Forecasters As Opposed To Presenters

[Terminal Moraine]

Listening to the forecast for this area on local radio at 7.30 this morning was a prime example ( and one of very many ) why weather forecasts should be delivered by trained forecasters and not presenters.

Having looked at the NW radar at 0700 I had already made up my mind that rain would reach this area by 0930 and was therefore very surprised to hear the presenter tell us that we were in for a dry day with any rain not reaching here until evening.

Not only was this a complete contradiction to the area forecast on the Met' Office site it was also patently obvious to anyone with the least knowledge of how the rainfall radar works that an area of rain had already reached east Staffordshire and was heading steadily east.

It's all very well the weather presenters attending briefing sessions with Met' Office forecasters but if they don't understand the information given, or try to put their own positive slant upon it, it renders any forecast meaningless. Even allowing for this surely it's not beyond the wit of even the most ill informed presenter to turn on the computer and take a look at the latest rainfall radar.

Egg on faces this morning then, and not for the last time I'm sure.

[The PIT]

Listening to the forecast for this area on local radio at 7.30 this morning was a prime example ( and one of very many ) why weather forecasts should be delivered by trained forecasters and not presenters.

Having looked at the NW radar at 0700 I had already made up my mind that rain would reach this area by 0930 and was therefore very surprised to hear the presenter tell us that we were in for a dry day with any rain not reaching here until evening.

Not only was this a complete contradiction to the area forecast on the Met' Office site it was also patently obvious to anyone with the least knowledge of how the rainfall radar works that an area of rain had already reached east Staffordshire and was heading steadily east.

It's all very well the weather presenters attending briefing sessions with Met' Office forecasters but if they don't understand the information given, or try to put their own positive slant upon it, it renders any forecast meaningless. Even allowing for this surely it's not beyond the wit of even the most ill informed presenter to turn on the computer and take a look at the latest rainfall radar.

Egg on faces this morning then, and not for the last time I'm sure.

I agree forecasts should be delivered by the pro's who know what they're talking about. Nothing more annoying than listening to Carol K going on about being freezing when it's about four degrees above normal. I presume these people are cheaper that real mccoy or perhaps the MetO don't have the staff to do all presentations nowadays.

[Nick L]

I agree forecasts should be delivered by the pro's who know what they're talking about. Nothing more annoying than listening to Carol K going on about being freezing when it's about four degrees above normal. I presume these people are cheaper that real mccoy or perhaps the MetO don't have the staff to do all presentations nowadays.

Carol Kirkwood annoys me, especially on Breakfast. Why can't they put her in a studio like 99% of all weather forecasts?! I want to see a weather map taking up the whole screen, not half of it. She also exaggerates things too much, like you said. I don't think she takes her gloves off until it's about 15c. Is she even a qualified meteorologist or just one of these actors? What about the rest of the BBC lot?

Edit: A quick look on the ever reliable Wikipedia reveals something interesting. "in January 1998 she underwent training under the guidance of the BBC at the Met Office". So she doesn't really know what she's talking about I presume?

[Methuselah]

Aye peeps,

Since the long-lamented days of Jack Scot, Bert Foord, Mike Hunt and Michael Fish et al, things do seem to have gradually slipped IMO. Indeed, some of today's forecasts look more like entertainment than science.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

As I listened to the Radio 4 forecast, hearing that there was the "odd shower in the NW this morning, and looked outside wondering whether I'd get wetter in the garden than I was in the shower...I started to think the same myself.

[cheeky_monkey]

Listening to the forecast for this area on local radio at 7.30 this morning was a prime example ( and one of very many ) why weather forecasts should be delivered by trained forecasters and not presenters.

Having looked at the NW radar at 0700 I had already made up my mind that rain would reach this area by 0930 and was therefore very surprised to hear the presenter tell us that we were in for a dry day with any rain not reaching here until evening.

Not only was this a complete contradiction to the area forecast on the Met' Office site it was also patently obvious to anyone with the least knowledge of how the rainfall radar works that an area of rain had already reached east Staffordshire and was heading steadily east.

It's all very well the weather presenters attending briefing sessions with Met' Office forecasters but if they don't understand the information given, or try to put their own positive slant upon it, it renders any forecast meaningless. Even allowing for this surely it's not beyond the wit of even the most ill informed presenter to turn on the computer and take a look at the latest rainfall radar.

Egg on faces this morning then, and not for the last time I'm sure.

oh come on..95% of people couldnt give a monkeys who presents the weather esp on radio..most people dont take in weather forecasts anyway...if you understand the weather what do you do?...exactly what you have just said, check the radar listen to an informed forecast and make your own judgement.

The general public just want a simple forcast not lots of techno babble..if you asked them what is the average temperature for july or january most people couldnt tell you. they just need to know its a bit chilly or a little bit on the warm side.

as for carol kirkwood..does she tell us anything less than a met office trained forecaster..of course not..do i understand the forecast less because she is presenting..no. You dont need a degree and years of met office forecasting experience to read what you are given...because lets face it that is all that they do. are the traffic presenters experts in traffic management? sports readers are they professional sportsmen/women?..no they are just radio/tv people given that job to do.

[The PIT]

oh come on..95% of people couldnt give a monkeys who presents the weather esp on radio..most people dont take in weather forecasts anyway...if you understand the weather what do you do?...exactly what you have just said, check the radar listen to an informed forecast and make your own judgement.

The general public just want a simple forcast not lots of techno babble..if you asked them what is the average temperature for july or january most people couldnt tell you. they just need to know its a bit chilly or a little bit on the warm side.

as for carol kirkwood..does she tell us anything less than a met office trained forecaster..of course not..do i understand the forecast less because she is presenting..no. You dont need a degree and years of met office forecasting experience to read what you are given...because lets face it that is all that they do. are the traffic presenters experts in traffic management? sports readers are they professional sportsmen/women?..no they are just radio/tv people given that job to do.

Which is why they normally get the wrong end of the stick. How about actually giving them actually information. I don't see anything wrong with saying "It'll feel cold tonight because the temps are not what we're used too recently although they're what we expect" rather than it's cold tonight when in fact the temperature is above normal but cooler than it has been. You see it's about education as well.

[Terminal Moraine]

oh come on..95% of people couldnt give a monkeys who presents the weather esp on radio..most people dont take in weather forecasts anyway...if you understand the weather what do you do?...exactly what you have just said, check the radar listen to an informed forecast and make your own judgement.

The general public just want a simple forcast not lots of techno babble..if you asked them what is the average temperature for july or january most people couldnt tell you. they just need to know its a bit chilly or a little bit on the warm side.

as for carol kirkwood..does she tell us anything less than a met office trained forecaster..of course not..do i understand the forecast less because she is presenting..no. You dont need a degree and years of met office forecasting experience to read what you are given...because lets face it that is all that they do. are the traffic presenters experts in traffic management? sports readers are they professional sportsmen/women?..no they are just radio/tv people given that job to do.

I think there are more people with an interest in a reasonably detailed and informed weather forecast than you suggest and I base this partly on the number of people I meet who, knowing I have more than a passing interest in the weather, complain about either the way the forecast is presented on local t.v/radio or the accuracy of the forecasts.

Merely reading out the weather forecast is not what weather presenters do. They attend briefing sessions with Met' Office forecasters at which the synoptic situation and weather likely to result is discussed but it is down to the presenter, in large part, as to how this information is conveyed.

If the presenter has little or no meteorological knowledge, or no idea as to how local topography will affect a given situation then there can be no insight into a developing situation and no reaction to a changing situation; the presenter will happily spout forth their take on the information they were last given, even if it's completely outdated.

I can speak only for my local area but there are presenters who seemingly don't know the difference between continuous rain and showers, between air frost and ground frost, between gales and moderate breeze, and, in one case, between day and night ( when a warm and sunny night was forecast ).

Your comparison between someone reading out a traffic report and someone presenting the weather would only hold true if the person presenting the weather merely read out a forecast prepared by the Met' Office but that is not the case. The person presenting the weather interprets the information they have been given, the person reading out a traffic report merely lists all the delays and accidents.

On the occasions when the presenters are absent, and a forecaster from the nearest weather centre is used, the standard of presentation and the clarity of forecast increases noticeably, not only to me but also to members of the general public as evidenced by the comments I receive.

It seems to me that the local radio and t.v stations are more concerned with having likeable, friendly faces/voices who can put a positive spin on the weather whenever possible than they are with any sort of forecasting accuracy. Does it really cost that much more to provide a radio link to a real forecaster in a local weather centre or have a real forecaster standing in a t.v studio? only 15 or 20 years ago this was always the case.

[The PIT]

TM you've forgotten that ground frost has now been renamed grass frost. In a few years time probably wind screen frost instead.

[noggin]

We are so very lucky to have Richard Angwin as our local BBC weather chap.

http://www.richardangwin.com/2.html

He is a qualified forecaster employed by the MetO. His interest in and knowledge of meteorology shines through. He also keeps us well advised about goings-on in the sky, such as comets, eclipses etc. Recently, (before the cloudy and wet spell) he said that the international space station would be visible (clear sky permitting). He told us the time and whereabouts in the sky it would be. He was spot on, as always....I managed to see it.

He is, as I said, a qualified forecaster, it shows and he tells it as it should be told.

I cannot stand the presenters who don't know their subject and use stupid expressions such as "lots of blue on our map". I don't like it when they keep putting "a" in front of words e.g. " it a-will a-be a-sunny and a-warm". Then there is the disjointedness of the spoken presentation, putting punctuation in which shouldn't be there e.g. "temperature of 20 degrees. In the south in the north it will be 15 degrees."

Gosh, what a whinge there! But not about our lovely Richard, of course!

[Methuselah]

A few years' back, long before Heather Reid (A real MetO person) took over, BBC Scotland had a presenter doing the job; and, God, how she irritated! Fronts were often referred to as little chappies for instance...

[noggin]

Fronts were often referred to as little chappies for instance...

Oh, that is gross! Wasn't it Francis Wilson who started the decline , with his bits of "fluffy white stuff in the sky". This has just reminded me that Ulrika Jonson was also a weather presenter at about the same time. How qualified, meteorologically speaking, was she, I wonder? Oh, don't forget Wincey Willis!

PS See the following link for a list of forecasters and presenters old and new, some with photos, some pre camera (only joking!). Gosh, it brings back some memories!

http://tvpresenters.thetvroomplus.com/category-2.html

[Methuselah]

Oh, that is gross! Wasn't it Francis Wilson who started the decline , with his bits of "fluffy white stuff in the sky". This has just reminded me that Ulrika Jonson was also a weather presenter at about the same time. How qualified, meteorologically speaking, was she, I wonder? Oh, don't forget Wincey Willis!

PS See the following link for a list of forecasters and presenters old and new, some with photos, some pre camera (only joking!). Gosh, it brings back some memories!

http://tvpresenters.thetvroomplus.com/category-2.html

I hope Sian Lloyd is in there. Not!

[cheeky_monkey]

I think there are more people with an interest in a reasonably detailed and informed weather forecast than you suggest and I base this partly on the number of people I meet who, knowing I have more than a passing interest in the weather, complain about either the way the forecast is presented on local t.v/radio or the accuracy of the forecasts.

Merely reading out the weather forecast is not what weather presenters do. They attend briefing sessions with Met' Office forecasters at which the synoptic situation and weather likely to result is discussed but it is down to the presenter, in large part, as to how this information is conveyed.

If the presenter has little or no meteorological knowledge, or no idea as to how local topography will affect a given situation then there can be no insight into a developing situation and no reaction to a changing situation; the presenter will happily spout forth their take on the information they were last given, even if it's completely outdated.

I can speak only for my local area but there are presenters who seemingly don't know the difference between continuous rain and showers, between air frost and ground frost, between gales and moderate breeze, and, in one case, between day and night ( when a warm and sunny night was forecast ).

Your comparison between someone reading out a traffic report and someone presenting the weather would only hold true if the person presenting the weather merely read out a forecast prepared by the Met' Office but that is not the case. The person presenting the weather interprets the information they have been given, the person reading out a traffic report merely lists all the delays and accidents.

On the occasions when the presenters are absent, and a forecaster from the nearest weather centre is used, the standard of presentation and the clarity of forecast increases noticeably, not only to me but also to members of the general public as evidenced by the comments I receive.

It seems to me that the local radio and t.v stations are more concerned with having likeable, friendly faces/voices who can put a positive spin on the weather whenever possible than they are with any sort of forecasting accuracy. Does it really cost that much more to provide a radio link to a real forecaster in a local weather centre or have a real forecaster standing in a t.v studio? only 15 or 20 years ago this was always the case.

really??..the long winter evenings must just fly by when your friends are round.

i work in a very weather dependant industry..namely construction..and i never heard anybody even mention weather presenters or the standard of forecast delivered...i think that 90% of weather readers on radio have no weather knowledge at all they are just general presenters reading a script..just like the traffic people and sports people as i said before.

Talking of francis wilson who has seen the rory bremner impression of his weather forecasting?

[johnholmes]

PS See the following link for a list of forecasters and presenters old and new, some with photos, some pre camera (only joking!). Gosh, it brings back some memories!

http://tvpresenters....category-2.html

some great memories from times gone by in there-one or two not so good but only one or two

[Methuselah]

some great memories from times gone by in there-one or two not so good but only one or two

Aye, John. Seeing Mike Hunt, David Brooks, Jack Armstrong and Bert Foord et al once again, has reminded of the peeps I almost hero-worshipped as a kid!

Thanks for the link, Jethro!

[Nick L]

Talking of francis wilson who has seen the rory bremner impression of his weather forecasting?

The best part about it though is that you can barely tell the difference between that and his real forecasts!

[noggin]

Thanks for the link, Jethro!

Don't mention it Michael.

[Thundery wintry showers]

really??..the long winter evenings must just fly by when your friends are round.

i work in a very weather dependant industry..namely construction..and i never heard anybody even mention weather presenters or the standard of forecast delivered...i think that 90% of weather readers on radio have no weather knowledge at all they are just general presenters reading a script..just like the traffic people and sports people as i said before.

Talking of francis wilson who has seen the rory bremner impression of his weather forecasting?

In terms of overall interest in the weather, my experiences have been highly consistent with what Terminal Moraine says. It is widely- wrongly- assumed that most people have no interest in, or knowledge of, the weather, except for "will it be wet or dry, hot or cold". In reality, those people probably don't significantly outnumber the weather enthusiasts. Most of the people I know are in the middle, they aren't weather enthusiasts but they have a passing interest and a passing knowledge.

However the only people I come across complaining at the "dumbing down" of forecasts are the weather enthusiasts. Those with a passing interest or no interest tend to complain more about lack of accuracy, although dumbed-down forecasts result in those in the "passing interest" category acquiring less understanding over time and might even reduce the number of weather enthusiasts that develop.

[Terminal Moraine]

really??..the long winter evenings must just fly by when your friends are round.

i work in a very weather dependant industry..namely construction..and i never heard anybody even mention weather presenters or the standard of forecast delivered...i think that 90% of weather readers on radio have no weather knowledge at all they are just general presenters reading a script..just like the traffic people and sports people as i said before.

Talking of francis wilson who has seen the rory bremner impression of his weather forecasting?

I also work in weather dependent industries; horticulture and tourism, ( not combined )but perhaps the comments regarding forecasts and presenters have more to do with being known as the local 'weatherman' rather than the industries I work in. Certainly some people seem to have the idea I'm on first name terms with Michael Fish on the strength of running a met' office station.

I still maintain that weather forecasts should be as educational as they are informative, as they used to be prior to the 80s, and you won't get that from one time actors, ex radio d.js and t.v wannabees.

With regard to the long winter evenings, hard as it may be to believe, even I don't spend them mulling over the attributes or otherwise of weather presenters. I've enough on keeping out draughts from winter gales and examining my fuel bills.

[I remember Atlantic 252]

shef and sian lloyd are the worst, they are useless, never watch weather with them

[Nick L]

shef and sian lloyd are the worst, they are useless, never watch weather with them

Shefali? She is awful.

Yesterday she was wearing winter gloves when she was outside, it really was pathetic. I prefer it when Simon Keeling fills in when she isn't there. She is a presenter - not a forecaster - which makes it worse.

[cheeky_monkey]

I also work in weather dependent industries; horticulture and tourism, ( not combined )but perhaps the comments regarding forecasts and presenters have more to do with being known as the local 'weatherman' rather than the industries I work in. Certainly some people seem to have the idea I'm on first name terms with Michael Fish on the strength of running a met' office station.

I still maintain that weather forecasts should be as educational as they are informative, as they used to be prior to the 80s, and you won't get that from one time actors, ex radio d.js and t.v wannabees.

With regard to the long winter evenings, hard as it may be to believe, even I don't spend them mulling over the attributes or otherwise of weather presenters. I've enough on keeping out draughts from winter gales and examining my fuel bills.

i think what people dont realise is that back in the 80s..there were only 4 tv channels and only a few radio stations..now there are hundreds..im pretty sure that 95% of them having a trained weather presenter is not top of the agenda.

[noggin]

i think what people dont realise is that back in the 80s..there were only 4 tv channels and only a few radio stations..now there are hundreds..im pretty sure that 95% of them having a trained weather presenter is not top of the agenda.

Whilst you have a point re the number of channels, surely it wouldn't be too much to expect BBC and ITV to have proper forecasters, even if the newer channels don't feel the need. Someone has to keep standards up and not all of us want this dumbed-down rubbish.

[Methuselah]

Clearly, the days when young enthusiasts learn from the forecasters/presenters are on the wain:

Rather than being gently educated in matters meteorological (as used to be the case) nowadays all they'll 'learn' is to 'take your wellies', 'don't forget your brolly', 'wrap-up warm', 'don't forget the suncream' (nod, wink, patronizing grin, blah blah blah)!

Och weel, we all need a wee rant now and then, eh?

Whilst you have a point re the number of channels, surely it wouldn't be too much to expect BBC and ITV to have proper forecasters, even if the newer channels don't feel the need. Someone has to keep standards up and not all of us want this dumbed-down rubbish.

Indeed, noggin!