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December 9, 2010

How would YOU change the weather page?

Unless you believe in the meteorological power of prayer, you can't change the weather. But maybe you can change the weather page.

Baltimore Sun weather pageThe Baltimore Sun is preparing for a major overhaul of its PRINT weather page. Having weathered a period of shrinkage and a loss of color, we are now on the rebound. Soon, perhaps as early as January, we will be expanding our current quarter-page of weather data to its former half-page glory. It will also be relocated from P. 3 to the back page of the Sports section.

And, we will be bringing back the color.

With the added space, we plan to add or restore weather data we haven't been able to provide in our currently cramped quarters. 

So, consider this your opportunity to tell us what you'd like to see on the print weather page starting in 2011, or what you'd like to see disappear. A national weather map? An accounting of heating and cooling degree-days? Humidity and barometric pressure readings?

Could you use a clearer display of pollen counts and air quality conditions? More (or fewer, or better-displayed) national and international temperatures and forecasts? More information for stargazers? More (or less) of me? 

Leave a comment here, or send me an email directly and let us know what changes you'd most like to see, what information you find most (or least) useful, and what you'd most like to see if we can squeeze it in. 

Over to you...

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:00 AM | | Comments (9)
Categories: Notes to readers
        

Comments

It would be very cool to see stuff like you're posting on the WeatherBlog make it to print for our tech-challenged citizens - there's good stuff in here!

For instance, info about the upcoming lunar eclipse, or some of the "other opinions" from folks like Eric the Red, when we were looking at the snowstorms in February.

I always thought of meteorology as being a dynamic science, but too often, forecasters leave people with the impression that it's static - WeatherBlog has always been the goat in the sheep herd by keeping it real. Getting that vibe into the print edition would totally change the way more Baltimoreans look at weather.

FR: Thanks. We do, of course, print Weather Blog posts on the print weather page Thursday through Sunday. That will continue on the new page, although I don't know yet whether we'll get more space for it. Are you asking for a seven-day schedule for that? That's how the feature began in 2006, but it required so much of my time we cut it back to four days a week. As for events like the eclipse, when there is a very newsworthy event like that coming up, we will usually run a full-fledged story and graphics in the paper.

Seven days a week would be understandably demanding; apologies for not thinking of that. I'll admit to being spoiled - I like learning, even twenty years out of high school, so it doesn't take much to get hooked on good sources.

Maybe include a "weather definitions" space, where terms like "Nautical Twilight" or other meteorology terms, astronomy terms, etc. could be addressed. National weather's a good space filler, but perhaps not wholly relevant to Baltimore unless the reader's travelling.

just go back to the old format/weather page that you had before this one. i don't visit the sun weather page much at all anymore, except to see frank's posts. the "information" available is so twentieth century and behind technology now it's unbelievable.

I would like to see a map of the U.S. with depictions of fronts and pressure systems. Also add the day's ultraviolet index and a chart for heating or cooling degree days, Actually something similar to the Posts weather page would be awesome.

National map. What's in the skyline at sunset and, if room, sunrise.

I agree with Earl just go backl to the old format/weather page

You already publish wind speed, direction and wave height for the upper bay and the rivers but only wave height for Ocean City, Assateague and the bay as a whole. Since winds and wave height are so closely related, it would be helpful to see it for all.

Especially during the summer (but all year would be nice) please include predictions for humidity. The current weather pages aren't much help for knowing when drier air is on the way, or when those swampy days are coming when you find yourself soaked in sweat at 8 in the morning.

A simple 3 day forecast for the mid-day dewpoint or relative humidity combined with a statement on the average for the date would be great. Even more detail would be better, but at a minimum please make it easier to know if the next few days are going to be drier than average, average, or more humid than average.

Thanks for considering this. There are places like San Diego where humidity's not such an issue, but in Baltimore it matters a lot, often far more than temperature.

Definitely agree on the humidity forcasts. I'm a biker and it would definitely help plan weekend rides to know if I'm better off going Saturday or Sunday morning, and knowing how humid it's going to be matters a lot. I find things like the pollen count to be less useful because it varies a lot by where you are, but knowing how humid it is matters a lot when you're exercising outside. Heat index just doesn't help much. Comparisons against the average for humidity is a good idea.

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About Frank Roylance
This site is the Maryland Weather archive. The current Maryland Weather blog can be found here.
Frank Roylance is a reporter for The Baltimore Sun. He came to Baltimore from New Bedford, Mass. in 1980 to join the old Evening Sun. He moved to the morning Sun when the papers merged in 1992, and has spent most of his time since covering science, including astronomy and the weather. One of The Baltimore Sun's first online Web logs, the Weather Blog debuted in October 2004. In June 2006 Frank also began writing comments on local weather and stargazing for The Baltimore Sun's print Weather Page. Frank also answers readers’ weather queries for the newspaper and the blog. Frank Roylance retired in October 2011. Maryland Weather is now being updated by members of The Baltimore Sun staff
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