Metservice changes - have a say

[Guest]

Weather Survey & Background

 

Please find attached a link to an online weather survey. The purpose of this survey is gain feed back from skippers & operation managers on the type of weather information required to ensure safe trip planning & make operators aware of some proposed future changes to MetService products.

 

http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/weather-survey/

 

MetService are proposing some changes and enhancements to marine products and have asked Maritime NZ’s assistance with gaining feedback from the various maritime sectors on the likely impacts. Key changes are around consistent content format for coastal forecasts, addition of enhance online graphical representation of wind, swell etc, reduction in text based outlook for coastal and high sea’s forecasts & reviewing the requirement for HF weather fax.

 

The survey is broken into five sections, Vessel Information, Means of obtaining weather information, Services provided via Maritime Radio, Proposed changes to MetService products & a general comments field. The survey will hopefully only take 5 minutes of your time to complete, MetService asked for a response by 30 April 2012.

 

All of the information provided will be supplied to MetService to enable them to make informed decisions around the possible impacts and what services might add value.

 

In short, it is your chance to provide feedback on your weather information requirements.

 

Kind regards

 

Jim

 

 

Jim Foye| Lighthouse Engineer

Maritime New Zealand | Wellington

T +64 4 494 1211 | M +64 27 431 3935 | F +64 4 494 1263 | W www.maritimenz.govt.nz/contact-us

[Grinna 2]

Getting their predictions right would be a great start.

 

sorry ... had to be said whether its a fair call or not

[Guest]

I was going to say bring back Bob, but he deserves a break.

[TimW 1]

Metservice get bagged on this website but in the past season they have consistently been the closest to the money.

 

In the past they did tend to overstate the Wind Strength but in the last year I think they are getting that right far more often than not.

 

Go Metservice. Keep Up the Great Free service you provide.

[Grinna 2]

Meh, Metservice still tend to be well on the conservative side and their success rate ain't that brilliant in practical terms. They'll change forecasts during the day .... and eventually get it right at the last minute (and then call that a success) but in practical terms that's really not that helpful for anyone planning a passage, an overnight anchorage or an event. They get it wrong enough, often enough for it to be noticed and to be a real pain in the ass for me (and my colleagues) both professionally and recreationally.

 

Hey, I know its a tough gig and all that, and maybe we tend to have unrealistic expectations, but maybe they shouldn't sell their service as anything more accurate as an educated(?) guess.

 

If Metservice really were as accurate, as user friendly and as good a service as they're made out to be, why would we have so many alternative weather forecast sites e.g. MetVUW, PredictWind, Windguru, Ocean Weather, Passage Weather, etc, etc.* and why can interested amateurs make just as good, if not better, weather predictions most/more of the time?

 

* yes, I realise that's not entirely fair because some of those sites are specialised weather forecast delivery sites.

[Battgirl 23]

Thanks. Done

[B00B00 310]

Metservice get bagged on this website but in the past season they have consistently been the closest to the money.

 

In the past they did tend to overstate the Wind Strength but in the last year I think they are getting that right far more often than not.

 

Go Metservice. Keep Up the Great Free service you provide.

 

I agree Tim, I have found metservice to be by far the most accurate wind wize for the whole summer. Everyone else has been seriously under stating the wind strength.

I think they have been on the money more than anyone else.

[markm 30]

Not sure I completely agree with TimW and Booboo re Metservice, particularly more than a day or two out, however I do agree with their basic point being that Metservice are somewhat better than many would have you believe.

 

But hey, I see an opportunity to distribute some fine sponsor product here (hint hint Ogre).

 

Why not see if those who like to talk the talk are anything more than talk?

 

PredictWind post up the actual wind readings for various sites, let's see who can do better than Metservice over say the next three weekends.

 

Suggest Bean Rock, post predictions no later than mid day Thursday before the weekend for the period 10:00 - 17:00 Saturday and Sunday and see who can get closer than Metservice.

 

We'll compare it to the actuals from PW.

[Clipper 346]

longer term foreasting by metservice (as in longer than 24 hours) is not even worth looking at in my opinion. I've given up on them for longer term.

They seem to get nowcasting about right.

[wheels 543]

Metservice are accurate as long as the advance notice is not a lot more than nowcasting. Anything that extends beyond that and they are a mixed bag of results at best.

I can get a very accurate idea of what is going to happen using both Metvu and Swellmap for at least 3 days out.Maybe Metservice need to use that kind of predictive map and share it on line rather than come up with their own forcast from it. Mainly because the weather is so different over such a vast area as the Gulf. It is better to see what the wind and rain is going to do for a specialised area rather than try and announce that in words.