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Say goodbye to Gorge iWindsurf forecasts?
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NLerner



Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 11:06 pm    Post subject: Say goodbye to Gorge iWindsurf forecasts? Reply with quote

The Columbia is still warm and typically there can be some kick butt days, both west and east wind, yet iWindsurf is suddenly not forecasting?

Its bad enough that most of us pay for year round service, the least they can do in return is supply forecasts for the warmer months. And believe me, if Im still sailing then it is still warm.
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trburl



Joined: 10 Apr 2000
Posts: 196

PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:46 am    Post subject: RE: Say goodbye to Gorge iWindsurf forecasts? Reply with quote

Yep!! October is sailing month for sure. Its just us locals though..... priorities I guess.
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farabi



Joined: 16 Jul 2002
Posts: 278
Location: boston, cape cod, etc

PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:49 am    Post subject: RE: Say goodbye to Gorge iWindsurf forecasts? Reply with quote

same issue here at the cape cod. as matter of fact i was going to bring this up as well.

i believe the forcast for cape goes april (or even may) till november.

while many people here sail year round.

maybe its possible to have somewhat reduced meteorologist forcast for those months.. like once in 3 days or so...
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mikemcd



Joined: 20 Oct 2004
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:19 am    Post subject: RE: Say goodbye to Gorge iWindsurf forecasts? Reply with quote

Hey guys,

This is a difficult issue every year for us. Believe me when I say that if we could continue with human forecasting, we would. However, the total number of hits and users into the winter simply doesnt justify the time and cost of our forecasters. Plus, as you are aware, we have only a limited number of forecasters and working the rigid schedule that we do we tend to burn out towards the end of the year. Our families put up with a lot so we can bring you the best wind forecasts that we can.

Potential solutions? Hire more forecasters! well.. that would be great! But then your fees would have to be drastically raised and your already complaining about the cost.

The forecast team still works through the winter but on a more sane schedule. We concentrate our efforts on web improvements and making new products for the following year. This year we brought a ton of new products on line and we have a bunch more planned for 2006. One such product is the gorge windbow which is surprisingly accurate at capturing wind trends in the gorge. Have you seen it?? We are planning some additional improvements to the windbow and additional items as well that will effect all regions.

Winter winds are often driven more by synoptic events than the usual localized thermals and models are much better at picking out these events. Not saying that the models are perfect.. just better than they are during the normal sailing season.

Just thought Id chime in and let you know the perspective from the Forecasters.

Cheers,
Matt


Matt Corey
Operational Forecast Team Leader
Weatherflow, Inc. aka iwindsurf.com/ikitesurf.com
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NLerner



Joined: 03 Aug 2001
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:37 am    Post subject: RE: Say goodbye to Gorge iWindsurf forecasts? Reply with quote

Matt -

Thanks for the reply.

I can appreciate your not doing winter forecasts, however for most of us that live here, October is still part of the summer/fall season. I am a warm water weenie as much (if not more so) than the next person. Im hoping that next year you will at least extend to the end of October.

The few times I did check the windbow, it wasnt particularly accurate - probably my bad luck.

BTW - outside of this issue I am a very happy customer of iWindsurf.

- Nelson
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bharrisks



Joined: 30 May 2001
Posts: 62

PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:59 pm    Post subject: RE: Say goodbye to Gorge iWindsurf forecasts? Reply with quote



Last edited by bharrisks on Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:27 pm; edited 2 times in total
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bobgatpdx1



Joined: 13 Oct 2002
Posts: 385

PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:53 pm    Post subject: RE: Say goodbye to Gorge iWindsurf forecasts? Reply with quote

Reduced forecast frequency is a good idea for the shoulder seasons. I tend to value the 7AM forecast the most. You could skip the 11:30AM and the 6PM during October.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 10:17 pm    Post subject: RE: Say goodbye to Gorge iWindsurf forecasts? Reply with quote

The wind should be pretty good this time of the year, with big swell because Fall fronts can produce very strong winds. Any sailable wind gets increasingly precious as winter nears, and iW stops too darn soon.

Mike \m/
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farabi



Joined: 16 Jul 2002
Posts: 278
Location: boston, cape cod, etc

PostPosted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 2:16 pm    Post subject: RE: Say goodbye to Gorge iWindsurf forecasts? Reply with quote

i dont think the wa 11.30 this year.

the thing is that i often use 6 pm forcast to decide if i should stay at home near boston or at my friends at cape.

my proposition was to have some forcast.. maybe every 3 days year round... or at least when forcasted air temperature is over 35 degrees.
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brian77



Joined: 07 Jul 2003
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 2:15 am    Post subject: RE: Say goodbye to Gorge iWindsurf forecasts? Reply with quote

Who needs forecasters in the winter when you have the windbow? The windbow has been performing well in the Gorge, and gaining a loyal following. Check it out.
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