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Clear Outside Weather Forecasts for Astronomers

FLO
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procky1845

procky1845

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I don't normally check peoples forecast reports/observations (good or bad) because it would be a limitless task that changes constantly but in this case, I did notice an issue with the cached cloud data which was stuck from a day or so ago. I found the bug and have now fixed it (something had changed in one of our external data sources as of around 2 days ago). This has refreshed the data for your location, and it now broadly matches the other forecasts, i.e. clear until Midnightish and then clouding up afterwards.

This issue could potentially have affected other people in the past 24 hours or so - apologies if that is the case but the bug is now fixed and the data should be refreshing correctly again.

We already have various monitoring tools in place to look for issues like this, but this particular bug had escaped these monitors so as well as fixing the underlying issue, which is now done I will also look to add some additional monitoring to ensure things like this don't slip through again.

Thank you for mentioning it as this could've taken several more days to have become apparent otherwise :)

Brilliant. Thanks so much for this. Its much more useful now!

Its not often you can report a software issue and get it resolved within an hour!

Cheers.

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FLO
FLO

"It is not the employer who pays the wages.  Employers only handle the money.  It is the customer who pays the wages."  Henry Ford First Light Optics is only one month away from her sevent

Mr Spock
Mr Spock

While you are updating it, can you get rid of all that red. I don't like it 

FLO
FLO

Clear Outside has made over 2.1 million forecasts for 41,462 locations.  We really didn't know if it would be a success when we launched it back in 2014 so we are chuffed to bits!   Thank-you to ever

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Grant_FLO

Grant_FLO

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It's also worth just mentioning - there could still be differences between the forecasts - we use different data sources, different models and probably update at different time intervals to other forecast sites but in particular, with the two forecasts you mention above - if you check the coordinates of the Met Check forecast, it is 5.37 miles (approximately) from the forecast linked to on the Clear Outside website....

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procky1845

procky1845

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It's also worth just mentioning - there could still be differences between the forecasts - we use different data sources, different models and probably update at different time intervals to other forecast sites but in particular, with the two forecasts you mention above - if you check the coordinates of the Met Check forecast, it is 5.37 miles (approximately) from the forecast linked to on the Clear Outside website....

Hi Grant. Yes you are correct the metcheck one is a slightly different location so I would expect to see some variation. The Astro Planner application uses the exact coordinates though so this should be similar, probably not exactly the same because as you mentioned it's likely using a different data source.

I seem to be having the same issue again today, it looks like the forecast is now cached from yesterday? Clear Outside is reporting 0% cloud coverage, the other two sources are reporting between 45-60% cloud coverage.

Thanks.

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Grant_FLO

Grant_FLO

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I've just checked and the data is up to date, this isn't the same issue as yesterday this is literally just our data giving different information vs the data used in those other sources.

I'll check it later and see if it changes nearer the time and what the other places do as well...

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procky1845

procky1845

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I've just checked and the data is up to date, this isn't the same issue as yesterday this is literally just our data giving different information vs the data used in those other sources.

I'll check it later and see if it changes nearer the time and what the other places do as well...

Hi Grant. No problem, thanks for looking.

Cheers.

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  • 3 weeks later...
FLO

FLO

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Clear Outside was launched only three months ago but has already generated 149,932 forecasts for 3,828 locations and feedback from users is remarkably positive, considering it is a weather forecast website. 

We are currently putting the finishing touches to a Clear Outside App for IOS that will be released around the end of October. If it is well received we'll begin work on another for Android. 

Thank-you to all those using Clear Outside   :icon_salut:
Steve
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Stu

Stu

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Accurate for me tonight, nice and clear!

It's a great app and I'm really pleased it has had a good response. Was probably quite a risk given how controversial forecasts can be!!

Nice one!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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James

James

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I haven't found a forecast for the UK that's ever that accurate although ClearOutside is often close... I tend to use the green colour as guide - on the way home if it shows any green over the evening/night I'll check Sat24 to see the reality and go from there. There's been a couple of nights this last week where if I followed the regular forecasts (BBC etc) I'd have stayed in and suffered through my wife watching Eastenders only to find it had been clear but the sight of some green on ClearOutside had me checking Sat24, seeing there was indeed a clear patch and setting up :)

James

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Shibby

Shibby

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Great website!

I was about to ask for an API. It'd be great to have an alternative to the unreliable 7Timer. However, I see you're working on your own Android app anyhow which will probably blow mine out the water!

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Grant_FLO

Grant_FLO

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Small update to Clear Outside today, by popular demand :)

Some people like to keep the forecast collapsed so they can see the whole week ahead all at once. If you like to do this, then Clear Outside will now remember and keep the forecast collapsed next time you visit.

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Charic

Charic

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I'm finding clear outside slightly less than perfect for my needs at present. 

I found  UK Weather Forecast was a good  app for Android, which surprised me one evening over its accuracy!

Edited by Charic
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Stu

Stu

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Small update to Clear Outside today, by popular demand :)

Some people like to keep the forecast collapsed so they can see the whole week ahead all at once. If you like to do this, then Clear Outside will now remember and keep the forecast collapsed next time you visit.

Is that a new version to install Grant? Can't see this option and it sounds good :-)

Can you please change the forecast for Buxton, Derbyshire from red to green for the weekend? ;-)

Cheers

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Stu

Stu

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One other thought Grant, how about fixing the time bar at the top so it doesn't scroll up, much like freezing panes on Excel? At the moment, when. You scroll to the lower information, you lose the time so have to remember where you were, does that make sense?

Stu

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John

John

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It was spot on tonight, unfortunately with cloud cover spreading over things within 15 mins of when predicted.

Mind you I got 90 mins under great skies which I might have missed out on otherwise.

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RichM63

RichM63

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I loved the Clear Outside sig' image. Sadly the only way that I could edit my within guidelines signature, 5 lines text + 2 images was to completely remove the CO image, thus 5 lines text and no images!

Posed the question in the Foibles restricted section, to be told that the restriction is due to folk having 'big sigs' of more than 5 lines. eg. above!

Thus sadly, no more can I see at a glance what my accurate forum sponsored weather forecast is.:(

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FLO

FLO

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We have received some really nice feedback from Clear Outside users but this email received last night is one of the nicest :smiley: 

"Just wanted to say thank-you for providing such a great website.

Tonight I was able to observe the International Space Station with my 7yr old daughter as it passed overhead.
We were both amazed by the sight.
It's simple things like this that have sparked her interest in astronomy."
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FLO

FLO

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How's the app for ios coming along FLO?

The Clear Outside app is built and ready for launch  :smile:

Grant has finished the clever techie stuff and I need only to write a description for the app store's 'Details' page, then we'll submit it to Apple for approval.

We aren't sure how long they will need (this is our first app) but we are guessing 1-3 weeks. 

HTH, 

Steve 

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