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WXSIM Saratoga

Discussion of Ken True's web site templates

Moderator: saratogaWX

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Mapantz
Posts: 1775
Joined: Sat 17 Dec 2011 11:55 am
Weather Station: Davis Vantage Pro2
Operating System: Windows 11 x64
Location: Dorset - UK
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WXSIM Saratoga

Post by Mapantz »

Hi Ken

We've got a nasty storm arriving on Friday and I've just noticed the WXSIM script showing "41-64mph - Violent storm"

The 41mph would be the wind speed, with gusts up to 64mph. That would make it a gale.. have I missed a setting somewhere?
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saratogaWX
Posts: 1170
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Re: WXSIM Saratoga

Post by saratogaWX »

The plaintext-parser.php has the following

Code: Select all

$BeaufortText = array(
// NOTE: don't change these .. use LANGLOOKUP entries in the plaintext-parser-LL.txt
// translation file instead.
'Calm', 'Light air', 'Light breeze','Gentle breeze', 'Moderate breeze', 'Fresh breeze', 
'Strong breeze', 'Near gale', 'Gale', 'Strong gale', 'Storm', 'Violent storm', 
'Hurricane' 
);
// wind speed < values below correspond to force 0 .. 11 . >= last value = force 12
$BeaufortKTS = array(
1,4,7,11,17,22,28,34,41,48,56,64,64
);
$BeaufortMPH = array(
1,4,8,13,19,25,32,39,47,55,64,73,73
);
$BeaufortKPH = array(
1,6,12,20,30,40,51,63,76,88,103,118,118
);
$BeaufortMS  = array(
0.2,1.6,3.4,5.5,8.0,10.8,13.9,17.2,20.8,24.5,28.5,32.7,32.7
);
which sets the upper limits and word(s) to use for the Beaufort scale.

Later in the script is

Code: Select all

// determine Beaufort number based on wind speed and units
function PPgetBeaufort ( $wind, $units) {

global $showBeaufort,$BeaufortMPH,$BeaufortKPH,$BeaufortKTS,$BeaufortMS,$doDebug,$Status;
   switch ($units) {
     case 'mph': $winds = $BeaufortMPH; break;
	 case 'kph': $winds = $BeaufortKPH; break;
	 case 'km/h': $winds = $BeaufortKPH; break;
	 case 'm/s': $winds = $BeaufortMS;  break;
	 case 'mps': $winds = $BeaufortMS;  break;
	 case 'kts': $winds = $BeaufortKTS; break;
	 default: $winds = $BeaufortMPH;
   } // end switch
   $Bft = 0;
   for ($i=0;$i<12;$i++) {
      if ($wind < $winds[$i]) {
	    $Bft = $i;
		break;
	  }
   }
   if ($i > 11 and ! $Bft) { $Bft = 12; };
   if($doDebug) {
	   $Status .= "<!-- '$wind' '$units' bft=$Bft i=$i -->\n";
   }
   return($Bft);

}// end PPgetBeaufort
which finds the corresponding entry based on the windspeed forecast.

I'd use the NOAA NWS scale definitions (https://www.weather.gov/mfl/beaufort) for the windspeeds and Beaufort text and that's why no settings entry for it.

Hope this helps...
Best regards,
Ken
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BeaumarisWX
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Joined: Mon 09 Apr 2012 2:38 pm
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Re: WXSIM Saratoga

Post by BeaumarisWX »

Hi Mapantz,

Just me personally, though I would be very hesitant to tamper down any Wind Forecast by WxSim.

I lived in what is known as Cyclone Alley for over 22 Years in Dampier/Karratha in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia. Our Radar got smashed to smithereens in one Cyclone and the actual speed was lost after it smashed at 360 Km/H. But the Barrow Island station near us resulted in this : http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/history/o ... 20cyclone.. There is a link on that page to : http://www.bom.gov.au/jshess/docs/2012/ ... y_hres.pdf scroll down to page 4 and look at the Table from Barrow Island Observations, Wind Speed vs Gust, oh and they are in ms too.

I note on your site even the Warnings by WillyWeather are warning Bad Winds. They actually state "Between 3:00 am Fri Feb 18 and 9:00 pm Fri Feb 18" which does at time of me looking at your website, correlate with your WxSim Forecast.

The Friday shows currently "WSW 40-55→37-51 mph Storm" . To me that equates to Afternoon/Overnight for the "37-51 mph Storm" portion of that output. Which looks correct and aligns roughly with what the WillyWeather Warning is saying.

One thing you may like to do is take a look at your "Latest.csv" file and in particular take a look at the columns "1minGust, 10minGust, 1hrGust, 6hrGust" vs the "WindSpd" column.

The point I am trying to make by that is that the "37-51 mph Storm" is over roughly a 6hr period, looking at the .csv data which if yours is the same as mine and in 30 Min Intervals, you may see that it is consistently Gusting High through that period. Which is my main point prolonged period of High Gusts.

I push my .csv into MySql so I can chart it to get a better visual of this. I only chart the "10minGust" to get an idea of how sustained it may be against the adjacent "WindSpd" each 30 Mins. Link here : https://beaumaris-weather.com/charts_Co ... recast.php

I suppose seeing "Violent storm" makes one get on edge and rightly so, if it happens they should be battened down and ready.

Sorry for the rambling, just thought I would pass on my thoughts, be they wrong or right or maybe irrelevant.

Kindest Regards,
Tony Beaumaris, Tasmania (AUS)

CMX Mobile : https://beaumaris-weather.com/BWX/
CMX Default: https://beaumaris-weather.com/cumulusmx_default/
Colour Dashboard : https://beaumaris-weather.com/dashborad_color.php
Click below for Saratoga Template :
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Mapantz
Posts: 1775
Joined: Sat 17 Dec 2011 11:55 am
Weather Station: Davis Vantage Pro2
Operating System: Windows 11 x64
Location: Dorset - UK
Contact:

Re: WXSIM Saratoga

Post by Mapantz »

The thing is, Tony, Beaufort isn't used in conjunction with wind gusts, only wind speed over 10 minutes. If the official forecasts were showing force 11, then gusts would be in excess of 100mph. That won't be happening! Force 11 may occur out to sea but not here. Force 7 is the forecast for here, which correlates to the wind speed that WXSIM is showing, so I definitely need to change the description for my location as it is misleading.
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