Met office wind speeds newbie question
 

Hi All,

I've been looking at the wind speeds on the Met Office site for the London
area over the next couple of days but am confused about the status of the
wind speeds shown and would really appreciate some help understanding this.

There are often two indicators shown, the mean speed shown in a 'circle'
symbol and, sometimes, a red box directly below showing the speed of gusts.
I'm curious why there doesn't seem to be a correlation between the mean and
the gusts. For example, the sequence 09.00 -18.00 Monday shows mean speeds
of 23 mph (09.00), 35 at 12.00, 46 at 15.00 and 29 at 18.00. However, the
only gust indication shown is at 18.00 (50 mph).

Why are the highest gusts (50 mph) shown for the period when the mean speed
is shown as decreasing down to 29 mph from 18.00 from 46 mph the previous
period? Also, why when mean speeds are on the increase (i.e. from 09.00 -
15.00) are there no gust indicators at all?

This is the forecast I've been looking at:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/...cast_wind.html

Thanks

Mike.

Met office wind speeds newbie question
 

"mikeyp" wrote ...
I've been looking at the wind speeds on the Met Office site for the
London area over the next couple of days but am confused about the
status of the wind speeds shown and would really appreciate some
help understanding this.

There are often two indicators shown, the mean speed shown in a
'circle' symbol and, sometimes, a red box directly below showing the
speed of gusts. I'm curious why there doesn't seem to be a
correlation between the mean and the gusts. For example, the
sequence 09.00 -18.00 Monday shows mean speeds of 23 mph (09.00), 35
at 12.00, 46 at 15.00 and 29 at 18.00. However, the only gust
indication shown is at 18.00 (50 mph).
snip

.... does look odd: this is the 'official' key

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/guide/key.html

and that doesn't help. I would guess that there is a 'cut-off' in the
algorithm used to generate the gust speed display that only allows
gusts to be shown where they are greater than "xx" mph above than the
mean, with an under-pinning minimum value.

All I can suggest is that you send your query to the Met Office
(address on the home page) and ask them.

Martin.



--
Martin Rowley
West Moors, East Dorset (UK): 17m (56ft) amsl
Lat: 50.82N Long: 01.88W
NGR: SU 082 023

Met office wind speeds newbie question
 

On Nov 9, 2:23*pm, "Martin Rowley"
wrote:

... does look odd: this is the 'official' key

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/guide/key.html

and that doesn't help. I would guess that there is a 'cut-off' in the
algorithm used to generate the gust speed display that only allows
gusts to be shown where they are greater than "xx" mph above than the
mean, with an under-pinning minimum value.

Sounds logical, 28 mph gusts in the centre of a BBC type map must be
something rotten. How will they cope do you suppose?

Met office wind speeds newbie question
 

"Martin Rowley" wrote in message
...
"mikeyp" wrote ...
I've been looking at the wind speeds on the Met Office site for the
London area over the next couple of days but am confused about the status
of the wind speeds shown and would really appreciate some help
understanding this.

There are often two indicators shown, the mean speed shown in a 'circle'
symbol and, sometimes, a red box directly below showing the speed of
gusts. I'm curious why there doesn't seem to be a correlation between the
mean and the gusts. For example, the sequence 09.00 -18.00 Monday shows
mean speeds of 23 mph (09.00), 35 at 12.00, 46 at 15.00 and 29 at 18.00.
However, the only gust indication shown is at 18.00 (50 mph).
snip

... does look odd: this is the 'official' key

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/guide/key.html

and that doesn't help. I would guess that there is a 'cut-off' in the
algorithm used to generate the gust speed display that only allows gusts
to be shown where they are greater than "xx" mph above than the mean, with
an under-pinning minimum value.

All I can suggest is that you send your query to the Met Office (address
on the home page) and ask them.

Martin.


Thanks Martin, at least I know it wasn't something that I'd stupidly
misunderstood!

Mike