# Weather reports



## Harry Nicholson (Oct 11, 2005)

I'm still messing about with memoir and wonder if any of you chaps recall the form of weather reports in 50s/60s - say from Cullercoats GCC. I've imagined something like this: 

27 February 1959. Outlook for the next 24 hours. TYNE, HUMBER, FORTIES: wind SW 3 or 4, becoming SE later. Sea state moderate. Precipitation: showers. Visibility good, occasionally moderate. FISHER, wind SE 3 or 4. Sea moderate. Clear, drizzle later. Visibility good to moderate. DOGGER, GERMAN BIGHT: SE 2 or 3. Sea smooth or slight. Fog. Visibility poor.

I hope to write about the experience of North Sea fog, and so I've invented this, but am probably wide of the mark. I've searched around on the net, but find no archived examples.


----------



## jimg0nxx (Sep 1, 2005)

Hi Harry, I think if you have a listen to BBC radio 4 shipping forecast in early morning and late evening, they still use the same format. Much more abbreviated than your suggested examples.


----------



## pippin (May 13, 2008)

Hi guys.

Have a look at the BBC Wx site - you will find the print-outs for the current shipping fcsts and TTT gale wngs.

Do FM22A & FM45 ring a bell?

Still imprinted on my brain!


----------



## Harry Nicholson (Oct 11, 2005)

jimg0nxx said:


> Hi Harry, I think if you have a listen to BBC radio 4 shipping forecast in early morning and late evening, they still use the same format. Much more abbreviated than your suggested examples.


Thanks, Jim. I had imagined that the w/t wx tx might be in a different format - but, meanwhile will assume they are similar. On a tangent to this: When deep sea we would get sets of code that would be sent to the chartroom for conversion into isobars etc.


----------



## Harry Nicholson (Oct 11, 2005)

pippin said:


> Hi guys.
> 
> Have a look at the BBC Wx site - you will find the print-outs for the current shipping fcsts and TTT gale wngs.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the response, Pippin. I'll now visit that BBC site. Those FM22A etc don't ring bells just now - will have to look into those.


----------



## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

Shipping Forecast - BBC Weather


Specialist forecasts and gale warnings for 31 sea areas covering the waters around the British Isles.




www.bbc.co.uk





The same format is used but the sub-headings (Wind, Sea State etc.) were not broadcast, neither by the BBC nor the coast stations.


----------



## Harry Nicholson (Oct 11, 2005)

Ron Stringer said:


> Shipping Forecast - BBC Weather
> 
> 
> Specialist forecasts and gale warnings for 31 sea areas covering the waters around the British Isles.
> ...


Thanks, Ron. That is useful and brings clarity.


----------



## pippin (May 13, 2008)

If one was on an OBS Reporting Ship then the reports were coded by the Deck Officers into FM22A.
When we were off the beaten shipping lanes on other ships I would pester the said Deck Officers to compile OBS so I could send them off.
That would mean more accurate Wx fcsts, of benefit to all.

Those synoptic charts were received in FM55 and decoded by the aforementioned Deck Officers - reluctantly. 
Decoding those was a long-winded job and would only be done if the Wx fcst looked bad and the Old Man demanded .
I rather enjoyed decoding them myself and drawing the surface analysis out on a perspex sheet.

So, now you know!

PS - That was long before N & S Utsire, FitzRoy and Trafalgar were added to the fcst areas.


----------



## bbyrne98 (Jun 27, 2007)

I recall being Junior RO on Esso Milford Haven/GWFH (1975) and being coached to decode GKA's weather such that I could create a rather fetching chart of the Northern Hemisphere weather. Suited my arty nature, I suppose. Had a nice A3 laminated sheet that I plotted Isobars et al using Chinagraph, and the Bridge humoured me with my skills. I cannot say the same for Lamport and Holt's Cyril, perhaps driven by the thought that North Utsire didnt have much value when you were berthed in Barbados. Beats doodling, I suppose.


----------



## Tony Crompton (Jul 26, 2005)

pippin said:


> If one was on an OBS Reporting Ship then the reports were coded by the Deck Officers into FM22A.
> When we were off the beaten shipping lanes on other ships I would pester the said Deck Officers to compile OBS so I could send them off.
> That would mean more accurate Wx fcsts, of benefit to all.
> 
> ...


Occasionally in the meteorolgy exam in F G Masters ticket you were given a set of codes and and a code book and had to
draw a weather map and give a weather forecast. Hell of a lot easier than a lot of questions. When
doing my masters we had this and you could see the smiles on all our faces as this ws a "Doddle"


----------



## R798780 (Oct 27, 2004)

Harry Nicholson said:


> Thanks, Jim. I had imagined that the w/t wx tx might be in a different format - but, meanwhile will assume they are similar. On a tangent to this: When deep sea we would get sets of code that would be sent to the chartroom for conversion into isobars etc.


On the Ivernia (Cunard cargo ship) as 3rd Mates we did the conversion and produced a pretty - or otherwise - weather chart of the Atlantic. Having transferred from Brocklebank's Mangla the chart was adorned with a Brocklebank funnel to mark our position; when the other 3rd Mate drew the chart it had a Cunard funnel.
Meantime I did about twenty five years of weather reporting; filling the forms for Sparks to transmit except for the last two years when we sent it by radio telex.


----------



## pippin (May 13, 2008)

Ah - the good old =OBS=METBRACK=

Did the chart room have special, err, charts upon which you drew the synopsis or did you pencil it in on the main navigational chart?


----------



## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

pippin said:


> Ah - the good old =OBS=METBRACK=
> 
> Did the chart room have special, err, charts upon which you drew the synopsis or did you pencil it in on the main navigational chart?


Special charts - the 2nd mate would have shot you if you used the main chart!


----------



## R798780 (Oct 27, 2004)

pippin said:


> Ah - the good old =OBS=METBRACK=
> 
> Did the chart room have special, err, charts upon which you drew the synopsis or did you pencil it in on the main navigational chart?


Well on that Atlantic crossing those ships funnels were done on colour, I used blue and black and he used red and black. 2B pencils weren't up to that. We had a wad of Atlantic met chart blanks.


----------



## pippin (May 13, 2008)

"We had a wad of Atlantic met chart blanks."

Not much good for the Indian and Pacific Oceans!!


----------



## R798780 (Oct 27, 2004)

pippin said:


> "We had a wad of Atlantic met chart blanks."
> 
> Not much good for the Indian and Pacific Oceans!!


Ivernia didn't stray beyond the North Atlantic !!!!!


----------



## Quiney (Oct 2, 2008)

Harry Nicholson said:


> I'm still messing about with memoir and wonder if any of you chaps recall the form of weather reports in 50s/60s - say from Cullercoats GCC. I've imagined something like this:
> 
> 27 February 1959. Outlook for the next 24 hours. TYNE, HUMBER, FORTIES: wind SW 3 or 4, becoming SE later. Sea state moderate. Precipitation: showers. Visibility good, occasionally moderate. FISHER, wind SE 3 or 4. Sea moderate. Clear, drizzle later. Visibility good to moderate. DOGGER, GERMAN BIGHT: SE 2 or 3. Sea smooth or slight. Fog. Visibility poor.
> 
> I hope to write about the experience of North Sea fog, and so I've invented this, but am probably wide of the mark. I've searched around on the net, but find no archived examples.


In the part _TYNE, HUMBER, FORTIES: wind SW 3 or 4, becoming SE later_. they wouldn't use 'becoming'. It would be either backing (anticlockwise movement) or veering (clockwise movement) The direction of the shift in the wind could be critical.


----------



## Harry Nicholson (Oct 11, 2005)

Quiney said:


> In the part _TYNE, HUMBER, FORTIES: wind SW 3 or 4, becoming SE later_. they wouldn't use 'becoming'. It would be either backing (anticlockwise movement) or veering (clockwise movement) The direction of the shift in the wind could be critical.


Thank you, Quiney - you are a gent. I now understand why veering is important . . . in terms of an influx of warm air over a cold ocean and the conditions that might arise. My imagined weather example needs a recast.

Harry


----------



## noelmavisk (Oct 14, 2012)

Harry Nicholson said:


> I'm still messing about with memoir and wonder if any of you chaps recall the form of weather reports in 50s/60s - say from Cullercoats GCC. I've imagined something like this:
> 
> 27 February 1959. Outlook for the next 24 hours. TYNE, HUMBER, FORTIES: wind SW 3 or 4, becoming SE later. Sea state moderate. Precipitation: showers. Visibility good, occasionally moderate. FISHER, wind SE 3 or 4. Sea moderate. Clear, drizzle later. Visibility good to moderate. DOGGER, GERMAN BIGHT: SE 2 or 3. Sea smooth or slight. Fog. Visibility poor.
> 
> I hope to write about the experience of North Sea fog, and so I've invented this, but am probably wide of the mark. I've searched around on the net, but find no archived examples.


*Well now, I can tell you I experienced North Sea fog one foggy day in August 1947. Myself and 3 other members of the 1st Tyne Sea Scout Troop of Newcastle got lost in a pea-souper trying to get from St Abbs to Eyemouth in a row-boat with an outboard-motor that conked out. I was the youngest at 14, the oldest was 16.
Lost all day, couldn't see a thing until we reached Berwick and were picked up by a fishing trawler that was looking for us. Our experience was written about in the Berwickshire News.*


----------



## Victor J. Croasdale (Nov 28, 2016)

Four Castle class corvettes ( Castle-class corvette - Wikipedia ) were converted to weather ships in the late1950's. They were based in Greenock. I did my MN shoreside training at John G. Kincaids in Greenock and took this picture in 1975. I had a tour round one when it was alongside.


----------



## pippin (May 13, 2008)

Interestingly enough the French Wx ships were called:

"Les frégates météorologiques" 

They have preserved "France 1" at the Maritime Museum in La Rochelle.

It is well worth a visit.


----------



## Foca (Aug 25, 2012)

Tony Crompton said:


> Occasionally in the meteorolgy exam in F G Masters ticket you were given a set of codes and and a code book and had to
> draw a weather map and give a weather forecast. Hell of a lot easier than a lot of questions. When
> doing my masters we had this and you could see the smiles on all our faces as this ws a "Doddle"


I certainly remember doing the OBS- Weather reports...rushing to do the last one before Sparks went off watch....on the US run we also did the American version OBS..who very very grateful and very helpful in supplying items of weather reporting...you are right about the Weather map question in the Meteorology paper in F G Masters......for those of us that were used to doing it sea it was a bit of a doddle. Mind you not all Radio Officers would take down the weather codes for you.......One thing I remember at Nautical College was my mate complaining that he had lost his occluded pencil(purple one)


----------



## P.Arnold (Apr 11, 2013)

I might be right, then I might be wrong!
Most shipping companies I sailed with participated in OBS and AMVER.
OBS sent thru US coast stations were used to update AMVER SURPIC.
I recall that the logbook of the daily meteo observations were submitted to Bracknell, there being a prize for the best presented book.
Our third mate on one ship prized his log book, copying each watches wx OBS into the log in copperplate style print. That is until the night tray kettle took a tumble spilling its contents over said book. Not a happy happy.
In my time I copied the OBS presenting the codes to the bridge. I only recall one occasion where the isobars crossed over each other. Receiving the codes was quite boring, must have nodded off, either that or it was a very complex wx pattern.

Peter


----------



## Tugboat Tom (Dec 15, 2020)

Greetings, Curious and not sure of relevance , BUT in Aug 1951 whilst a child of 8, I was a passenger on Strathnaver from Bombay to Sydney in mid Indian ocean when I heard a p.a. broadcast mid afternoon " In 15 to 20 minutes we will encounter much rougher conditions" It has puzzled me (now a retired Master in Sydney (Australia ) as to how the officers came by that information. It was fact it did get noticeably rougher Tugboat Tom


----------



## J. Davies (Dec 29, 2010)

Tom, if they had radar they would have seen the squall ahead of them. Squalls are common in the Indian Ocean at that time of year. If no radar, they could probably see the squall visually anyway. No magic to it really.


----------



## pippin (May 13, 2008)

Don't spoil the magic for that 8 year old boy!!!


----------



## pippin (May 13, 2008)

My good friend Graham Mercer GPK/GM4BES, now sadly SK was a real character.

I remember him once sending an R/T Wx fcst from Portpatrick Radio on 1882kHz.

"Low 999 moving north and losing it's identity"

To which Graham added "I know how it feels!"!!!!!

Priceless!


----------



## P.Arnold (Apr 11, 2013)

J. Davies said:


> Tom, if they had radar they would have seen the squall ahead of them. Squalls are common in the Indian Ocean at that time of year. If no radar, they could probably see the squall


When the crew were out painting and a squall was seen, it was often a case of course change to skirt it, couldn’t have rain stop play


----------



## marconiman (Jun 21, 2007)

Quiney said:


> In the part _TYNE, HUMBER, FORTIES: wind SW 3 or 4, becoming SE later_. they wouldn't use 'becoming'. It would be either backing (anticlockwise movement) or veering (clockwise movement) The direction of the shift in the wind could be critical.



A rule of thumb regarding wind in a low pressure system is - with your back to the wind, the depression is on your left hand side (Northern Hemisphere) ie anticlockwise circulation.

Interesting that ROs took down the weather code to be deciphered into a synoptic chart. My first introduction to facsimile was early 70s with a Muirhead Mufax wet paper type receiver which plotted incoming signals into a complete chart for the N Atlantic, the Nav Dept were suspicious at first but came to like it and were good at using it. I expect many ROs are familiar with warbling fax signal and tuned in by Lissajous figure. It also produced ice charts from NIK Newfoundland and saved the long winded W/T version.

Mike


----------



## pippin (May 13, 2008)

Would you believe that I actually have in my collection of Marconi Marine gear - a "FORECASTER" Rx complete with Muirhead Mufax wet-paper unit.
I still have some of the rolls but as they dry out I have to re-wet them before firing it all up.


----------



## marconiman (Jun 21, 2007)

Later, when i did an HND in communications the younger students were in askance on the thought of wet paper types. Hope yours worked.


----------



## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

pippin said:


> Would you believe that I actually have in my collection of Marconi Marine gear - a "FORECASTER" Rx complete with Muirhead Mufax wet-paper unit.
> I still have some of the rolls but as they dry out I have to re-wet them before firing it all up.


The "Forecaster" receiver was designed and manufactured by the Westminster Chassis Company of East Molesey (also the source of the Kestrel range of radiotelephone transmitter/receivers). MIMCo used two models of Muirhead wet paper recorders with different paper widths, the larger of 18 inches and a more popular (cheaper) one of 9 inches.
Eventually both were superceded by a single, dry paper, 12-inch combined receiver/recording machine produced by Koden in Japan.


----------



## pippin (May 13, 2008)

Thanks for the info Ron.

I have the (cheaper) D9 unit.

Looking inside the FORECASTER it is fairly obviously NOT of MWT manufacture, let alone Eddystone.

Marconiman - had your HND students not heard of capacitors, sorry condensers, being measured in jars - because that's what they were?!!!


----------

