partially cloudy vs partly cloudy?

[Ktuley]

So when I get the forecast from WeatherCat, it likes to tell me "partially cloudy".  I've always heard the term "partly cloudy".
Is there a difference? Is this something that I can change somewhere deep in the code or plists?

Thanks.

 

[elagache]

Dear Ktuley and WeatherCat seekers of forecast knowledge,

So when I get the forecast from WeatherCat, it likes to tell me "partially cloudy".  I've always heard the term "partly cloudy".
Is there a difference? Is this something that I can change somewhere deep in the code or plists?

WeatherCat doesn't directly generate any forecast information at all.  However, it does relay forecast information from your weather station and you have a Vantage Vue which does provide a forecast.  So that phrase is presumably hardwired into the firmware of you Vantage Vue console and there is no practical way to change it. 

If you are curious why Davis chose to phrase the forecast that way, you might give the Davis technical support number a call:

(510) 732-7814

If you decide to give them a call, do share with us the answer you get.  I'm sure there are a few folks on the forum would be curious to know how Davis explains this one!

Cheers, Edouard 

P.S. Even if it is your second post - welcome to the WeatherCat forum!

If you feel up to it, take the time to introduce yourself to the rest of the forum community on this topic:

http://athena.trixology.com/index.php?board=8.0

[Blicj11]

Ktuley, welcome to the WeatherCat forum!

[xairbusdriver]

I prefer "partly Sunny"! OTOH, I didn't know that Davis sends any kind of could cover/sky condition to anything. I assumed, as dangerous as that is, that WC creates the text in a manner similar to computing cloud bottoms; Temp, Humidity and standard lapse rate computations. Of course, there is that fairly large "Sun monitor" that might have an input into how cloudy it might be... Have ta get The Manual out, if I can find it...

In other news,
Welcome AboaRd, Ken/Kevin/Kent/Karl! If you follow I-40 east enough, I've got a spare bedroom you can rest in for a small fee*!

*Semi-annual ISS cleaning

[Ktuley]

So I contacted Davis and thy say the unit reports "Partly cloudy". Here's their message.

Our weather stations report ?Partly? not ?partially?
 
Forecast Values:
Mostly Clear
Partly Cloudy
Mostly Cloudy
Mostly Cloudy, Rain within 12 hours
Mostly Cloudy, Snow within 12 hours
Mostly Cloudy, Rain or Snow within 12 hours
Partly Cloudy, Rain within 12 hours
Partly Cloudy, Snow within 12 hours
Partly Cloudy, Rain or Snow within 12 hours
 
I hope I answered all your questions.  If you need additional assistance, please feel free to contact us @ 510-732-7814, Monday-Friday, 7am ? 5:30pm PST.
 
Have a great day,
 
 
Leticia Dominguez
Technical Support
Davis Instruments

And just to be clear what I'm talking about, here's the forecast email I got tonight from WeatherCat.

WeatherCat Forecast Email

Current Forecast:
Increasing clouds and cooler. Precipitation possible and windy within 6 hours.

Short Forecast:
Partially cloudy, rain within 12 hours.

User Text: Hi there! This is your weather station reporting in for duty!

<END MESSAGE>

WeatherCat TimeStamp: 16:00:32 16-Feb-17

So if WC doesn't generate it, and it's not coming from the Davis Unit, where is it coming from???

Actually my suspicion is that some firmware update on my Davis unit would change this to Partly.

Other thoughts?

Dear Ktuley and WeatherCat seekers of forecast knowledge,

So when I get the forecast from WeatherCat, it likes to tell me "partially cloudy".  I've always heard the term "partly cloudy".
Is there a difference? Is this something that I can change somewhere deep in the code or plists?

WeatherCat doesn't directly generate any forecast information at all.  However, it does relay forecast information from your weather station and you have a Vantage Vue which does provide a forecast.  So that phrase is presumably hardwired into the firmware of you Vantage Vue console and there is no practical way to change it. 

If you are curious why Davis chose to phrase the forecast that way, you might give the Davis technical support number a call:

(510) 732-7814

If you decide to give them a call, do share with us the answer you get.  I'm sure there are a few folks on the forum would be curious to know how Davis explains this one!

Cheers, Edouard 

P.S. Even if it is your second post - welcome to the WeatherCat forum!

If you feel up to it, take the time to introduce yourself to the rest of the forum community on this topic:

http://athena.trixology.com/index.php?board=8.0

[Ktuley]

Thanks.   I can relate to the Partly sunny, but I guess there are actual percentages that drive these terms.   

To my partly cloudy leans toward mostly sunny and vice versa, but I don't think that jives with the "official" definition.

Anyway, how Far East in I-40?

I prefer "partly Sunny"! OTOH, I didn't know that Davis sends any kind of could cover/sky condition to anything. I assumed, as dangerous as that is, that WC creates the text in a manner similar to computing cloud bottoms; Temp, Humidity and standard lapse rate computations. Of course, there is that fairly large "Sun monitor" that might have an input into how cloudy it might be... Have ta get The Manual out, if I can find it...

In other news,
Welcome AboaRd, Ken/Kevin/Kent/Karl! If you follow I-40 east enough, I've got a spare bedroom you can rest in for a small fee*!

*Semi-annual ISS cleaning

[xairbusdriver]

Anyway, how Far East in I-40?

Just far enough to let your feet dry after you cross the Mighty Muddy!

[elagache]

Dear Ktuley and WeatherCat seekers of accurate forecasts,

So I contacted Davis and thy say the unit reports "Partly cloudy". Here's their message.
. . . . . .

Interesting.  I just doubled-checked and my station behaves just like your station.  I'm getting the word 'Partially' as well.

I double-checked the WeatherCat manual and there isn't anything mentioned about processing that text.  I wondered if perhaps WeatherCat did some localizing since Davis does not provide information in as many languages as WeatherCat supports.  We might want to check with the WeatherCat developer (Stuart Ball) just to be 100% certain, but I would be very surprised in the English text would be altered in any way.

Actually my suspicion is that some firmware update on my Davis unit would change this to Partly.

Well that still seems like a long shot because the phrases in question have been in use for probably centuries.  Why would Davis ever get this wrong?  Nonetheless, if more current firmware does the problem, then we should have folks on the forum with newer Davis stations who aren't seeing this oddity.  Hey WeatherCat community, anybody got a Davis station  that does report 'Partly Cloudy' as advertised?

At least two curious minds would like to know!

Cheers, Edouard

[Blicj11]

I don't have that feature turned on in WeatherCat, but I just turned it on so now I'll have to wait for the appropriate forecast and then look at the email. I'll report back.

[The Grand Poohbah]

"Partially cloudy, rain within 12 hours." returned by WeatherCat's CSF$ tag. Weather station is a Davis Vantage Pro 2.

[elagache]

Dear Blick, Grand, and WeatherCat Davis station owners,

To be 100% sure the problem is on Davis's end, the easiest way is to have the console itself display the forecast.  You can do that by pressing the forecast button on the console.  What will be displayed is the long forecast message equivalent to the CF$ tag.  At the moment my forecast is mostly cloudy so I cannot verify if Davis has the correct text or not just yet.

Cheers, Edouard

[mcrossley]

If its any help I just dumped the regular forecast strings out of the VP2 ver 3.15 ROM...

Code: [Select]

MOSTLY CLEAR AND COOLER.
MOSTLY CLEAR WITH LITTLE TEMP CHANGE.
MOSTLY CLEAR FOR 12 HRS WITH LITTLE TEMP CHANGE.
MOSTLY CLEAR FOR 12-24 HRS AND COOLER.
MOSTLY CLEAR AND WARMER.
MOSTLY CLEAR FOR 6-12 HRS WITH LITTLE TEMP CHANGE.
MOSTLY CLEAR FOR 12-24 HRS WITH LITTLE TEMP CHANGE.
INCREASING CLOUDS AND WARMER.
INCREASING CLOUDS WITH LITTLE TEMP CHANGE.
INCREASING CLOUDS AND COOLER.
CLEARING AND COOLER.
CLEARING, COOLER AND WINDY.
MOSTLY CLOUDY AND COOLER.
MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH LITTLE TEMP CHANGE.
FORECAST NOT READY YET.
PRECIPITATION CONTINUING.
PRECIPITATION CONTINUING, POSSIBLY HEAVY AT TIMES.
PRECIPITATION LIKELY.
PRECIPITATION LIKELY, POSSIBLY HEAVY AT TIMES.
PRECIPITATION ENDING WITHIN 6 HRS.
PRECIPITATION ENDING WITHIN 12 HRS.
PRECIPITATION POSSIBLY HEAVY AT TIMES AND ENDING WITHIN 12 HRS.
PRECIPITATION ENDING IN 12-24 HRS.
PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE WITHIN 6 HRS.
PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE AND WINDY WITHIN 6 HRS.
PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE WITHIN 6-12 HRS, POSSIBLY HEAVY AT TIMES.
PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE WITHIN 6-12 HRS.
PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE WITHIN 12 HRS.
PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE WITHIN 12 HRS, POSSIBLY HEAVY AT TIMES.
PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE WITHIN 12-24 HRS.
PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE WITHIN 24 HRS.
PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE WITHIN 24-48 HRS.
PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE WITHIN 48 HRS.
INCREASING WINDS.
WINDY.
POSSIBLE WIND SHIFT TO THE W, NW, OR N.
WINDY WITH POSSIBLE WIND SHIFT TO THE W, NW, OR N.
PARTLY CLOUDY AND COOLER.
PARTLY CLOUDY WITH LITTLE TEMP CHANGE.
POSSIBLE WIND SHIFT TO THE W, SW, OR S.
WINDY WITH POSSIBLE WIND SHIFT TO THE W, SW, OR S.


[Blicj11]

Thanks for posting the possible forecasts, Mark.

My SteelSeries Gauges scrolls the current forecast from my console, but haven't had the right forecast to test yet.  I'm still watching though.

[Blicj11]

The WeatherCat email sends both the short forecast and the long forecast (which WeatherCat labels as the Current Forecast in the email. Here are mine from this morning's email:

Current Forecast:
Increasing clouds with little temperature change. Precipitation possible within 12 hours, possibly heavy at times. Windy.

Short Forecast:
Partially cloudy, rain within 12 hours.

So I conclude the non-standard wording issue is with the short forecast. The WeatherCat tag for the short forecast is CSF$ and this tag only works with the Vantage Pro2, Pro2 Plus or Vantage Vue consoles, and the Weather Envoy (not Envoy8X). My guess is that this is a Davis issue, not WeatherCat, but only Stu knows for sure.

[WCDev]

These are the short forecast strings - these are decoded from a series of bits. Prior to 2013 the definitions were using the word 'partially', for example:

0x7 = Partial Sun + Cloud + Rain = Partially Cloudy, Rain within 12 hours

after that time it has changed to 'partly' (see http://www.davisnet.com/support/weather/download/VantageSerialProtocolDocs_v261.pdf - this is the latest I can find) - it's now:
0x7 = Partial Sun + Cloud + Rain = Partly Cloudy, Rain within 12 hours.

I'm fairly sure WeatherCat will be using the pre-2013 strings - I'll check and update it. Thanks for spotting this