I am getting more fed up with Weather Underground than ever. They appear to be ending support for just about everything. This week rapid fire stopped working. They removed the name of my town and now show another town on my page. Doppler Detected Storms have been gone for a long time. I am seriously thinking of pulling the plug on my weather station In protest.
I don't need them and am a member of Madis so I can see my data elsewhere.
Is it just me or have they forgotten the people they make their money on?
Breezy Point (and WXF denizens),
My comment here may have been covered elsewhere on wxf, but I've been away a while and might have missed it.
Per the highlighted quote above, WU may just be reflecting what appear to be some extensive changes by NOAA itself that perhaps y'all have noticed and/or already commented on.
Anyhow, I've noticed that beginning a few months ago, NOAA has done some things involving what appear to be consolidating former outlying locations that formerly tied to smaller ASOS's and airports into just one NOAA site. At the same time, some of those smaller WX stations that used to show a 'history' display ('previous 2/3 days' data) which was often updated frequently, depending on the site (at 10-20 minute intervals) now are updated just hourly.
This loss makes decent WU PWS readings even more useful. Yeah, I know there's MADIS, etc., but it's clumsy to use, especially for non-wxnuts.
For example, the NOAA pinpoint for my favorite locations used to report wx data from close by wx stations, now they default to major ASOS's quite some distance away.
This really irritates me. I suspect it reflects a budget-cutting process imposed on NOAA...
I'll give a critical (to me) location: Rockport, TX, where my sailboat* is/was? I always had a browser tab up on a NOAA CRP WFO pinpoint on my marina slip. It gave wx readings from the KRKP ASOS, close enough. Sometime back, that pinpoint forecast I depended on started giving readings from Robstown, TX, a long ways away, and inland. WTF?
These changes at NOAA may be manifesting themselves as they filter through whatever WU derives from NOAA, and therefore not WU's fault. Not that WU isn't otherwise devolving in a bad way. Probably an inevitable result of it's acquisition by a 'cxxp' organization like the TWC.
* I would like to write a bunch on Hurricane Harvey here if I get time. I've had some very close contact with that SOB of late.
Y'all may have seen some drone 'destruction' footage from Rockport on the TV the last few days (taken by a stormchaser named Brian E., there may be others on air/online, I don't have cable or sat).
In one view, the marina where my boat is was shown below, the scene of devastation was incredible. I had left that exact spot on Friday after doing what I could for the boat, as late as I could, in order to get out of Rockport safely and go home.
I'm very worried for some dockmates who were going to "ride it out" aboard their boats. I advised them very strenuously, based on my minute-to-minute monitoring of Harvey, that Harvey would strike the marina as a Cat 3-4+, despite what the broadcast/media forecast stated it would be, as a Cat 1. I left for home and they remained at the dock.
I saw no undamaged boats or buildings in that drone footage, and many boats and structures appeared to be 'missing'.
Even the marina's brick chithouse.
If anybody here has any links to pics or video of the Rockport, TX, Cove Harbor marina(s) area, I'd appreciate seeing them. I have no idea if my sailboat survived, and access to the area is restricted, I may try to go there this weekend.
Mahalo