Jim I had the same experience, having commented to the Detroit/Pontiac office of NWS. I got the same response as you. Basically all scripts are written centrally to produce the pages from data tables in their model, and are "common software." However, many of my comments were addressed in the new scripts released last year.
________________________________ From: James Frysinger <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, March 13, 2013 1:54:55 PM Subject: [USMA:52512] Re: Weather Forecasts When Weather Underground first started up years ago I swapped many emails with their top staff on formatting issues. They were extremely responsive to my comments, which I also documented on the USMA mail list. A couple of days ago I sent off a detailed email to NWS Nashville commenting on some formatting issues on their SI version of the point-forecast pages they produce. I got a nice reply saying that my comments were being forwarded to their Science and Operations Officer and their Warning Coordination Officer for input, direction, and advice. I agree with John regarding the general quality of Weather Underground as compared to NWS but for one thing. The NWS site does provide "point" forecasting, centered on a specified latitude and longitude with elevation as a factor. Here on the escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau that makes a large difference in the forecast values, reflecting the difference in actual weather conditions as compared to the "valley" below or the plateau above. The "point" is still an average of an area but it is a small area, probably one grid square on their model. If the graphic is to be believed, I would estimate it as 2 km by 2 km in extent. I've tweaked this and it has my elevation within 10 m and my location as near as I can get it to the actual lat/long of the wireless Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station near my house. The forecast high and low temperatures for the next 24 h are almost always within 1 °C. Those who live in the "flatlands" with fewer effects due to orothography would not need such sensitivity to local microenvironment. Jim Frysinger -- James R. Frysinger 632 Stony Point Mountain Road Doyle, TN 38559-3030 (C) 931.212.0267 (H) 931.657.3107 (F) 931.657.3108 On 2013-03-13 12:15, [email protected] wrote: > Reference was made on this list by John Steele to the www.National > Weather Service's forecast page (www.weather.gov). I would like to > point out that the NWS site is quite an inferior source for such > information. > > I would recommend instead Weather Underground > (www.weatherunderground.com) as by far the best resource available, > better even than Accuweather. Its metric usage is perfection, having > been worked on by our own USMA meteorologist, Dr. Don Hillger. > > EVERYTHING is in SI units, if you set it that way under Settings (Metric > instead of English units, as they are called there). Moreover, the > amount of information far surpasses that of the NWS site, as thousands > of local digital weather stations in backyards are included, with more > data, lists, and graphs than you can imagine. > > Martin Morrison > Metric Training & Education Columnist, USMA's "Metric Today" > > > >
