Mosfiloti Weather Services
Welcome to the Mosfiloti Weather Services. If you explore these pages, you will find many features regarding the weather, not only in Mosfiloti but also elsewhere.
What is new?
A lot! The new site contains everything that the old one did, plus, plus, plus. The forecast is improved with the latest software, in both English and Greek; we are striving to improve it even more. A new feature is Maps, which offers simple weather maps for Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Levant and Europe. Because many users are British ex-pats, we have also included the British Isles, so that they can see how much rain they're missing!
We are offering a new version of the graphic Current Weather page; this now includes an icon for the Fire Weather Index. This is indicative of the relative risk of forest or brush fires, taking into account the temperature, precipitation, time since the last rain, wind etc. A brand new feature is the Extra Data. This is targeted at the person who wants to have a better grasp of what is happening, without any artistic flon-flon. The first of 9 pages offers the basic general extra data and the second shows graphs of barometric pressure, gust, average and minimum wind speed, average wind direction, temperature, dew point, relative humidity and precipitation over the last 24 hours. There follows a page for each of the variables, some of it graphic, mostly raw data in the form of values and units. There is a page of the all-time records measured by our weather station and one showing the data from the four local METARs (airfields).
Another novelty is the introduction of Weather Notes which are more-or-less short chapters on various aspects to give readers a better understanding of what is going on. Finally, we have a direct link to the Weather Forum where we invite users to ask their questions or make their (polite) remarks.
As an afterthought, we must not forget to mention that we have improved any print-outs you may wish to make. These eliminate unnecessary stuff, like menus and unessential graphics. Whereas the characters you read here are Arial or similar, the printed text is in Times New Roman, which is easier to read as black text on white paper. The font size has also been optimised. Go on! Give in to the temptation to try it out now by pressing your browser printer icon!
News (last 2 months)
3 May 2012: Looking at Outlook, I suggest that forecasts may be uncertain for the next week or so, with the reason for my doubt, and I give a run-down on what happened in April.
19 April 2012: Outlook has a look at yesterday's dust storm, discussing the likelihood of more of the same.
16 April 2012: On the Live Weather Display, a solar icon and values have been added, as has also details of the sun and moon, with some other minor improvements. The Solar Weather notes now include charts to determine the elevation and azimuth of the sun at any time in the year, centred in Mosfiloti but usable throughout Cyprus.
13 April 2012: Our weather station has been renewed after 6 years loyal service. This means that the calibration is correct within the normal tolerances and is traceable to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) standards. In fact, I found no discernable difference between the old and new systems, with the exception that the relative humidity readings of the old system were about 5% low. At the same time, the solar readings are now correct as I have moved the sensor to a position where it is not shaded by a hedge. They are therefore reading correctly from sunrise. For more on what solar sensing means, please read Solar on weather notes.
6 April 2012: On Maps, we have added a weather station at Pano Platres on the Cyprus map. This is privately owned and we make no guarantee as to the accuracy of its data. In particular, the barometric pressure is shown in absolute values and not altitude-compensated to sea level, as is customary.
1 April 2012: March records, Rain and Outlook updated.
22 March 2012: Outlook update. New button for book reviews on menu.
10 March 2012: New feature: Monthly Records, from January 2011 onwards
1 March 2012: Updated rain charts in Current extra and Notes
Red labels in menu buttons on left show recently changed sections.
