Forecast Data REP?

[Paul Lockwood]

Hello

I'm new to the group so this is my first post.

I've recently taken up astronomy and trying to create my own analysis of the data to hopefully give a clearer picture of the sky situation for observing. There are a few apps out there but the one I have tried to use seems to have server issues on a regular basis.

So I've got the API and started pulling some data and on the 3 hour forecast get some of the data as below. Now the way I read this is that the first column is the date for when the data was forecast from as in this case 2:00 AM on 16 Feb 2014. However I'm a bit lost with the next date on 2014092016Z and why there 8 entries for that date. I'm guessing that it is giving me the various possibilities of what the forecast has given with different scenarios. However I'm waiting to be told I'm wrong and be corrected as to exactly what it is.

I will continue to get snippets for each type of data I can get with the API but if anyone has any suggestion on the best data that may be more specific for my needs then that will be most appreciated. 

I can do some reasonable web programming (built works Intranet with html and vb.net) and VB / VBA programming so eventually I would like to create some form of an App. Initially it may have to sit hidden on our works Intranet but it would be great if I could eventually create an app for my Win 8 phone and maybe an Android device, so any pointers would be most appreciated. I could then make this available to my fellow Astronomy hobbyists in the UK.

Thanks in advance for any help.

2014-02-16T02:00:00Z	Forecast	350567	54.9425	-2.7349	BRAMPTON	ENGLAND	EUROPE	69	Day	2014-02-16Z	0	W	0	25	85	6	20	5	VG	7	0
2014-02-16T02:00:00Z	Forecast	350567	54.9425	-2.7349	BRAMPTON	ENGLAND	EUROPE	69	Day	2014-02-16Z	180	WSW	-1	25	85	5	16	4	VG	7	0
2014-02-16T02:00:00Z	Forecast	350567	54.9425	-2.7349	BRAMPTON	ENGLAND	EUROPE	69	Day	2014-02-16Z	360	WSW	-2	22	91	1	11	2	VG	0	0
2014-02-16T02:00:00Z	Forecast	350567	54.9425	-2.7349	BRAMPTON	ENGLAND	EUROPE	69	Day	2014-02-16Z	540	WSW	-1	20	92	1	9	3	VG	3	1
2014-02-16T02:00:00Z	Forecast	350567	54.9425	-2.7349	BRAMPTON	ENGLAND	EUROPE	69	Day	2014-02-16Z	720	WSW	1	22	74	4	13	5	VG	3	1
2014-02-16T02:00:00Z	Forecast	350567	54.9425	-2.7349	BRAMPTON	ENGLAND	EUROPE	69	Day	2014-02-16Z	900	WSW	2	18	72	1	11	6	VG	1	1
2014-02-16T02:00:00Z	Forecast	350567	54.9425	-2.7349	BRAMPTON	ENGLAND	EUROPE	69	Day	2014-02-16Z	1080	SSW	0	11	89	1	4	3	VG	0	0
2014-02-16T02:00:00Z	Forecast	350567	54.9425	-2.7349	BRAMPTON	ENGLAND	EUROPE	69	Day	2014-02-16Z	1260	SE	0	13	91	5	4	2	GO	7	0

[Paul Lockwood]

Must have been a late night as looking at it today I can see that the REP column is the number of minutes since midnight.

[MetOffice DataPoint]

Sometimes just writing it down helps Paul, welcome to the group :-)

 

Clare