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Comment by jillesvangurp | Hacker News Reader

Does it actually still serve a purpo (other than putting people to sleep)? As in are sailors tuning in to figure out the weather in the middle of the night. Surely there are better solutions for this now. I know most airports have automated weather reports that broadcast continuously on dedicated frequencies (ATIS) at least. The same information is available digitally. Many pilots have tools providing them with near real time updates on weather. There are even dedicated ipad apps for this.

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As a sailor I do often check the shipping forecast (or the inshore waters forecast, also from the met office, similar content but focused on weather close to the shore). Yes you can now easily get detailed hour by hour forecasts in the form of gribs which I do use too. However you can suffer from information overload, especially as multiple weather models are available. There's also a difference between a forecast and grib. A forecast is something prepared by a meteorologist, a grib is just the output of a weather model. So the charm of the shipping forecast is its simplicity, a few sentences about the area you're interested in that have been written by an expert meteorologist based upon their interpretation of what they're seeing on the weather model. For cruising sailors this is generally enough, you have enough information to decide if it's too hazardous to want to go out, or lacking wind so you won't be able to sail and a good idea of what wind direction will be and how it will change. The main issue is it only gives you 24hrs + 24hrs outlook (48 hrs in all but second 24hrs less detail) so if you want a view of what will be happening over the next week you need other sources. Also for the racing sailor you want more detail about wind directions and speeds to effectively plan your tactics.

The shipping forecast is also easily received all around the UK and offshore from the UK coast, it's transmitted on VHF radio. Getting up to date gribs requires an internet connection, mobile signal is pretty decent up to a few miles offshore I find but half way across the channel or the north sea you've got VHF only (or expensive satellite internet) so the shipping forecast on the VHF on passage lets you know if the weather remains as expected or if there's been a sudden change and you need to change your plans or prepare for some heavy weather.

Edit: I should also say the shipping forecast/inshores forecast is available in a minimal text-only form on the met office website, often I'll just read the text (handy for patchy or expensive internet connections) it is fairly rare for me to actually listen to it on the radio.

I live within 20 miles of the coast. I'll often listen to it last thing, or pick up the shipping forecast from the Met Office site. The fixed length and wording means you know when to take notice better than chatty general forecasts.

It gives an awful lot of info that's simply not in general forecasts and apps. Specialised apps can go the other way and give way too much. You mention flying, back when I used to fly a little I found it's a heck of a lot more friendly than decoding METARs, so it's a good starting point if thinking of flying next day. The main thing missing is cloudbase - that's easy, poke your head out the door. :)

It's funny you mention it putting people to sleep because on BBC Radio 4, the late Shipping Forecast is immediately followed by a rather rousing rendition of the National Anthem.

I hear of people listening to the Shipping Forecast and falling asleep, only to be woken up again by the National Anthem.

I have heard it on a trawler out in the North Sea - admittedly about 30 years ago. The radio had the advantage that they could play the audio over the onboard PA system so everyone onboard could hear it.

Yes, many recreational sailors will listen to this. Although GRIBs or other data is available this is a forecast from forecasters rather then model data. The same information is broadcast on VHF working channels at a similar time. It's also broadcast on longwave radio so available further out to sea then FM.

I could be wrong, but I believe that long wave radio was a greater range than vhf, which would be the main alternative source of weather info as internet is very expensive offshore. So for some recreational sailors it would be useful.

FM/VHF is barely better than line of sight and doesn't even go around hills too well. Range is about 25 miles or so. LW will manage over 1,000 miles on a good day.

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