UKMO in retirement

[Len W]

Has anyone noticed that the UKMO no longer verifies their hourly forecast for your postcode location. Their verification webpage no longer exists.

Could it be that they realise the hourly forecasts are a liability on many occasions and would prefer not to verify them in the public domain?

Len

Wembury

[Graham Easterling]

I did ask once how they verified the forecast for say Penzance. Apparently it was verified against Camborne, or so I was told. I asked following a day when, due to north coast sea fog, there was almost a 10C temperature between Penzance & Camborne. So as a post code verification system it left something to be desired. 

There reply may or not have been correct as they also told me that the forecast for Scilly heliport & airport (the same place) were different because they were based on different grid locations, and refused to accept the Porthminster beach faces east therefore a NW wind was not onshore (that was subsequently corrected) etc. I no longer bother to contact them. I suspect some members of this group have a better idea how the verification system worked.

Anyway, this morning we have a thunderstorm warning & a <5% chance of rain. I can't help thinking the timing of the warning should have been split into at least 2 areas.

28mm of rain in the 24 hours to 09:00 today, the heaviest 18:00-20:30 yesterday.

Graham

Penzance

[Freddie]

I've no idea why the verification page has been retired.

Verification is tricky if you don't collect observation data for the postcode location.

Using raw model data for postcode forecasts is fraught with problems - but if the customer wants this (perhaps they don't have the budget for forecaster-intervened model data?) then that is what they are supplied with.

If you don't like something about warnings, postcode forecasts, etc. then have you tried contacting the PWSCG?  They are the customer that specifies the content on the public bit of the MO website, together with warnings.  https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/what/pws/pwscg/faqs

-- 

Freddie

Alcaston

Shropshire

148m AMSL

http://www.hosiene.co.uk/weather/

Stats for the month so far: https://www.hosiene.co.uk/weather/statistics/latest.xlsx