Met Office 5 Day forecasts - Again (Sorry!)

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Graham Easterling

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Jan 19, 2021, 4:38:49 AM1/19/21
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My issue today isn't so much the disparity between the written word & the symbols, or even the weather warning and the forecast, it's sloppy & misleading design.

So if you go to Thursday for Penzance you get this.2021-01-19 09_24_01-Capture.png

The weather warning for any part of the day looks a bit strange, but timing differences like that appear to be the norm. My main issue is the warning appears to start  Thursday morning and end some time on Friday. I know that if you click on the warning you get the start and end times, but that isn't the point. The warning should clearly appear with the time to which it relates when you select the day, and then should scroll correctly.

As for the rainfall radar, has anyone succeeded in creating a worse animation? 

Graham
Penzance






Freddie

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Jan 19, 2021, 7:40:09 AM1/19/21
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On Tuesday, 19 January 2021 at 09:38:49 UTC Graham Easterling wrote:
My issue today isn't so much the disparity between the written word & the symbols, or even the weather warning and the forecast, it's sloppy & misleading design.

<snip>

My main issue is the warning appears to start  Thursday morning and end some time on Friday. I know that if you click on the warning you get the start and end times, but that isn't the point. The warning should clearly appear with the time to which it relates when you select the day, and then should scroll correctly.
I think that warning is just a centered banner.  I take your point about it appearing to start Thursday morning and end on Friday - but you could equally say  (with reference to the timeline above it) that it starts early Thursday and finishes late Saturday.  It is unrelated to either timeline.  This is obvious *to me* as the banner doesn't appear to be joined up or part of either of the timelines.  But it isn't obvious to all, obviously :-)

I also take your point about displaying start and end times.

Perhaps both of the above would work okay for single warnings, but maybe not for multiples?

-- 
Freddie
Alcaston
Shropshire
148m AMSL

Graham Easterling

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Jan 19, 2021, 8:00:58 AM1/19/21
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My point really was the warning should scroll with the forecast timeline, not a centred banner.   Then whatever point in the 5 day forecast you were looking at, the start & end points of the warning would be correct. Multiple warnings would add a layer of complexity, but not that difficult to solve.  

Not much rain here so far, just enough to deter me from some daily exercise!  There could be some interesting totals further north.

Roll on Spring and the start of Cornwall's dry season!  It's interesting how much more seasonal rainfall is here, than even up at Wootton Bassett (it wasn't 'Royal' then, but ultra conservative) during the my period there in the late '70s / 80s.
'
Graham

Freddie

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Jan 19, 2021, 8:38:35 AM1/19/21
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On Tuesday, 19 January 2021 at 13:00:58 UTC Graham Easterling wrote:
My point really was the warning should scroll with the forecast timeline, not a centred banner.   Then whatever point in the 5 day forecast you were looking at, the start & end points of the warning would be correct. Multiple warnings would add a layer of complexity, but not that difficult to solve.  

And my point was which timeline - the one above or the one below or both?

Graham Easterling

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Jan 19, 2021, 9:47:42 AM1/19/21
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The one below, so the warning starts & ends at the right hour, and scrolls with the time of day.  

Currently if you go here, https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/gbuj4w06f#?date=2021-01-21 click Thursday it's just centralised, which is misleading, in fact it currently suggest the warning starts when it actually ends. It should be above the hours it applies to and scroll with them.

I used to be a analyst programmer at BT, which I suspect was a similar organisation to the MetO. I had a boss who seemed to spend most of his life ensuring his spreadsheets were pretty with a pleasant colour scheme, ensuring the headings stay on screen was another thing. Then I saw the Errors of My Ways (A great track by Wishbone Ash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAdY1y1KgIw  I first went out with my now wife at that gig, so I knew she had a reasonable taste in music) and left. 

Graham

Metman2012

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Jan 19, 2021, 9:51:27 AM1/19/21
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IIRC the warning banner did only appear over the times it was valid for. It was changed to this a while back - and I remember being confused because the two timelines didn't match - until I realised they had changed the warning to a centred one. I'm with you Graham.
As far as radar animation is concerned, I agree again (twice I've agreed with Graham on the same day!). Freddie, you remember Helen? Her animation was far superior to this one and I emailed them to say so when they introduced this one.

On Tuesday, 19 January 2021 at 13:38:35 UTC Freddie wrote:

Freddie

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Jan 19, 2021, 10:28:28 AM1/19/21
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On Tuesday, 19 January 2021 at 14:51:27 UTC Metman2012 wrote:
Freddie, you remember Helen?
Yes, she is my boss! :-)

Metman2012

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Jan 19, 2021, 10:57:46 AM1/19/21
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Give her my regards!
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