of them, and b) it's going to involve an awful lot of work.

I presume the idea is to generate added value by going to a level of detail below that of the MO inshore forecast. Taking as an example my local area, Caledonia, i.e. Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point, I could see advantage in dividing this into a number of areas, say South West of Islay, Sound of Jura, Firth of Lorn, Sound of Mull, Loch Linnhe and connecting Lochs. An alternative (possibly better) approach might be to offer the same coverage area as the inshore forecast but divided into a number of areas as above. This would help with decisions like "where will we go this weekend" and could be well worth paying for.

I like the UK forecast charts.

 

[ianat182]

Simon. Don't know if it is my computer playing up but the PDF display appears and disappears almost immediately; could be something to do with the new forum format?


ianat182

 

[Croak]

I wouldn't pay directly for a weather forecast.

 

[mjcoon]

Simon. Don't know if it is my computer playing up but the PDF display appears and disappears almost immediately; could be something to do with the new forum format?

Could always be the former, of course. Eliminate the latter by downloading and opening the PDF outside the browser.

Mike.

 

[RAP77]

1. I like the format and the detailed preditions
2. Prefer it e-mailed
3. Yes

 

[NUTMEG]

Yes I would pay. For Thames est and Essex coast

 

[Daedelus]

1. I like the format, although I would the Saturday synoptic repeated same size as the others to more easily see how it is expected to change.

2. If it was me I owuld prefer a short email saying the forecast was there as I can't go sailing all the time and a good forecast when I'm stuck ashore would simply depress me - and you might want to consider some means of buying a few forecasts at a time and using up one's credit as one goes along.

3 As for paying - it depends how much.

Finally the forecast is for cr*p weather again - if I'm paying for a forecast I would expect you to arrange some better weather to reeport.

 

[PhillM]

1. I like the format and the detailed preditions
2. Prefer it e-mailed
3. Yes

+1

Paid for last two years SWIS Gold from April - September.

My motivation is that there are days when the Met Office Inshore is marginal but it is often the case that it’s going to be OK in the Solent. Last year there were four days when based on the Met forecast, I would have missed going sailing - so to me it was a worthwhile outcme for the money spent. There were also 2 days where with the same Met marginal forecast the SWIS forecast made it clear that going out would be a bad idea. Again, no bad thing.

I do have the SWIS txt but I don’t really find that very helpful – perhaps it is because I have not really taken the time to understand it as I have never not been able to get the email forecast on my iphone. If I was in that position I would rely on the Coastguard VHF or R4 LW.

As for paying customers, it would be great if you talked Premier Marinas into sponsoring and then offer to send it to all their customer’s as part of their service.

 

[robbieg]

Yes I would pay. Format looks good. Like to see more about sea state-one of the main factors influencing my trip. Be good if it was available on a self service basis via an app. West Country area of interest.

 

[viago]

very nice format and very comprehensive. i might pay £10 a year for a subscription and daily email/text for plymouth/soth west. website access to the various surf cams and the like would be useful to actually see what the sea is doing.

it would be interesting to hear how much others would be prepared to pay.

 

[onesea]

OK my thoughts. I would want a text only service as well so I can receive them on my phone without prating around with attachments and web browsers...

When I want more detail I like the format but:

Why not put the outlook where the table is on page one?

Then put the weather detailed and looking ahead in a table laid out in Landscape on Page 2? To me it is useful to look at wind today tomorrow and ahead without changing pages...

I also wonder for the detail given on the Synoptic charts you could fit 4 on one page without loosing any quality?

Lastly is that the real forecast? Might go sailing next week