we’re looking to get some clarification around how the hourly forecasts should be interpreted to ensure we’re using your data in the correct manner. If you could provide the answers to the following questions would be extremely helpful:
1. What do the data points (e.g temperature) in the hourly forecast represent for a future hour? Do they represent the expected average over that future hour or do they represent the forecast for the point in time at the top of the hour?
2. What do those same data points represent in the hourly forecast for an hour which has already begun? e.g. it’s 8:30 and we pull the hourly forecast and the 8:00 hour is still returned. Which of the following would be the correct interpretation for the values returned for the 8:00 hour:
- The values represent the forecast for the point in time at the top of the 8:00 hour (if this is the case we would expect it to stop updating)
- The values represent the current forecast i.e. what the weather is right now
- The values represent the average over the remaining portion of the 8:00 hour
- The values represent the average over the full 8:00 hour including both the portion which has already elapsed and the portion which is still to come
3. What does the data represent after the hour (i.e. looking at historical hours)? Is it:
- The last forecast made within the hour? If so, is that point-in-time or average for the hour (as explained above)?
- The actual weather for that hour (using some non-forecast measure of real weather)? If so, again is that point-in-time at top of hour / point-in-time at end of hour / average over the hour?
