Q) How often is the forecast updated?
A) The data comes directly from the National Weather Service and is updated 4 times a day at Mid Night, 6:00 AM, Noon, and 6:00 PM. All times are Eastern Time.
Q) The Launch Code time is 3 hour time blocks. What is the forecast for other times than the ones shown?
A) The National Weather Service only provides the data in 3 hour blocks. You can estimate what the forecast might be at a particular time by using the times before and after the time you want. The temperature and wind speed graphs utilizes such an estimate by connecting the data with a straight line. Is this way of estimating accurate? It should be close but may be in error since weather trends never follow a straight line path.
Q) How accurate is the forecast?
A) You local accuracy may vary from week to week and season to season. We have found that the forecast are generally accurate and often very close.
Q) Does the time correspond to the middle of the box or to either the left or right side of the column?
A) The times shown going across the page is representative of the middle of the column that it is in.
Q) Are the altitudes MSL or AGL?
A) Altitudes are based upon Mean Sea Level (MSL) for the height of cloud base.
Q) What is an Azimuth?
A) Azimuths are based upon a 360 degree circle where 0 or 360 represents a wind coming from the North, 90 represents a wind coming from the east, 180 represents a wind coming from the South, and 270 represents a wind coming from the West. The wind directional arrows shown with the forecast assumes that north is at the top of your page, east is at the right, west at the left, and south is at the bottom. An arrow pointing to the right would represent a wind forecasted to blow east. An arrow pointing straight down the page would represent a wind forecasted to blow south.
Q) What is the difference between the Aviation Model and the Environmental Model?
A) The data from the Aviation Model and the Environmental Model comes from two different models provided by the National Weather Service. These models are compiled by different computer programs that utilize different data. In general, the models are similar in some areas of the forecast and different in others. The obvious question is which one is more accurate? As with all forecasts, the models do contain error and cannot always be relied upon to predict accurate forecast conditions. Both models has it's strengths and weaknesses. You should experiment with the forecast to see which one is more accurate for your area.
Q) Can you add another city to the list of available cities in the Launch Code program?.
A) The list of cities shown in the Launch Code program are the only cities available. The National Weather Service controls the list of cities that forecast data is calculated. You should try and contact the National Weather Service and ask them if they will add the city of your choice. Please specify that you want a city added to their 'MOS AVN' model. You can find an e-mail at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/synop/products.htm at the bottom of the page.
Q) I have noticed that the date on the raw data screen and National Weather Service web page is different than the date shown on the Launch Code forecast page. Why?
A) At first glance it may look like the dates generated by the Launch Code program is different. Actually there is no difference in the time the weather events occur. The data from the National Weather Service and the raw data screen is based upon Universal Time Code or UTC. UTC is the time in London England. If the date of the UTC is for 0100 on July 4th or 1:00 am July 4th then this would equate to 9:00 PM on July 3rd for the east coast of the USA (DST). Why? Just as there is a difference in New York time and California time, there is a difference in UTC time and your local time. The Launch Code program automatically converts the UTC time to the local time of the forecast city. Please read the explanation on the raw data page for more information on how to convert UTC time to your local time. There is a link to the raw data on each forecast near the bottom of the page.
Q) The date of the forecast is for yesterday. Should it not be for today?
A) The forecast date is controlled by the National Weather Service. Sometimes the NWS will have problems and it maybe the next day before the forecast is updated. The Launch Code program always retrieves the latest data on the NWS server. This problem happens now and then and is beyond our control.
Q) At times the first block of data does not’t have a date in it. It appears that “today’s weather” is in this “undated block”. Is this a problem with the program?
A) You are right, today's weather is in the undated block. This undated block happens because of the time difference between the UTC and your local time. If you take a look at the raw data (click the link in the bottom portion of the page) you will see that the hour 'HR' starts out with 00 UTC . If your forecast city is on the east coast, the Launch Code program will subtract 5 hours from the time for Standard Time, -4 hours for Daylight Saving Time. This subtraction of time will cause the hour to be on the previous day. Since the raw data does not contain a date for these hours, Launch Code leaves this columns blank. Why did we not add the dates to the blank column headings? This is mainly due to the fact that the amount of additional code would only slow down the program without providing any clarity.
Q) I tried to access your site but I kept getting error messages or the page took an incredible amount of time to load. Can you fix this?
A) The most likely possible source of the problem is the National Weather Service page. If their web site is not responding, then the Launch Code program will not work. This happens from time to time and is beyond our control.
Gotta another question about Launch Code? E-mail the webmaster.