SkippySky Disclaimer Hello. SkippySky is presented by Andrew Cool. The aim of SkippySky is offer to Astronomers, both amateur and professional, an easy way to plan their viewing activities. SkippySky shows clouds, wind and temperature, and specific astronomy fields that we derive from base data called "Seeing", "Transparency" and "Dewing Risk". You should note that SkippySky is NOT a product of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology - SkippySky is NOT in anyway whatsoever associated with the ABOM. You should NOT substitute SkippySky advice for any ABOM meteorological advice. If you choose to do so, then you accept all responsibility for any plans that are ruined by any difference between SkippySky and reality on the day. SkippySky is merely a graphical presentation of the American NOAA/NCEP GFS Numerical Weather Model data, freely available to all. We hope that you like the way we have presented the data in familiar weather map style format, and we certainly hope that the American computer model is accurate enough for the forecasts to be useful to you. However, if the forecasts are not accurate enough for you, then please don't complain to us - go annoy the Americans who generated the base data in the first place! But before you do that, just take a few moments to contemplate just what it is that they are trying to model with a set of rules. Now just to reinforce that, here, from a professional Meteorologist friend of mine, is a note of professional caution. "I have looked at your worldcup weather website. It may seem like a nice idea to use the GFS direct model output to create your own weather forecast maps. This is fine as long as it comes to large scale weather systems. I.e. getting an overview of the location of lows and highs etc or use it as an estimate of seeing conditions. However these data were never really meant to be used by the public or even to be shown to the public. As you are not a meteorologist you are likely not aware that the direct model output that you are now using has certain deficiencies and is corrected by the professional meteorological organisations using statistical methods which rely on many years of comparing the model output to real world weather. I have attached one examples where you can see what some of the many problems are. You will notice (11 April) that the model produces only a little bit of high cloud (white at the top) but huge amounts of convective precipitation (red bars at the bottom). You can even have zero clouds and huge amounts of precipitation. This fact is related to the model resolution which does not allow modelling very well convective clouds at that scale. However, the model does still produce the precipitation using parametrisations which translate atmospheric conditions to precipitation without computing the clouds. There are also many shortcomings related to 2-m-temperature which depends on many local factors not resolved by the model. So there are many reasons why weather forecasting should be left to the professionals or even local meteorologists who know from experience how to translate the model output into a real world forecast. Just plotting maps from the direct model output does go wrong on many occasions. Especially when it comes to convective clouds and precipitation (like in Brazil)." *************************************************************************************************************************************************** Please note though that SkippySky does *** NOT *** do rainfall. Doesn't touch it with the proverbial 10' pole!! SkippySky cherry-picks cloud, temperature and wind from the hundreds of forecast variables included in the GFS. *************************************************************************************************************************************************** Lastly, I just neeed to remind you again that SkippySky was put together by an amateur astronomers as a service to other astronomers. Every time you look at the site, you're using up bandwidth that I pay for out of my own pocket, meaning that I'm happy to receive compliments 8-), I'll contemplate suggestions for improvement, but if you just want to gripe about a perceived lack of accuracy in the forecasts, or moan that your daughter's garden wedding was ruined because SkippySky didn't forecast the hailstorm, then I'll just turn down my hearing aide. Of course, if you want to contribute $$$$ towards the upkeep and maintenance of SkippySky and the website, then the hearing aide volume will be set to maximum.. ;-)) Regards, Andrew Cool contact@skippysky.com.au