Light Snow not showing

[mdwx]

My current condition is "light snow" yet the yowindow is not showing any snow falling.

Any ideas?


Widget is found here: http://www.marylandwx.com/

[Mallorca]

Hi Mr./Ms. X ???
I moved your post because it is not a bug, only a question!
Yowindow show snow when the temperature is below minus 5 °C (23 F) and in your case it is higher.
Werner

[mdwx]

Hi Mr./Ms. X ???
I moved your post because it is not a bug, only a question!
Yowindow show snow when the temperature is below minus 5 °C (23 F) and in your case it is higher.
Werner

What is the reasoning for this? We often have snow above 23F (actually rarely see temps below 23.) Why wouldn't yowindow show what is being reported?

[countryroads]

Hi!!

Werner was correct about the 23 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have an animated landscape that is when YoWindow displays the winter season of snow on the ground. Your website is showing a picture landscape, so the only thing it would show is snow falling.

Your website is also using your PWS. The snow falling comes from the Metar. The Metar is used for current conditions. But the PWS is used for current conditions and overrides the Metar. I do not have my own PWS, so I do not know what happens when it is snowing at the Metar station and your PWS overrides the Metar.

Did you happen to try looking at your Desktop without the PWS to see if YoWindow using the Metar showed the snow falling? This really is a question about the PWS versus the Metar. I checked the Metar archives for your Metar station (KBWI) and there was atleast 3 hours of snowfall.

Werner, Herman, Jim and whoever else has a PWS, what happens when the Metar is reporting snow and you are using a PWS for your current conditions?

Thanks in advance.

Marty

[jmcmurry]

I believe that YoWindow will use whatever PWS information that is provided, and augment that with METAR data for the rest. Since most PWS cannot detect the snowing condition, that would always need to come from the METAR.

Some weather software can be set to monitor a local METAR to assist in setting current conditions, Weather Display can do that. Then the xml would then have to include that condition in order for YoWindow to know that it is snowing. I'm not sure that all of the weather software do that.

To know what was happening we'd have to see the xml that was being provided to YoWindow at the time I think. Also what the METAR was reporting. I've never noticed a problem here using Weather Display, but apparently something wasn't quite right for mdwx.

- Jim

[mdwx]

I believe that YoWindow will use whatever PWS information that is provided, and augment that with METAR data for the rest. Since most PWS cannot detect the snowing condition, that would always need to come from the METAR.

Some weather software can be set to monitor a local METAR to assist in setting current conditions, Weather Display can do that. Then the xml would then have to include that condition in order for YoWindow to know that it is snowing. I'm not sure that all of the weather software do that.

To know what was happening we'd have to see the xml that was being provided to YoWindow at the time I think. Also what the METAR was reporting. I've never noticed a problem here using Weather Display, but apparently something wasn't quite right for mdwx.

- Jim

Thanks for the replies and thank you Jim, this was my understanding as well.

YoWindow properly shows the sky conditions from the KBWI metar, so I assumed that it would show rain/snowfall from that as well. After a bit more research, it appears that YoWindow is getting the rainfall and snowfall data from my PWS. It uses the rain rate for rainfall, and counts on an observation for snowfall.

[mdwx]

Okay, since YoWindow looks to my PWS for rainfall/snowfall data, is there any way to have it get that from the metar instead? The only way to get it to show snowfall would be for me to be at my weather station and input a snowfall observation. I would rather it just see "Light Snow" from the metar and use that to make the snow fall in the window.

Thanks,
William

[jmcmurry]

When I view your xml I see

Code: Select all

<response>
<current_weather>
  <temperature unit="f">
    <current value="44.8"/>
    <feels_like value="44.8"/>
  </temperature>
  <humidity value="93"/>
  <pressure value="29.89" trend="-0.03" unit="inchMerc"/>
  <wind>
    <speed value="0.0" unit="mph"/>
    <direction value="96"/>
    <gust value="2.0" unit="mph"/>
  </wind>
  <sky>
    <precipitation>
      <rain>
        <rate value="0.00" unit="iph"/>
        <daily_total value="0.04" unit="inch"/>
      </rain>
    </precipitation>
  </sky>
  <auto_update>
    <interval value="65"/>
  </auto_update>
</current_weather>
</response>

and there is no sky condition or description provided. In this situation, I thought that YoWindow would use METAR data for those and that you would see snow. I think we'll have to wait for an answer from Pasha to clarify.

- Jim

[par]

Yes, if a parameter is missing in PWS report it is substituted by the parameter from a METAR sation closest to your place.

[mdwx]

Yes, if a parameter is missing in PWS report it is substituted by the parameter from a METAR sation closest to your place.

This is where I am confused. My PWS was sending no information regarding skycover or snowfall, so YoWindow successfully read the "Light Snow" report from the metar, but it did not show the light snow falling in the window. I would think since the observation was missing from my PWS but was found in the metar, it would make it snow in the YoWindow, especially since it displaying "Light Snow" in the current conditions box.