View Full Version : xc weather website
chris-h
5th Dec 2010, 17:28
The 2nd time now that on a night that i was meant to fly xc weather was
giving vis 9999 when infact its down to 100m in the northwest.
This website is unreliable and a reminder that the only actual wx reports for aviators should come from the met office website or links.
Was it a METAR and if so what was the date/time on it?
2high2fastagain
5th Dec 2010, 17:52
I've been using xcweather for about 8 years and I think it is a very useful tool indeed. IO's advice is good. Set your preferences so you see the raw data and you can see how old the report is.
Met office, xcweather and meteox are pretty good websites to start your weather planning in my opinion.
Humaround
5th Dec 2010, 17:54
I quite like XC Weather for a localised overview, as it were. I have noticed that the forecasts tend to be optimistic compared with hindsight.
chris-h
5th Dec 2010, 18:35
Its the Overview section that seems to not get updated,
I always check Taf's and Metar's elsewhere.
I just hope student pilots arnt relying on this website as an actual report for weather.
Mark1234
6th Dec 2010, 10:23
I just hope student pilots arnt relying on this website as an actual report for weather. If they were, they'd be very lazy and stupid wouldn't they, student or otherwise?
Firstly weather forcasts are not a contract, they're an informed WAG (wild a** guess).
Secondly why on earth wouldn't you examine the full data, properly obtained? XCW is a convenience. The responsibility is yours, NOT theirs. If it's too hard to do it properly, then don't do it.
Sorry, that was uncharacteristically rant-like.. the OP probably meant a public-service announcement, not a complaint. But seriously, when looking at *any* data, one should always consider the veracity of the source, doubly so when it might be 'operationally' significant. Or to put it another way, never rely on something unless you know it's reliable!
Miroku
6th Dec 2010, 15:11
This website is unreliable and a reminder that the only actual wx reports for aviators should come from the met office website or links.
The one which forecasted a barbecue summer and a mild winter you mean?:E
I've found that XC generally gives a better forecast than the met office. Just depends when you are looking I suppose.............
chris-h
6th Dec 2010, 15:13
And my point is, its NOT reliable
And my point is, its NOT reliable
You need to define "reliable".
Do you mean to say that it can give you information which is not current?, information which is current but not the latest? current but not based on a recent forecast run? current and recently produced but not reflective of actual conditions? to what extent? what are your needs and demands in that respect?
Weather forecasting is a science which produces results which require a certain background knowledge and analysis on the part of the consumer to interpret. There just isn't anybody sat there staring into a crystal ball (much as it may seem like it sometimes :E).
There are many "amateur" weather sites, and some of them do carry out of date data.
A good example is this one (http://www.mwis.org.uk/synoptic.php#000) which carries the genuine UKMO MSLP charts but if you look closely on the age of each one, you will see that some of them are older than the "same" ones on say Avbrief (or perhaps the UKMO's own site, but I don't have the pay subscription to check).
This is not unusual because nobody wants to pay money to the UKMO, so they often carry older charts, which amounts to a forecast which is further-out. It isn't wrong as such; it's just that a later forecast for a given date/time will be more accurate.
There are also sites which carry out of date tafs/metars, which is inexcusable since these are free. Most sites get them from here (http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/coded.html), for free, anyway. Some more difficult TAFs (e.g. LGST) can be found here (http://www.ogimet.com/metars.phtml.en) (as well as historical TAFs, which are rare).
Nobody should rely on interpreted forecasts like "tomorrow will be a fine day"...
chris-h
6th Dec 2010, 17:06
Everybody gets the forcast wrong obviously but the point im making is,
xc weather gets the observation wrong.
Surely an observation should be something they know is fact rather than something they're guessing at..
Mark1234
6th Dec 2010, 23:40
Perhaps read the FAQ - which specifically mentions such things. XCWeather Frequently Asked Questions (http://xcweather.co.uk/v19/faq.php)
It's free, it uses free sources - you get what you pay for, and considering that, it's rather good. Personally I find it great for knowing when to pack the kitesurfing gear and head for the coast; if I'm flying - not so much!