weathercam

Been busy on the technology front and have upgraded the cam to now show almost 15 frames per second - cam can sustain about 20 users at any one time. So if you get an offline message - just click refresh - though if behind a "Company Firewall" you might have a few problems, but there is a "help section" on the page to get around this - if you're a Mac user, you might need some Windows Media Player - plugin's. Located on the beach at Worthing West Sussex UK - you can sit back in the office and watch the kites and sails zoom pass at "full screen" as well as the geriatrics! To view full screen right click on the images and adjust zoom properties - might be some problems if you're using a Mac Once the tide comes in cam will be zoomed in to the sea http://www.seaspritesports.com/weathercamframe.htm Today, like yesterday the weather is a classic - from a light offshore NW'ly this am, it's now cross on SW'ly at 20mph + and will drop off around 19:30 - later on as the tide comes up, you'll see kites out, though there will be a bit of glare off the sea till around 16:30 - plus from the site you can get the actual weather updated every minute http://www.seaspritesports.com/weatherframe.htm And you'll see why at this time of year, it's "Windy Worthing" just don't let the wind farm people know !

it's looking good again for today.....

not good at all for the South Coast - with NNW'ly and NW'ly's and very cold with high probability of snow flurries

Ok - been a bit bored of late - and set about a few enhancements to the site - now we have have charts from 00hrs to 132hrs at http://www.seaspritesports.com/ukobs.htm be warned, treat any chart over 72hrs with a pinch of salt, as they can change drastically - but they will show you how things could shape up, and at this time of year will show how a Front can track across and hopefully "dump" in the Alps. Plus, have adjusted the size of the cam image and resolution, so whilst it is slightly smaller, the image is much clearer and will update much faster, almost every second for the streaming Cam http://www.seaspritesports.com/weathercamframe.htm so if you're bored in the office today, you should see (rain allowing) sails & kites ripping across the screen! Plus for those in the Worthing / Shoreham / Lancing / Goring / Littlehampton area now have a weekend potential rating - so much more accurate than WindGuru as we live there!

And Bong!!!!! Current Weather at : 11:22 Date 13/08/04 Wind SW at 18.0 mph 10 min average wind speed: 21.0 Highest Gust: 28.0 at 11:08 Wind Chill: 18.6 °C I was getting paranoid it was not going to happen !!!! Mind you we can still get that rain, but fingers crossed it might stay dry - I think the cloud will stay inland - though we could get squalls later on - so keep an eye on those darker clouds!!!

Ok in the office nice & early in order to be out on the water by 15:30 after what was quite a disapointing day yesterday - majority of the true SW'ly came through in the early hours with all that rain at around 03:30. This AM starts off nice and calm - classic post front - that said, and one of the reasons I'm in early is that there is still wind to come in for us lucky enough to habit the Saarrth Coast. Inshore waters read for North Foreland to Selsey Bill. Wind: west 4 or 5 increasing 5 or 6, occasionally 7. Weather: thundery showers. Visibility: good or moderate. Sea State: slight to moderate becoming moderate to rough. Outlook for the following 24 hours: Wind: west 5 or 6 backing southwest 3 or 4. And just been looking at yrnet and they give a more SWl'y bent to the wind - so here's hoping as ever - "Wait & See" So Worthing / Goring will be good as it'll be low tide all afternoon and tide's on neaps at the moment, which means it don't go out toooo far! For actual weather updating every minute and streaming video cam check out the link below http://www.seaspritesports.com/weatherframe.htm Regards

Ding Dong Current Weather at : 10:44 Date 06/08/04 Wind SW at 18.0 mph 10 min average wind speed: 15.0 Highest Gust: 19.0 at 10:37

Be warned Hayling will probably be Red Flagged all weekend due to the huge volume of day trippers - ring Zero Gravity to find out more about how they run the beach down there and the Club before travelling down there - last weekend saw no kiting allowed at all - they are doing a great job at policing it themselves as the Council was all up for a total ban on kites. Plus regarding XC I've always stated it's way out for us down here on the South Coast - it just can't monitor the local changes that happen so quickly this time of year! Nuff said

Another good start to the day and things could well be of interest later on - wind already in the WSW / WNW direction and the inshore looks favourable as well with North Foreland to Selsey Bill forecasting Wind: west or southwest 3 or 4, increasing 5 for a time in the Dover Straits. - so it could well be similar to earlier on in the week - at Worthing on Wed there were well over 15 kites out on the water - so if considering coming over, again like all beaches in August - be aware of all the other beach users, and just think of the most stupid thing that they might possibly could do, and yes, they'll probably end up doing it!!! So weather updating every minute along with "Streaming Cam" at the link below http://www.seaspritesports.com/weatherframe.htm Regards WC

Ok for those of you that know my various rants you know that one thing that gets to me is people praising the likes of XC and Windguru - well now I'm back at my original seafront loaction with the dogs bollox of a weather station, over the past week I've been looking at both XC and Windguru and to say that they are soooooooo inaccurate is and understatement - OK I'M ONLY TALKING ABOUT SHOREHAM / WORTHING here, but let's face it that is where it matters most - we tend to give our cast off's either downwind to Camber and the like or upwind to Wittering (that'll be ten pounds so) or to Hayling where they'll have at least a force less than here - but I'm digressing.... XC currently, apart from not even reporting on Shoreham has been giving 13 -15mph for our area - and that's actual wind speed - where as the actual highest gust so far had been 28mph at 07:13, with wind at 20 -25mph - the readings for the past week have been consistently under reporting - and as for Windguru forecasts, I think if you had relied on that, then you would have hardly made it out on the water - why ----> because at this time of year they do allow for "thermal" top up's that is sea breeze acceleration and what goes with that - change in wind direction from NW to SW.......... And as I've said before, XC takes its data from the airports, this data is often a couple of hours out, and XC time stamps it as "current" - most airports are built in the wind shadow / lee of the prevailing winds for obvious reasons so the their weather stations will often be reporting less than actual - prior to me reinstalling the weather station back in its current location, I had it uploading from East Preston, where the station was situated only some 250mts inland, but behind some houses / trees etc and on average the wind speed was at least 7mph down - that's why I had to use the high wind speed graphs as the actual. So there you have it - have I earned my plug now....so for weather updating every minute and with a live streaming cam - see http://www.seaspritesports.com/weather/weather.htm - plus when the winds light at from the N / NW direction Shoreham will not report true wind speed due to the position of their station - so as we know Chimet over reads and Phils new station is sooo much better at Hayling - now probably you'll believe me!!!!!!!!

Andy there was, as I think you know, alot of blood, sweat and tears setting this up - hours of sussing out network issues, router, ip address forwarding and the like - plus teething problems, of which I'm still sorting - as I note that with over twenty users the frame refresh rate is pants - so this is a polite way of saying that what I've done is my intelectual property and I'm sure we can come to a commercial agreement!!! regards gb

yesterday - quite a few kites out on the water - seen on the video cam - sea breeze should kick in again today - wind should pick up around noon and fill in from the SW- so you can then see the actual wind speed every minute from here at Worthing as well as an activity out on the water http://www.seaspritesports.com/weatherframe.htm

Ok for those that don't know, I ran the original "weathercam" at Worthing for a good few years - then last August my house burnt down - and various other "gits" attempted to setup their own poor imitations - but now we're back - and not with some grotty cam shot - but loads more:D . So subject to NTL connectivity and number of users at any one time you should see the image updating every second - plus the weather is now sooooo accurate due to the position of the anemometer - currently you can see kites buzing around!! Probably will have some teething problems, due to NTL and ip address problems - so will have to update as and when it changes, or use an IP service - but will go back to ADSL in a couple of weeks http://www.seaspritesports.com/weathercamframe.htm So would appreciate some response as to the refresh rate and any probs you might have viewing. Regards WC

Weather updated every minute from Worthing / Goring , Shoreham and Hayling - plus loads more weather / forecast info www.seaspritesports.com/weatherframe.htm Regards WC

Pete - chap - trouble is at`West Wittering you get no where near the strength of sea breezes we get further up the Coast here at Worthing - all has to do with the proximity of the Downs to the Coastal Plane - and West Wittering and Hayling are a fair few miles further away from the Downs - on average you get a Force less than up here - if you think I'm speaking "bollox" then ask Stuart Holland - he's knows who I am, and that I know my "stuff" !!!

Doooh should have posted the first message first.... Could well happen today as inshore is --> Northwest 3 or 4 becoming variable 2 or 3 with local sea breezes, but settling north or northwest 2 or 3 overnight. Weather: mainly fair. Currently we have quite a strong NNW / NW wind - which for first thing in the am is not so good - it will take quite a lot for this to back to the SW, if at all - so as ever keep checking - and by 11:00 you should have a good idea of wht to expect for later today.

As I said earlier - and having just driven along the coast - wind is is the NNW and quite strong at this stage in the morning for it to swing round to the SW and provide a good sea breeze - hope I'm wrong - just a note for those that don't know, Shoreham always under reports in a NNW / NW and whilst it's showing 5 - 7mph at the moment - it's actually blowing 10 -13 mph - and Chimet has not uploaded since 14:00 yesterday - and then there's "my" weather station which under reports in the all important Sw'ly - once it get's over about 12 mph (you then refer to the high wind speed graphs to the right) - so like the forecasts, the actual weather stations can get it wrong as well!!! Plus still quite a lot of cloud about - but it does seem to be clearing. Up to the minute actual weather reports www.seaspritesports.com/weatherframe.htm

So here's a more detailed "picture" of how things look - still quite a lot of cloud out to the East (Brighton) but looking out to the West - it's clearing - so as ever "Wait & See" - and we'll have a much better idea, as normal at around 11:30 - yesterday, looking back at the data, it was spot on!! http://www.elainedeed.com/east.jpg Looking East towards Brighton from Kingston Gorse - East Preston http://www.elainedeed.com/west.jpg Looking West / South West towards Littlehampton and beyond

Wind has now moved from a NNW to SW direction - good sign - cloud cover less than yesterday than at this time - so initial signs are looking good - just have to hope that the cloud, like yesterday gets pushed back more inland, and we're left with clear skies over the sea. I'm not surprised, and indeed as ever find it good that Worthing and Goring etc had at least a Force more than the likes of Wittering's and Hayling from various reports I've had back from Pole & Kite surfers - so still a wee bit to early - you should be looking for about 10 mph at around 11:00 and then that will build like yesterday - As ever actual wind updating every minute at the link below from Worthing area and Shoreham / Chimet - off to walk the dogs on the beach so might give a more detailed "picture" of how things look! www.seaspritesports.com/weatherframe.htm Regards WC

Aaah now blowing good F6 - and forecast for storm force 10 later - though hopefully we won't get that as I'm worried as to the new (precarious) position of my anenometer on the chimney!!! North Forland to Selsey Bill South to southwest 5 or 6 increasing gale 8 to perhaps storm 10, then veering west to southwest 5 or 6, but occasionally 7 later Looks like it will last well into the weekend. For up to the minute actual wind speeds / archives and loads more weather info for the South Coast see http://www.seaspritesports.com/weatherframe.htm Regards WC

First and original point I made when responding to the xcweather comment was that you need up todate conditions - and then if you have any nounce, you combine those readings with a forecast - however in the sea breeze season which we tend to enjoy much better thermal accelerated breezes here on the South Coast then say Hunstanton etc or West Kirby - it's even more important... "so as in the case of Shoreham, you'll often find the airport reporting about 6 - 8 mph less than what local weather stations are reporting - and if you then combine that with the vagaries of a sea breeze day - xc will hardly ever report those acurately - or by the time they do and you see it, it will have dropped..." But then living in Tamworth I suppose you're an expert on travelling down to the coast and sitting in a car / bar I do other things when there's no wind!

Garry Me thinks I've got a "few" more years experience on you in this......at the end of the day I moved from being an inlander to living right on the beach - it's the only way to be sure to maximise your time out on the water - bearing in mind first and foremost I'm a "polesurfer"... Plus for my sins about three years ago I ran the now defunct Boatastic Weather Stations operations that comprised 22 video weather stations at key sailing locations around the UK - updating every 20 mins - then you could see the weather systems tracking up the channel - through the course of the front. IE no wind in Folkestone / Worthing and Hayling - but further on down at Plymouth and Weymouth it was blowing and at Poole it was just starting to - so combine that with a forecast and you had a good idea that wind was on the way - if on the other hand there was no wind at Plymouth - it more often than not meant it would be a good day to get the Brownie Points!! Regards WC

here we go again - xc weather sources its data from the various airports in the NOAA Metar system plus gathers other info from the offshore buoys, then collates the info and provides a very user friendly interface to view the data - the only trouble is that it can often be two hours plus out - and as many of the locations are airports, they tend to be somewhat less exposed than open beaches - so as in the case of Shoreham, you'll often find the airport reporting about 6 - 8 mph less than what local weather stations are reporting - and if you then combine that with the vagaries of a sea breeze day - xc will hardly ever report those acurately - or by the time they do and you see it, it will have dropped... Yes it's a good site and you can see weather fronts and various activity, but I certainly would not use it as an accurate up to the minute weather site! Regards WC

Time for your small kites - This Friday and going into the weekend - things are looking promising ---> http://www.seaspritesports.com/ukobs4.htm and weather warning from the Met Office Here is an ADVANCE WARNING of Severe Gales affecting Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales. Issued by the Met Office at 08:55 on Wednesday, 17 March 2004. This is the first warning of disruption due to Severe Gales between 06:00 on Friday 19 March 2004 and 09:00 on Sunday 21 March 2004. The Met Office is forecasting two depressions to cross the United Kingdom later in the week, the first most likely during the day on Friday, and the second probably during the second half of Saturday into Saturday night. Both low pressure systems have the potential to develop into major storms, with attendant damaging winds that could give gusts in excess of 70mph inland, which would lead to structural damage and cause disruption to transport. At this stage there is considerable uncertainty in the track and the intensity of both systems, though on balance the southern half of the UK is more at risk. For enquiries regarding this warning - please contact your regional Met Office. Transmitted by the Met Office at 08:55 on Wednesday 17 March As ever things may change - but at the moment looking good. Check out actual weather / wind / archives / tides etc for Geriatrica on Sea region at the link below )Brighton through to Littlehampton & Hayling areas) Regards WC ----------------- Regards WeatherCam http://www.seaspritesports.com/weatherframe.htm