The Weather Magazine

[xmetman]

I was looking at how even skinnier than ever the Weather magazine was looking for May 2018, so I decided to look back 50 years and see how things have changed. 

May 2018

1. In this issue of Weather
   
2. Weather news
   
3. Research Articles - Simulated satellite imagery at sub-kilometre resolution by the Hong Kong Observatory
   
4. The Nile River: an enigma
   
5. Associating weather societies across Europe, Part 1
   
6. Weather images
   
7. Weather log
   
8. Photographs
   
9. Exploring the ‘prehistory’ of the equatorial stratosphere with observations following major volcanic eruptions
   
10. The application of a single model ensemble system to the seasonal prediction of winter temperatures for Islamabad and Lahore using coupled general circulation models
    
11. News Item
    
12. Obituary: Philip Eden
    
13. Society news
    
14. Inside Cover Photographs
    

May 1968

1. TETROON FLIGHTS OVER NEW YORK CITY
   
2. VISUAL OBSERVATIONS OF LIGHTNING IN SOME GREAT PLAINS HAILSTORMS
   
3. CYCLONE OVER CEYLON, DECEMBER 1964
   
4. NOTES ON THE EVOLUTION AND INTERPRETATION OF SATELLITE GLOBAL SCALE MOSAICS
   
5. PERSISTENT SNOWBEDS IN THE WESTERN CAIRNGORMS
   
6. SCOTTISH SNOWBEDS IN SUMMER 1967
   
7. A NOTE ON RAINFALL IN THE SUDAN
   
8. ‘SUMMER DAYS’ IN THE BRITISH ISLES
   
9. APRIL TEMPERATURES AND THE FOLLOWING SUMMERS IN SOUTHAMPTON
   
10. LOOKING BACK ON 1967
    
11. THE SOCIETY'S LIBRARY
    
12. FORTHCOMING MEETINGS
    
13. NEWS
    
14. WEATHER LOG
    

I must say that I always seemed to be able to relate to articles back then probably because they were simpler and felt more relevant to me. I suppose the Weather magazine isn't that much different from this forum, in that it depends entirely on it's readers submitting articles that of interest to the other members. 

[George in Edinburgh]

I agree with your commesnt. I first joined the Royal Met Soc around the late 1960's.  I seem to recall that in those distant times we Fellows (as were known in those days) not only received the monthly 'Weather' but also the 'Quarterly Journal'. The latter was a more learned tome altogether. However the two publications complemented one another in terms of content, more general content in one and more scholarly in the other.

George in Swanston, Edinburgh

www.swanstonweather.co.uk

[John Hall]

Looking on the bright side, at least over the last fifty years they've learnt how to use lower case. :)

[Trevor Harley]

Very good John. 

I must admit I stopped taking Weather a few years ago because the papers were getting too technical (and I know my maths) and when I was on an economy drive. I wonder about restarting. Do they supply it digitally now?

[xmetman]

Yes they do, but as individual articles in PDF format, rather that as a complete magazine which I would much prefer.

[Trevor Harley]

That's pretty odd. Is Roger Brugge still the editor? He is pretty savvy, dragging COL into the computer age.

[xmetman]

No, it's a Met Office guy called Jim Galvin.

[Julian Mayes]

I was trying to stay clear of this discussion (as a past editor I do not want to be seen as a back seat driver - I think Jim's done a good job) but I agree with the view about the accessibility of articles - this has been a issue for decades hasn't it? The research community has grown enormously since the 1960s in the subject and the world as a whole has changed - as Trevor will appreciate, higher education research funding will not reward those who mainly publish in Weather.  People are busier than ever. I tried to get around it a bit by initiating special issues and inviting submissions but there's only so far you can go. However, with more RMetS journals today, I would think Weather could address the interests of the non-professional a little more - every publication needs to find its niche market.  

Re the other thread, the change to paper envelopes happened a month or so back and was (I assume) to reduce plastic waste, and high time too. Issues of availability of PDFs etc will be a Wiley issue. 

If anyone fancies their chances, Jim's term of office is nearly at an end and they are advertising for a new editor (not paid though!). For me, editing Weather was hugely enjoyable and quite engrossing. 

Julian    

Molesey      

[Tudor Hughes]

    It seems to me that meteorology is yet another one of those subjects that has passed from the realm of the serious amateur to that of the professional.  It is going the way of astronomy, a great interest of mine.  I had got into it seriously by the late 60's and there were things that amateurs could do that were really scientifically useful, an example being the timing of lunar occultations (moon moves in front of a star) which were used to improve the lunar ephemeris.  Not any more - using lasers and corner reflectors the distance to the moon can now be measured to within a few feet and using various mathematical processes the accuracy of its other co-ordinates are similarly improved.  Occultations are now simply old hat.

     Meteorology is going the same way in that research mostly involves sophisticated computer programs or is of a statistical nature but one gets the feeling that very few of the people involved actually look at the sky.  Many observations are automated and they go straight into the computer and out comes a forecast.  You don't even need to draw back the curtains, so to speak.

     The comparison between the 1968 and 2018 issues of Weather is a vivid illustration of how meteorology has changed and no longer engages the amateur.  I would read avidly the May 1968 issue (my copies don't go back that far) but the current issue I found frankly a bore as I do more and more frequently.  This is not a criticism of any editor past or present; this is what meteorology has become and will become more so.  Just don't mention the weather.

Tudor Hughes  

[Jack Frost]

I knew someone a few years ago who did a data assimilation PhD at Reading, and they weren't even sure what directions longitude and latitude represented, nor much about actual atmospheres! I guess data assimilation is really just a mathematical subject.

Liam

[xmetman]

The thing is nowadays there are so many ways of accessing the latest information about weather and climate which make a monthly weather magazine (or a daily blog) almost irrelevant.

Even this forum has only 77 subscribers, UKSW may have a few more but only 10% of those post on a regular basis.

I would guess that there are no more than 10,000 subscribers to the Weather magazine, maybe even less, and it can't be long before they are forced to abandon the printed version due to costs.

I would have thought that to broaden its reach the RMS could open their magazine for downloading from public libraries as I do each with the New Scientist magazine.

Of course to do this they would them have to turn the Weather into a "complete" digital magazine rather than it as the moment a collection separate articles.

If I were applying for Jim Galvin's job that would be my number one priority!

[John Hall]

I think the change in the content of Weather over the years is largely a reflection of meteorology effectively having become a branch of physics when it used to be a branch of geography.

[Len W]

I think there is still a lot of enthusiastic amateurs out there. There are so many newsgroups and forums now to post on.

I have n't counted but there must be at least half a dozen.

This is the route the younger enthusiasts take. Paying extra for 'Weather' is not attractive or immediate enough for them.

The mass media (BBC) engage with those interested on a surface level in weather by getting them to send in their photos.

Amateurs can also send their obs to WunderMap , WOW, ..

So I think there are plenty of ways lots of amateurs are engaging, just not in a very analytical way.

There is so much met info now available on the internet that was not available when the Weather mag got going.

Poor old Weather mag is just not sexy enough for the the  younger  generation who like the info fast and often bite size.

Len

Wembury

[MartinR]

If you can put up with the adverts and other fluff (or is it feathers?) Twitter is a surprisingly good source of current weather information.  Severe weather enthusiasts seem to dominate but that's no bad thing.  There's some good stuff about US storm chasing being posted now plus lots of meteorological eye-candy.

MartinR

[xmetman]

It's a shame that all the weather articles that bombard Twitter, YouTube and Facebook can't be somehow edited and collated into one place.

I did try to do this a little in my xmetman blog but neither Twitter, YouTube or Facebook make it easy to cross link to them for obvious reasons.

[Trevor Harley]

The loss of your blog is a sad event, although I understand your reasons.