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The Newsroom - > 'Nice' weather girls... >More wet weather set for UK

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Joined: Before January 2003
Posts: 5,046
AJ posted:
I really can't see what's wrong with Sky's weather graphics.

It shows where it's going to rain, sleet, snow, rain heavily, sun, cloud and wind - what more do you want. It's readable too, and you can see the weather systems changing with it too.

Why does everyone grumble about them on here?


My porblem is that I can never tell the difference beat the rain, sleet, snow, and raining heavily, it just looks like a pattern over part of the UK to me. And they don't show you sun, they just show you blank areas that I presume is where is will be sunny.

In theory it's taking the weather how we see it and adding it to a map, in practise I can never tell the weather from it.
AJ
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fanoftv posted:
AJ posted:
I really can't see what's wrong with Sky's weather graphics.

It shows where it's going to rain, sleet, snow, rain heavily, sun, cloud and wind - what more do you want. It's readable too, and you can see the weather systems changing with it too.

Why does everyone grumble about them on here?


My porblem is that I can never tell the difference beat the rain, sleet, snow, and raining heavily, it just looks like a pattern over part of the UK to me. And they don't show you sun, they just show you blank areas that I presume is where is will be sunny.

In theory it's taking the weather how we see it and adding it to a map, in practise I can never tell the weather from it.


It is possible to tell the difference though;

> Heavy Rain - faster rain animation
> Rain - I'm sure you can tell
> Snow - White snowflakes
> Sleet - Snowflakes mixed with rain (looks slightly darker)
> Sun - Yellow patches on the map (look at it - the map changes colour from green [to show cloud] to yellow when there is no sun. When it's exceptionally hot, the yellow changes to orange.
> Wind - the arrows (pretty obvious!)
> Cloud - grey patches on the map - looks like clouds.

Now, if I can understand the map, then there's no reason why anybody else can't really.
Joined: Before January 2003
Posts: 5,046
AJ posted:
fanoftv posted:
AJ posted:
I really can't see what's wrong with Sky's weather graphics.

It shows where it's going to rain, sleet, snow, rain heavily, sun, cloud and wind - what more do you want. It's readable too, and you can see the weather systems changing with it too.

Why does everyone grumble about them on here?


My porblem is that I can never tell the difference beat the rain, sleet, snow, and raining heavily, it just looks like a pattern over part of the UK to me. And they don't show you sun, they just show you blank areas that I presume is where is will be sunny.

In theory it's taking the weather how we see it and adding it to a map, in practise I can never tell the weather from it.


It is possible to tell the difference though;

> Heavy Rain - faster rain animation
> Rain - I'm sure you can tell
> Snow - White snowflakes
> Sleet - Snowflakes mixed with rain (looks slightly darker)
> Sun - Yellow patches on the map (look at it - the map changes colour from green [to show cloud] to yellow when there is no sun. When it's exceptionally hot, the yellow changes to orange.
> Wind - the arrows (pretty obvious!)
> Cloud - grey patches on the map - looks like clouds.

Now, if I can understand the map, then there's no reason why anybody else can't really.


Oh right ok.

I still like ITV's new simple approach though, lol
MPH
Joined: 6th January 2005
Posts: 8
I quite like the weather graphics as they are, and I don't think they look dated. The same "symbols" have been in use for the last 30 or so years. The original magnetic symbols being designed by a BBC designer in Manchester. (I'll spare his name, don't want to embarass him!) But the graphics will be changed soon, and the nations and regions will follow shortly after !

Cool
Joined: Before January 2003
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MPH posted:
But the graphics will be changed soon, and the nations and regions will follow shortly after !


I hope the words I've put in bold were a joke...
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Joined: 13th January 2003
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AJ posted:
It is possible to tell the difference though;

> Heavy Rain - faster rain animation
> Rain - I'm sure you can tell
> Snow - White snowflakes
> Sleet - Snowflakes mixed with rain (looks slightly darker)
> Sun - Yellow patches on the map (look at it - the map changes colour from green [to show cloud] to yellow when there is no sun. When it's exceptionally hot, the yellow changes to orange.
> Wind - the arrows (pretty obvious!)
> Cloud - grey patches on the map - looks like clouds.

Now, if I can understand the map, then there's no reason why anybody else can't really.


So what's to differentiate between fog and cloud on Sky News' map? Looks exactly the same to me.
Joined: 9th February 2003
Posts: 2,347
Hatton Cross posted:
MPH posted:
But the graphics will be changed soon, and the nations and regions will follow shortly after !


I hope the words I've put in bold were a joke...


They will all change at the same time.
Views expressed are personal and not those of the BBC.
Joined: Before January 2003
Posts: 404
The new graphics were on show at the internal News Festival last month, so I'd guess they can't be too far away.
Moz
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AdamP posted:
The new graphics were on show at the internal News Festival last month, so I'd guess they can't be too far away.


So what did they look like? Will the presenters still be in vision? Will the old symbols remain?
Joined: 16th January 2003
Posts: 1,561
I thought we already know that the current symbols are pretty much staying (probably look a little more modern).

I'm yet to be convinced by fly-over weather forcasts- they look great but ultimately deliver the same amount of key information in more time. 99% of the time I want to know the weather where I live for the rest of the day and tomorrow- that's it. Nothing fancy.

I think the weather coverage on N24 for example is awful- why devote 4-5 minutes per hour (that's about 8% of all on-air time) to the weather? There should be a 20-30 second summary at xx.15 and a 1-2 minute bulletin in the studio at xx.45 (thereby giving more pace and continuity to the top of the hour, by reducing turnoff when the weather and trailers comes on AGAIN!)

I just don't think that fly-over graphics allow for such short bulletins, and that can't be a good thing.
Joined: Before January 2003
Posts: 404
Moz posted:
AdamP posted:
The new graphics were on show at the internal News Festival last month, so I'd guess they can't be too far away.


So what did they look like? Will the presenters still be in vision? Will the old symbols remain?


The weather centre were there to give people the chance to have a go at presenting a forecast, so the presenters will still be in vision. Can't imagine that anyone would have thought otherwise, really.

As has been said before, there was a fly-ver effect, showing clouds and rain. The only traditional symbols actually on the map appeared to be the temperatures, in their familiar circles. There was also a screen listing lots of locations, with the symbols used to summarise the weather.

Of course, what they had on show may not be the final version. They may be tweaking the system before it goes live.
Joined: 9th February 2003
Posts: 2,347
Dunedin posted:
I thought we already know that the current symbols are pretty much staying (probably look a little more modern).

I'm yet to be convinced by fly-over weather forcasts- they look great but ultimately deliver the same amount of key information in more time. 99% of the time I want to know the weather where I live for the rest of the day and tomorrow- that's it. Nothing fancy.

I think the weather coverage on N24 for example is awful- why devote 4-5 minutes per hour (that's about 8% of all on-air time) to the weather? There should be a 20-30 second summary at xx.15 and a 1-2 minute bulletin in the studio at xx.45 (thereby giving more pace and continuity to the top of the hour, by reducing turnoff when the weather and trailers comes on AGAIN!)

I just don't think that fly-over graphics allow for such short bulletins, and that can't be a good thing.


Just because you're not interested in the weather doesn't mean other people aren't. I couldn't give a toss about sport and I don't see why there is sport on a news channel, but I appreciate that others think differently. I'd quite like to see a weather channel return.
Views expressed are personal and not those of the BBC.
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