Quote " forecasts have been dodgy all week" said Mark James after reading
out a three hourly forecast for today. It basically said 80% chance of light
rain first thing dropping to dry with 30% chance of light shower for
afternoon. It was heavy rain this morning which could clearly be seen on the
TV. BUT, I wonder what was their source for the forecast? I thought the UKMO
had said there was a weather warning for that area and they were on the edge
of some heavy stuff, at least. So I'm not sure if the comments were
justified - perhaps those nearer to that area could comment.

Dave

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 11:20:47 GMT, "Dave Cornwell"
wrote:

perhaps those nearer to that area could comment.

See http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/..._warnings.html

--
Alan White
Mozilla Firefox and Forte Agent.
Twenty-eight miles NW of Glasgow, overlooking Lochs Long and Goil in Argyll, Scotland.
Webcam and weather:- http://windycroft.gt-britain.co.uk/weather

In article ,
Dave Cornwell writes:
Quote " forecasts have been dodgy all week" said Mark James after reading
out a three hourly forecast for today. It basically said 80% chance of light
rain first thing dropping to dry with 30% chance of light shower for
afternoon. It was heavy rain this morning which could clearly be seen on the
TV. BUT, I wonder what was their source for the forecast? I thought the UKMO
had said there was a weather warning for that area and they were on the edge
of some heavy stuff, at least. So I'm not sure if the comments were
justified - perhaps those nearer to that area could comment.

Certainly the forecast on Radio 4 at 6:57 this morning said heavy rain
for eastern Scotland.
--
John Hall

"I am not young enough to know everything."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

"Dave Cornwell" wrote in message
...
Quote " forecasts have been dodgy all week" said Mark James after reading
out a three hourly forecast for today. It basically said 80% chance of
light rain first thing dropping to dry with 30% chance of light shower for
afternoon. It was heavy rain this morning which could clearly be seen on
the TV. BUT, I wonder what was their source for the forecast? I thought
the UKMO had said there was a weather warning for that area and they were
on the edge of some heavy stuff, at least. So I'm not sure if the comments
were justified - perhaps those nearer to that area could comment.

Dave


Yes I was listening to the R5 and BBCTV commentary yesterday. All comments
were along the lines of how the severity was over done. This is the problem
isn't it.

I am amazed that they (pundits) talk about the rain as if it were a massive
mystery. If one of them had shelled out £19 they could have sat and looked
at weatheronlines 5 min radar and happily watched the rain all blinking day
and where it was going.

I think what happened is that at the start of the tourney, Sunday was
highlighed as the best day and gradually that has changed, albeit quite late
in the day.

Mark James has never been able to predict a winner in any tournament so he
should hold his tongue regarding forecasts.

brian
abefeldy



"Dave Cornwell" wrote in message
...
Quote " forecasts have been dodgy all week" said Mark James after reading
out a three hourly forecast for today. It basically said 80% chance of
light rain first thing dropping to dry with 30% chance of light shower for
afternoon. It was heavy rain this morning which could clearly be seen on
the TV. BUT, I wonder what was their source for the forecast? I thought
the UKMO had said there was a weather warning for that area and they were
on the edge of some heavy stuff, at least. So I'm not sure if the comments
were justified - perhaps those nearer to that area could comment.

Dave

"Brian Blair" wrote in message
...
I am amazed that they (pundits) talk about the rain as if it were a massive
mystery. If one of them had shelled out £19 they could have sat and looked
at weatheronlines 5 min radar and happily watched the rain all blinking day
and where it was going.

I think what happened is that at the start of the tourney, Sunday was
highlighed as the best day and gradually that has changed, albeit quite
late in the day.

Mark James has never been able to predict a winner in any tournament so he
should hold his tongue regarding forecasts.

brian
abefeldy

-------------------
Yes, it always amazes me, with all the money there is in sport and how
dependent they are on the weather, that they don't invest in "proper"
forecasts and look at the radar.
Dave

A parallel situation occurred in the FI Grand Prix in Germany that was
"enlivened" by the rain showers. Not once did the TV production team
think to show the sky upwind so that we might see what was on the
way. OK, there were quick incidental glimpses from time to time but
nothing remotely useful. And where was the rainfall radar feed? I
was watching on my computer so had a general idea but detailed close-
up around the area of the racetrack would have been extrememly
useful.

I was at a GP at Silverstone in the 70s when similar chaos occurred.
I could see the heavy shower approaching yet the teams and drivers
were blissfully unaware until half the field spun off. I wrote to one
of the big teams afterwards and offered my services as a "sky
watcher". I didn't get a reply.

Jack

wrote in message
ups.com...
A parallel situation occurred in the FI Grand Prix in Germany that was
"enlivened" by the rain showers. Not once did the TV production team
think to show the sky upwind so that we might see what was on the
way. OK, there were quick incidental glimpses from time to time but
nothing remotely useful. And where was the rainfall radar feed? I
was watching on my computer so had a general idea but detailed close-
up around the area of the racetrack would have been extrememly
useful.

I was at a GP at Silverstone in the 70s when similar chaos occurred.
I could see the heavy shower approaching yet the teams and drivers
were blissfully unaware until half the field spun off. I wrote to one
of the big teams afterwards and offered my services as a "sky
watcher". I didn't get a reply.

Jack

They've often said that the big teams have their own forecasters, so not
sure what they were up to yesterday!

At the GP the backmarker Spyker team said that they had seen the big shower
approaching and had fitted wet tyres in readiness. No one else seemed to
have though.

In article ,
Dave Cornwell writes:
Yes, it always amazes me, with all the money there is in sport and how
dependent they are on the weather, that they don't invest in "proper"
forecasts and look at the radar.

I was listening to Jonathan Agnew on TMS today, who seems to think that
he knows something about the weather as he's training to be a private
pilot, and mentions METARs from time to time. He couldn't believe that
the rain could be coming from the south given that the wind was from the
east.
--
John Hall

"I am not young enough to know everything."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

wrote in message
ups.com...
A parallel situation occurred in the FI Grand Prix in Germany that was
"enlivened" by the rain showers. Not once did the TV production team
think to show the sky upwind so that we might see what was on the
way. OK, there were quick incidental glimpses from time to time but
nothing remotely useful. And where was the rainfall radar feed? I
was watching on my computer so had a general idea but detailed close-
up around the area of the racetrack would have been extrememly
useful.

Their rainfall radar appears to be very *precise* though not very
*accurate*.
They predicted one shower spot on at the start of the race when six or so
cars aquaplaned into the gravel trap. However there was supposed to
another shower arriving in '12 minutes' that never materialised.

I was at a GP at Silverstone in the 70s when similar chaos occurred.
I could see the heavy shower approaching yet the teams and drivers
were blissfully unaware until half the field spun off. I wrote to one
of the big teams afterwards and offered my services as a "sky
watcher". I didn't get a reply.

Rain certainly make for more interesting races but I bet the
teams hate it. All thos carefully worked out tyre and fuel strategies
wiped out in an instant!
--
Col

Bolton, Lancashire
160m asl