Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more

Outdoor Activities => Northern Ireland Camping and Bushcraft => Topic started by: 666_pack on June 04, 2009

Title: How do you check the weather?
Post by: 666_pack on June 04, 2009: Hi All,
I was just wondering how you keep tabs on the weather for planninng trips? I use the below site.

http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi

great little site there is a yearly subscription but I don't bother with it as the free charts in the data centre section give you nearly a weeks coverage.
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: DryBag on June 04, 2009: I use
http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/HOME/

but also look up
http://www.xcweather.co.uk/
and
http://www.met.ie/
from my mobile phone.
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: 666_pack on June 04, 2009: Good man John.
I'll have to check those out.
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: RedLeader on June 04, 2009: I'll have to add them to my list.

I use the Beeb most but I find them to be a bit inaccurate sometimes. I also use the Accuweather Mournes forecast. You can find it here (http://www.accuweather.com/ukie/mountain-forecast.asp?traveler=0&site=UKMOOL;Mourne%20Mountains)
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: Celt_Ginger on June 04, 2009: Some good info there. Well done those men.
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: MG1 on June 05, 2009: I would use Accu weather as well its pretty good.
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: Michelle on June 13, 2009: Man! I thought this thread was going to be kinda "ye olde" methods of weather forcasting such as lumps of sea weed. low flying swallows, ducks in the harbour etc :(
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: Celt_Ginger on June 14, 2009: Stick your hand out from under your tarp. if it comes back in wet, it's raining. If it's dry, it's nor raining.
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: indianian on August 03, 2009: easiest way to tell the weather, is if you cant see the mourns its raining, if you can see the mourns its going to rain,
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: 666_pack on August 10, 2009: amen to that brother. ;D
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: DryBag on July 13, 2011: Saw this story on the BBC website today and it reminded me of this old post.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14087734
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: LandyLiam on July 13, 2011: hard to beat the old weather stone ;)

(http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Wl2_XPSLRkA/TKt4qjhXhFI/AAAAAAAABIM/L6ORsiFzUoE/145.The-weather-stone-at-the-Railway-Inn-Ribblehead-30-June-2006.jpg)
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: cerbera147 on July 14, 2011: Quote from: LandyLiam on July 13, 2011
hard to beat the old weather stone ;)

(http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Wl2_XPSLRkA/TKt4qjhXhFI/AAAAAAAABIM/L6ORsiFzUoE/145.The-weather-stone-at-the-Railway-Inn-Ribblehead-30-June-2006.jpg)

Technology today; flippin' amazing ;D

I wonder how they maintain the accuracy of the stone ???
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: LandyLiam on July 14, 2011: You can't just use any old stone, there is a master stone at the Met Office Headquarters, all others stones must match the porphyritic texture and contain the same number of phenocrysts with similar euhedral forms and as such the phenocryst count is inversely proportional to the accuracy of the stone. Many cheap Chinese copies are composed of a granodiorite and plagioclase composite which is fine when new but calibration drifts over a short period of time and can results in wild inaccuracies, e.g. it is rumoured that Michael Fish used one of these inferior stones on the morning the great October storm in 1987 ::)
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: cerbera147 on July 14, 2011: And there was me thinking I could just go to the beach and grab a stone and have my own weather station :-\

(http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af203/cerbera147/motivator2f1987437227ee2a6df98bf2f48a6423e09a448d.jpg)
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: LennyJ1 on July 14, 2011: Quote from: LandyLiam on July 14, 2011
You can't just use any old stone, there is a master stone at the Met Office Headquarters, all others stones must match the porphyritic texture and contain the same number of phenocrysts with similar euhedral forms and as such the phenocryst count is inversely proportional to the accuracy of the stone. Many cheap Chinese copies are composed of a granodiorite and plagioclase composite which is fine when new but calibration drifts over a short period of time and can results in wild inaccuracies, e.g. it is rumoured that Michael Fish used one of these inferior stones on the morning the great October storm in 1987 ::)

OMG LOL :D
Title: Re: How do you check the weather?
Post by: ChuckMcB on July 14, 2011: I suspect we have just tripped over a Met office in joke :)

Anyhow Metcheck (http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/today.asp?zipcode=bt33) gets my vote as well (when it's not down or throwing IIS 500 errors)...but only up to two/three days ahead, anything and everything else has at best a 50% chance of being true IMHO.