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Weather

• Can I get wind history for location xyz...
• Can I have the raw wind data for d/m/yyyy?
• Can I put your weather on my website?
  please visit our "Weather Widgets" page...
• How do "My Graphs", custom weather layout work?
  icon located at the top left of each graph. When you select the icon, it turns sold to shows that you've select the graph in your favourites. Continue picking the graphs you want. If necessary, visit any other graph pages to add other graphs of interest. When finished, view your favourites, page by selecting the Graphs / My Graphs menu. Once there, you should find the weather graphs you selected. You can easily remove graphs no longer required by deselecting the favourites icon at the top left of each graphic. You can also shuffle the order, by using the Move Up/Down icons .. , . You don't even need to register or login to use the favourites. Trouble shooting: If you find it's not remembering your settings, check the cookie settings in your browser! No cookies = no favourites.. sorry.
• How do you do your forecasts?
  The weather often chooses it's own path of action, and we're in a constant state of trying to keep up with it and create forecasts that are accurate and reliable. To do it, we use over 6 different sources of data, apply our own proprietory local area algorithms, a human touch, and the results are the graphs you see. We built the systems years ago, but the code was lost in an unfortunate office accident late one evening during a christmas party windup involving an employee, a gold fish bowl and a set of golf clubs. The code was lost and the employee now has a limp. :-)
• How does the weather work?
  Wind Glorious Wind... If you're into a sport that is affected by the wind, it pays to understand how wind works. Wind... Wind is the movement of air molecules from one location to another. The perfect demonstration of wind is with a fully inflated car tyre. If you open the valve on the car tyre, air rushes out. Why? Because there is more air pressure in the tyre than there is in the atmosphere, and the atmosphere is always seeking to equalise pressure. Higher pressure pockets of air (i.e. inside the car tyre) move to equalise lower pressure areas. So what causes these low pressure areas? Well, in the case of a seabreeze, it's caused by heat... Seabreezes... Cold sinks, heat rises. It's the concept that makes hot air balloons work, and why your vegies are at the bottom of the fridge. During a summer day, the land is heated by the sun, and this heat is absorbed by the surrounding air. Once this air meets a particular temperature, it begins to rise quite rapidly. As a result, a low pressure area is created at ground level. The sea doesn't heat up as quickly as the land, so the air temperature over the water is much less. As a result, this air is free to move sideways to occupy our new low pressure area. The result is a light to gale force wind which rushes in from the sea to fill the lower pressure area left by the hot air rising from the land. Seabreezes usually happen in spring and summer, when the difference in temperature between land and sea is greatest. Seabreezes are the most amazing phenonenom. For many years I never really paid much attention to the wind. One day, we arrived (late) at the local river to do some water skiing. It was around 1pm, the water was glassy - perfect conditions. Then, my mate Mick says "Here comes the seabreeze...". Looking across the river we could see an approaching line of rough water. And then it hit us full on - the full glory of a 25 knot seabreeze. What's even more amazing is that the wind can be travelling faster than the front of the seabreeze. It can be progressing inland at 25 km/h, but the actual wind can be blowing at 35 km/h! Sometimes the seabreeze can reach 100+ kilometers inland, and other days it teases you by staying just offshore, coming in, and then going out again. So to get a seabreeze, it needs to be hot inland. But too hot and you won't get one at all. To explain why this is the case, we need to understand high's and low's and the squiqqly charts they show on the telly called 'Synoptic Charts'. Synoptic Charts... You need to understand these if you want to have your own guess at what the wind may do. It also assists to understand what the weather man is talking about. Sometimes our local TV weather reports simply say '.. and an afternoon seabreeze'. About as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike. So check this out: From the title, it says MSL Analysis. This means it is a Mean (average) Sea Level Analysis. A slice of the atmosphere at sea level. The way the atmosphere changes at different levels is also extremely interesting, but beyond what we talking about here. The numbers indicate the air pressure, called the Barometric pressure. Barometric pressure is measured in hectopascals. Bigger numbers represent greater air pressure. The chart is generated by acquiring a huge number of readings from ships, sea based automatic weather buoys and land based weather stations. These data points are then processed using complex mathamatics to 'best guess' or 'interpolate' values for areas where no reading was available. The meteorologist then sharpens his best HB pencil and draws lines connecting areas of equal pressure (called isobars, or contours), draws a H in the middle of any Highs, and an L in the middle of any Lows. They also draw another chart called a prognosis which is what they estimate to be where the weather will go. It's always valuable to compare the analysis with the prognosis to get an idea of where, and at what speed the weather is travelling. So high pressure areas rush to fill low pressure areas huh? If that was the case, then you would expect the wind to travel like this: Bzzzzzzzt. Wrong! These are complex systems, and there's other forces at work here, plus lets not forget that the world is 3D and this is only a horizontal slice. The world is spinning, which creates an extra sideways force. To simplify, visualise the surface of a spinning tennis ball. There is a "wind" blowing across the surface of the tennis ball due to its rotation. As a result, wind actually travels pretty much in the direction of the isobar lines. And in the southern hemisphere they travel anti-clockwise around high's and clockwise around lows. And the whole weather pattern moves (generally) in a west to east (left to right) direction. So the wind actually blows around the high cell like this: This all adds up to help determine the kind of local wind effects such as seabreezes along the coast in the afternoon. This synoptic chart is a joy to a wind fanatic living on the coast of Western Australia because this pattern means wind - and lots of it - these cool winds also keep the maximum temperature down. In fact, the forecast for this pattern was: TODAY'S MAX: 23 C (74 F) Strong Wind Warning current. S/SE winds 20/30kn in the morning, tending S/SW and strengthening to 25/32kn in the afternoon. The S/SE winds in the morning reflect the anti-clockwise direction of wind around the high, untill the afternoon when the thermal induced seabreeze kicks in and changes to an onshore S/SW. But that low cell sitting up in the north is what can ruin it all. These low pressure systems descend in a southerly fashion and bring with them hot and humid conditions. They are called troughs and generally spoil any chance of a seabreeze, as indicated with this chart and forecast: FORECAST: TODAY'S MAX: 35 C (95 F) E/NE winds 15/20kn, easing to 10/15kn by late morning. Winds shifting NW/SW 10/15kn during the afternoon. The capital city of Perth is going to be blasted with E/NE winds in the morning, brought in nice and fresh from the deserts, and these winds are toasty - a maximum of 35 degrees C, and only a mild, if any, seabreeze. But wait - that's a cold front approaching from the south west, and there's a good chance that this will push the trough inland and bring back the seabreezes. Generally speaking the thing to look for when looking for strong seabreezes is a new high cell aproaching (following a previous high cell), or a tough moving inland and being replaced by a new high (extra windy!). Cold Fronts... Well, unlike seabreezes, cold fronts are active mainly during winter and come at any time of day or night. Cold fronts do pass through during the other months, but their effect is usually not noticed by most. Like seabreezes, they come in all sorts of flavours from simply making the sky cloudy to full on roof removing gale force winds. Cold fronts, as the name suggests, is a line of cold air travelling along, generally west to east. As this cold air meets warmer air, the warm air rises, and you guessed it, causes the cold air to rush in and fill the space. Thus, the actual 'front' of the front, called the 'squall line' is generally where most of the wind is. Cold fronts are great when they come through, producing great local names, such as the 'Norwester'. Because the winds travel clockwise around a low pressure system, the first taste you get is Northerly, but more often than not North Westerly. As the cold front passes through these winds rotate around the compass, going from NW to W to SW, and maybe S. The S part can get quite chilly because it's dredging all the cool air from the antarctic region. Not cold by UK standards, but enough to make your face numb. North Westerlies on the otherhand can be quite warm, relative to the usual winter temperatures. The time it takes for the NW to SW transition depends on the speed at which the front is travelling. Usually around a day, sometimes two. Time to introduce another term - the pressure gradient. In the synoptic charts displayed above, the isobars have been relatively spaced out, because the difference in air pressure is quite small over a large area. When we get a large change in air pressure over a small area - rig up your small sails/kites - it's gonna blow. Checkout this chart - one of the windiest days in the winter of '98. Blue arrows indicate wind direction. See how close the isobars are together. Also, remember that the entire frontal pattern moves from left to right (west to east), but the winds blow in the direction of the arrows. I hope you can grasp the concept! FORECAST TODAY'S MAX: 19 C (67 F) Gale warning current. W/NW winds 30/40kn this morning with possible squalls to 60kn in thunderstorms. Winds tending W/SW 20/30kn by early afternoon and easing to 15/20kn this evening. One of the best things about a cold front is that extra commodity - waves. As any sailor knows, wind generates waves. The more wind, the more waves. If you've experienced a strong cold front, you know that they can get extremely windy, as a consequence the waves can get quite large. Here's another less extreme (for Perth, anyways) cold front. In Perth it blew around 20-30 knots, whilst the south coast received 25-35 knots.

• How good are the tide forecasts?
  The actual water level height and speed of change may vary under certain weather conditions, such as unusually high or low barometric pressure or by prolonged strong winds. Low-pressure systems usually raise sea levels and high-pressure systems tend to lower them. It takes some time for the water level to adjust to the pressure change, and that pressure change needs to occur over a significant area. As you can imagine, a strong wind will raise the water level in the direction it is blowing, and may cause the "high tide" to be higher than predicted.
• How to read the Wind graphs
  How to read the Wind graphs Did you know that the arrow colours are reversible? This site was originally built for Windsurfers & Kitesurfers - where strong wind is a good thing, so green =strong wind. If you boat, fish or surf, then light wind is a good thing, so .. red =strong wind. To reverse the colours in the graphs, click here How to work out the Wind Speed The most recent live reading is at the right hand end of the graph, and up to 12 hours history extends towards the left - check out the time label at the bottom of each graph. Arrows indicate the strength by their Height on the graph and the colour of the arrow: Green Arrows indicate Strong wind, which is 18+ knots, 30+ Km/H, Force 5 or more. This graph shows an 18 to 20 knot southwester around 1pm Yellow Arrows indicate Moderate wind, which is 12-18 knots, 20-29 Km/H, Force 4. This graphs shows a 14 to 16 knot southwester around 2pm Red Arrows indicate Light/No wind, which is 0-12 knots, 0-19 Km/H, Force 3 or less. A 7 to 9 knot easterly around 8-9am Table of wind speeds Symbol Term Knots km/h Beaufort Light 0 to 10 knots 0-19 km/h Force 3 or less Moderate 11 to 16 knots 20-29 km/h Force 4 Fresh 17+ knots 30+ km/h Force 5 and above The Middle of the arrow is where you should read the wind speed from the scale at the sides. Picture the arrow as being like a compass needle, where it rotates around a central point of balance. The Grey arrows indicate the maximum gust during the 10 minute period. Time of day is displayed along the bottom of the graph. The site was initially designed for Windsurfers, so the colours use a Traffic Light type colouring, which may be the opposite of your needs .. especially if you surf! You can reverse the colours in the graphs by clicking here For most locations, the wind strength and direction is the result of a 10 minute average How To Read The Wind Direction The arrows indicate the direction the wind is going based on North being at the top of the screen and West being at the left. This concept confuses some people first off, because they are expecting the arrows to work like a weather vane and point towards the arriving wind. It can also be confusing if you're looking at your computer monitor in a Southerly direction, as all the directions will be reversed. We had to choose whether the arrows were indicating where wind went, or where it came from. We figured that most things in life, such as street signs (e.g. one way signs), swell direction arrows and traffic cops all point in the direction that something is going. Pointing where the wind is going also makes good sense when the arrows are overlaid over a map (..see demo) Take a "Northerly" wind, for example. "North" is at the top of the screen (as maps generally have their northmost point at the top), and a "Northerly" is a wind that travels from the North to the South, so it is drawn as an arrow that points down - that is, pointing from North to South. Easterly Example: An easterly wind heads from the east (right side of the screen) towards the west (left side of the screen), so the arrow is drawn pointing to the left. Sunrise & Sunset The grey shaded area of the graphs indicate night time. The graphs are live 24 hours are day and always display the most recent 8 hours of live wind data. You can also view yesterdays full 24 hour history by clicking the "Yesterday" link located in the left hand menu. The graphs below show the progress of an awesome West Australian seabreeze, and displays from Midnight to Midday As illustrated by the grey gradient, Sunrise was at 5:32am In the graph above, you can see the seabreeze arriving at 10:30 am where it shifts from a SE to a SSW. The graph below is 8pm later the same day, and shows the previous 12 hours to 8am. The grey gradient at the left indicates night is approaching (sunset was 7:32pm) This particular day was an amazingly consistent 20 knot southwester which continued right through past midnight...interesting change of direction from SSW to S once the sun went down... All times are aligned! In the example graphs below, the wind graph at the top has readings every 10 minutes, whilst the graph underneath every hour. The Time axis of all the graphs on the same page always align vertically. We've drawn the red line over the graphs to show how the times line up. This example shows two graphs at 12:30 pm. As the lower graph only reports on the hour, there is a gap to show the time since the last report. The upper graph has data every 10 minutes. Stations that report hourly will have a gap at the right hand side due to the lower reporting period, and this makes it easy to verify the latest readings. The red line shows how all the graphs times align.

• How to read wind forecasts
  Wind Glorious Wind...

  If you're into a sport that is powered by the wind, or want to avoid windy days then it pays to understand how wind works.

  Wind...

  Wind is the movement of air molecules from one location to another. The perfect demonstration of wind is with a fully inflated a car tire. If you open the valve on the car tire, air rushes out. Why? Because there is more air pressure in the tire than there is in the atmosphere, and the atmosphere is always seeking to equalise pressure. Higher pressure pockets of air (i.e. inside the car tire) move to equalise lower pressure areas. So what causes these low pressure areas? Well, in the case of a seabreeze, it's caused by heat...

  Seabreezes...

  Cold sinks, heat rises. It's the concept that makes hot air balloons work, and why your vegies are at the bottom of the fridge. During a summer day, the land is heated by the sun, and this heat is absorbed by the surrounding air. Once this air meets a particular temperature, it begins to rise quite rapidly. As a result, a low pressure area is created at ground level. The sea doesn't heat up as quickly as the land, so the air temperature over the water is much less. As a result, this air is free to move sideways to occupy our new low pressure area. The result is a light to gale force wind which rushes in from the sea to fill the lower pressure area left by the hot air rising from the land. Seabreezes usually happen in spring and summer, when the difference in temperature between land and sea is greatest.

  Seabreezes are the most amazing phenonenom. For many years I never really paid much attention to the wind. One day, we arrived (late) at the local river to do some water skiing. It was around 1pm, the water was glassy - perfect conditions. Then, me mate Mick says "Here comes the seabreeze...". Looking across the river we could see an approaching line of rough water. And then it hit us full on - the full glory of a 25 knot seabreeze.

  What's even more amazing is that the wind can be travelling faster than the front of the seabreeze. It can be progressing inland at 25 km/h, but the actual wind can be blowing at 35 km/h! Sometimes the seabreeze can reach many kilometers inland, and other days it teases you by staying just offshore, coming in, and then going out again.

  So to get a seabreeze, it needs to be hot inland. But too hot and you won't get one at all. To explain why this is the case, we need to understand high's and low's and the squiqqly charts they show on the telly called 'Synoptic Charts'.

  Synoptic Charts...

  You need to understand these if you want to have your own guess at what the wind may do. It also assists to understand what the weather man is talking about. Sometimes our local TV weather reports simply say '.. and an afternoon seabreeze'. About as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike.

  So check this out:

  

  From the title, it says MSL Analysis. This means it is a Mean (average) Sea Level Analysis. A slice of the atmosphere at sea level. The way the atmosphere changes at different levels is also extremely interesting, but beyond what we talking about here. The numbers indicate the air pressure, called the Barometric pressure. Barometric pressure is measured in hectopascals. Bigger numbers represent greater air pressure. The chart is generated by acquiring a huge number of readings from ships, sea based automatic weather buoys and land based weather stations. These data points are then processed using complex mathamatics to 'best guess' or 'interpolate' values for areas where no reading was available. The meteorologist then sharpens his best HB pencil and draws lines connecting areas of equal pressure (called isobars, or contours), draws a H in the middle of any Highs, and an L in the middle of any Lows. They also draw another chart called a prognosis which is what they estimate to be where the weather will go. It's always valuable to compare the analysis with the prognosis to get an idea of where, and at what speed the weather is travelling.

  So high pressure areas rush to fill low pressure areas huh? If that was the case, then you would expect the wind to travel like this:

  

  Bzzzzzzzt. Wrong! These are complex systems, and there's this other forces at work here, plus lets not forget that the world is 3D and this is only a horizontal slice. Wind actually travels pretty much in the direction of the isobar lines. And in the southern hemisphere they trave anti-clockwise around high's and clock wise around lows. And the whole weather pattern moves (generally) in a west to east (left to right) direction. So the wind actually blows around the high cell like this:

  

  But don't forget. This all gets totally ignored by local wind effects such as seabreezes along the coast in the afternoon.

  This synoptic chart is a joy to a wind fanatic living on the coast of Western Australia because this pattern means wind - and lots of it - these cool winds also keep the maximum temperature down. In fact, the forecast for this pattern was:

  TODAY'S MAX: 23 C (74 F) Strong Wind Warning current. S/SE winds 20/30kn in the morning, tending S/SW and strengthening to 25/32kn in the afternoon.

  The S/SE winds in the morning reflect the anti-clockwise direction of wind around the high, untill the afternoon when the thermal induced seabreeze kicks in and changes to an onshore S/SW. Bliss!

  But that low cell sitting up in the north is what can ruin it all. These low pressure systems descend in a southerly fashion and bring with them hot and humid conditions. They are called troughs and generally spoil any chance of a seabreeze, as indicated with this chart and forecast:

  

  FORECAST: TODAY'S MAX: 35 C (95 F) E/NE winds 15/20kn, easing to 10/15kn by late morning. Winds shifting NW/SW 10/15kn during the afternoon.

  The capital city of Perth is going to be blasted with E/NE winds in the morning, brought in nice and fresh from the deserts, and these winds are toasty - a maximum of 35 degrees C, and only a mild, if any, seabreeze. But wait - that's a cold front approaching from the south west, and there's a good chance that this will push the trough inland and bring back the seabreezes.

  Generally speaking the thing to look for when looking for strong seabreezes is a new high cell aproaching (following a previous high cell), or a tough moving inland and being replaced by a new high (extra windy!).

  Cold Fronts...

  Well, unlike seabreezes, cold fronts are active mainly during winter and come at any time of day or night. Cold fronts do pass through during the other months, but there effect is usually not noticed by most. Like seabreezes, they come in all sorts of flavours from simply making the sky cloudy to full on roof removing gale force winds. Cold fronts, as the name suggests, is a line of cold air travelling along, generally west to east. As this cold air meets warmer air, the warm air rises, and you guessed, causes the cold air to rush in and fill the space. Thus, the actual 'front' of the front, called the 'squall line' is generally where most of the wind is.

  Cold fronts are great when they come through, producing the locally famous 'Norwester'. Because the winds travel clockwise around a low pressure system, the first taste you get is Northerly, but more often than not North Westerly. As the cold front passes through these winds rotate around the compass, going from NW to W to SW, and maybe S. The S part can get quite chilly because it dredging all the cool air from the antartic regions. Not cold by UK standards, but enough to make your face numb. North Westerlies on the otherhand can be quite warm, relative to the usual winter temperatures. The time it takes for the NW to SW transition depends on the speed at which the front is travelling. Usually around a day, sometimes two.

  Time to introduce another term - the pressure gradient. In the synoptic charts displayed above, the isobars have been relatively spaced out, because the difference in air pressure is quite small over a large area. When we get a large change in air pressure over a small area - rig up your small sails/kites - it's gonna blow.

  Checkout this chart - one of the windiest days in the winter of '98. Blue arrows indicate wind direction. See how close the isobars are together. Also, remember that the entire frontal pattern moves from left to right (west to east), but the winds blow in the direction of the arrows. I hope you can grasp the concept!

  

  FORECAST TODAY'S MAX: 19 C (67 F) Gale warning current. W/NW winds 30/40kn this morning with possible squalls to 60kn in thunderstorms. Winds tending W/SW 20/30kn by early afternoon and easing to 15/20kn this evening.

  One of the best things about a cold front is that extra commodity - waves. As any sailor knows, wind generates waves. The more wind, the more waves. If you've experienced a strong cold front, you know that they can get extremely windy, as a consequence the waves can get quite large.

  Here's another less extreme (for Perth, anyways) cold front. In Perth it blew around 20-30 knots, whilst the south coast received 25-35 knots.

  

  ---

  Stuff For Overseas Visitors...

  Summer in Australia lasts from December through to the end of February, with the main windy bit being being December/January. Of course, it can be windy during October to November, there's just more chance of it happening in Dec/Jan. Spring and Autumn are not that windy due to the change of season. Not hot enough for seabreezes, and cold fronts aren't strong enough. (Generally, sort of)

  If you come down during winter, then June/July is the peak of winter. Winter really is pot luck for wind. 1 to 2 days per week of winter action might be the norm. Sometimes, if we get a series of cold fronts one after another, it can blow all day and all night for 3 to 4 days.

• How to save the weather graph images
  Many people like to save the graph images for sending to friends, or collecting after a great session.

  With the Bitmap images, this was a simple right-click "Save Image as..".

  The new HD graph images you can't do this, so here are some options:

  Option 1)

  Specify you want the "original" bitmap graphs by clicking this link:

  www.seabreeze.com.au/weather/settings/bitmap

  Option 2)

  Use a screen grabbing tool. Windows has a snipping tool , or the Mac Grab tool

• Is Seabreeze.com.au setup for Day Light Saving?
• Red means danger, why use Green for strong wind?
  simply visit this page to reverse the colours...
• Reversing the arrow colours fails?
  Two solutions: 1) Check your settings under "privacy" in your browser, looking for references to Cookies. 2) If you've bookmarked the page, add "?rev=1" to the end of the bookmark. i.e. https://www.seabreeze.com.au/graphs/wa.asp becomes https://www.seabreeze.com.au/graphs/wa.asp?rev=1
• Slow, Jittery or Lagging drawing of the weather graphs
  The quick fix: If you just want it "fixed", and don't care how or why, click here to restore the old graphs . (Note: this won't work if you use "Incognito" or "Private" " browsing ).

  Primarily we've found this to affect some FireFox and Internet Explorer 9, 10 or 11 browsers, or some browers on slow computers.

  Why would they be slow, and what changed to make them slow?

  We created the new HD (high definition) graphs for two reasons:

  1) They are HD - they look much better

  2) They are smaller and faster. Literally 1/10th of the size so they use less of your bandwidth and draw quicker. All good so far.

  We did extensive testing and found that the new HD graphs crash phones, so we disabled them completely for phones & tablets.

  Which leaves laptops & desktop computers. Some FireFox browsers and some versions of Internet Explorer 11 are really slow at drawing them; depending on your actual computer.

  So what can you do about it?

  Option 1) U se a faster browser. Firefox/IE just don't draw HD graphs very quickly. Chrome and Safari do. We find Chrome is the fastest at most things; certainly this site. You can get Chrome from Google here .

  Option 2) Restore the old low-quality graphs by clicking here to pre-select bitmap graph images. If you change your mind and want the HD graphs back, click "Activate HD" at the bottom of the graphs page.

  If you use option 2, and you're a fan of "Incognito" or "Private" browsing, then it will revert when you exit your browser (which is the point of incognito browsing). Read down the bottom on how to create a bookmark to make it persist.

  Slow rendering on mobiles

  Phone & Tablet browsers have an option to "Request Desktop Site", and when this option is turned on, your phone tells our website it's a big powerful computer, so we give it data for a big powerful computer.

  As you can guess, sometimes it can't handle it, so if you're experiencing poor or slow rendering on your mobile, please do check that you have "Request Desktop Site" turned off.

  What's the difference between the Bitmaps and the HD graphs?

  Bitmaps (like photos) are pre-built on our servers, and delivered directly to your browser, and all browsers render them fast. The main challenge is that creating a really high quality bitmap (e.g. consider somebody with a 4K monitor) it takes a lot of data which means longer download times.

  SVG (scalable vector graphics) are a series of drawing instructions - we deliver the drawing instructions and your browser draws them on your computer. Fast, lightweight, and looks great! SVG will draw at premium HD quality regardless of the display size. 200pixels to 4000pixels, as their name suggests, they are "scalable".

  Switches for geeks

  Adding "/bitmap" to any weather Url will force it to deliver bitmaps.

  e.g.

  https://www.seabreeze.com.au/weather/wind-forecast/perth

  becomes

  https://www.seabreeze.com.au/weather/wind-forecast/perth/bitmap

  Other options include:

  Adding "/alwaysBitmap" to any weather Url will force it to deliver bitmaps, and save a setting indicating you always want to see bitmaps.

  Adding "/autoFormat" to any weather Url remove the above setting.

  Links:

  Force Bitmaps: https://www.seabreeze.com.au/weather/settings/bitmap

  Unforce Bitmaps: https://www.seabreeze.com.au/weather/settings/autoFormat

  If you need any further assistance, please do contact us via the Contact link at the bottom of the page.

• The Beaufort Scale
  The Beaufort Scale

  Beaufort scale number	Descriptive term	Units in km/h	Units in knots	Description on Land	Description at Sea
  0	Calm	0	0	Smoke rises vertically	Sea like a mirror.
  1-3	Light winds	19 km/h or less	10 knots or less	Wind felt on face; leaves rustle; ordinary vanes moved by wind.	Small wavelets, ripples formed but do not break: A glassy appearancemaintained.
  4	Moderate winds	20 - 29 km/h	11-16 knots	Raises dust and loose paper; small branches are moved.	Small waves - becoming longer; fairly frequent white horses.
  5	Fresh winds	30 - 39 km/h	17-21 knots	Small trees in leaf begin to sway; crested wavelets form on inland waters	Moderate waves, taking a more pronounced long form; many white horses are formed - a chance ofsome spray
  6	Strong winds	40 - 50 km/h	22-27 knots	Large branches in motion; whistling heard in telephone wires; umbrellas used withdifficulty.	Large waves begin to form; the white foam crests are more extensive with probably somespray
  7	Near gale	51 - 62 km/h	28-33 knots	Whole trees in motion; inconvenience felt when walking against wind.	Sea heaps up and white foam from breaking waves begins to be blown in streaks along direction ofwind.
  8	Gale	63 - 75 km/h	34-40 knots	Twigs break off trees; progress generally impeded.	Moderately high waves of greater length; edges of crests begin to break into spindrift; foam isblown in well-marked streaks along the direction of the wind.
  9	Strong gale	76 - 87 km/h	41-47 knots	Slight structural damage occurs -roofing dislodged; larger branches break off.	High waves; dense streaks of foam; crests of waves begin to topple, tumble and roll over; spraymay affect visibility.
  10	Storm	88 - 102 km/h	48-55 knots	Seldom experienced inland; trees uprooted; considerable structural damage.	Very high waves with long overhanging crests; the resulting foam in great patches is blown indense white streaks; the surface of the sea takes on a white appearance; the tumbling of the seabecomes heavy with visibility affected.
  11	Violent storm	103 -117 km/h	56-63 knots	Very rarely experienced - widespread damage	Exceptionally high waves; small and medium sized ships occasionally lost from view behind waves;the sea is completely covered with long white patches of foam; the edges of wave crests are blowninto froth.
  12+	Hurricane	118 km/h or more	64 knots or more		The air is filled with foam and spray. Sea completely white with driving spray; visibility veryseriously affected

• The forecast images are not updating?
  Why is it happening - usually to do with "cached" images - your browser tries it's best to save images so they are re-downloaded over and over, and it sounds like this might be what is happening to you. We have special "cache-busting" techniques to get around this feature which works 99.9% of the time. To fix the problem, try a "forced" refresh: If using Microsoft IE, or Firefox, hold down the Control key whilst clicking the refresh icon/menu option. If you're using a different browser, have a hunt around the menus and options pages for features related to "Clear Cache"
• What does the wave height represent?
• What is the Beaufort Scale?
  Beaufort scale number	Descriptive term	Units in km/h	Units in knots	Description on Land	Description at Sea
  0	Calm	0	0	Smoke rises vertically	Sea like a mirror.
  1-3	Light winds	19 km/h or less	10 knots or less	Wind felt on face; leaves rustle; ordinary vanes moved by wind.	Small wavelets, ripples formed but do not break: A glassy appearance maintained.
  4	Moderate winds	20 - 29 km/h	11-16 knots	Raises dust and loose paper; small branches are moved.	Small waves - becoming longer; fairly frequent white horses.
  5	Fresh winds	30 - 39 km/h	17-21 knots	Small trees in leaf begin to sway; crested wavelets form on inland waters	Moderate waves, taking a more pronounced long form; many white horses are formed - a chance of some spray
  6	Strong winds	40 - 50 km/h	22-27 knots	Large branches in motion; whistling heard in telephone wires; umbrellas used with difficulty.	Large waves begin to form; the white foam crests are more extensive with probably some spray
  7	Near gale	51 - 62 km/h	28-33 knots	Whole trees in motion; inconvenience felt when walking against wind.	Sea heaps up and white foam from breaking waves begins to be blown in streaks along direction of wind.
  8	Gale	63 - 75 km/h	34-40 knots	Twigs break off trees; progress generally impeded.	Moderately high waves of greater length; edges of crests begin to break into spin drift; foam is blown in well-marked streaks along the direction of the wind.
  9	Strong gale	76 - 87 km/h	41-47 knots	Slight structural damage occurs -roofing dislodged; larger branches break off.	High waves; dense streaks of foam; crests of waves begin to topple, tumble and roll over; spray may affect visibility.
  10	Storm	88 - 102 km/h	48-55 knots	Seldom experienced inland; trees uprooted; considerable structural damage.	Very high waves with long overhanging crests; the resulting foam in great patches is blown in dense white streaks; the surface of the sea takes on a white appearance; the tumbling of the sea becomes heavy with visibility affected.
  11	Violent storm	103 -117 km/h	56-63 knots	Very rarely experienced - widespread damage	Exceptionally high waves; small and medium sized ships occasionally lost from view behind waves;the sea is completely covered with long white patches of foam; the edges of wave crests are blown into froth.
  12+	Hurricane	118 km/h or more	64 knots or more		The air is filled with foam and spray. Sea completely white with driving spray; visibility very seriously affected

• What is the difference between waves and swell?
  Swell is the regular longer period waves generated by distant weather systems - think of a rock thrown in a pond, and you'll see swells. Waves & Swell are often used to mean the same thing .. in common language many like to think of "swell" as the regularly spaced lumps that approach your local surf spot, and "waves" as when they break/something to stick your surfboard on. Wave height (trough to crest) refers the average height of the highest one-third of the waves.
• What's the difference between Swell, Waves & Seas?
  The swell then travels until worn out by time, distance or obstacles. Generally, "Swell" refers to open ocean waves, "Waves" are what people want to go stick their surfboard on. Seas can sit "on top" of a swell, and ruin a surfers day out. They are the localised chop, that given enough time and wind energy would ultimately turn into swells. An example: Consider a nice windless day & you're looking at your local surf break. 6 foot swell, no wind, no seas: What you'll see is a surfers dream. A milky smooth water surface and crystal cylinders. 6 foot swell, no wind, moderate seas: The swell is still solid, but you'll notice that there's no milky smooth water surface any more. There'll be chop, and wavelets mucking up the waves. So, seas are the smaller waves/chop that are present within the swell. Depending on how they're generated, depends on how much it can take away from a surfers day.
• When I reverse the arrow colours, it doesn't stick?
  Reverse Arrow Colours page, and it's not working, that would be because you've got cookies disabled. First solution is to enable cookies (look under the options menu of your browser), or if not happy to do that, add "?rev=1" to the weather page url. e.g. If you're visiting https://www.seabreeze.com.au/graphs/wa.asp append it to the url : https://www.seabreeze.com.au/graphs/wa.asp?rev=1
• Where are the wind readings for XYZ taken from?
  Unfortunately, the first two types prevent us from revealing the physical location of meters. Sorry!
• Where do I find Sea Temperatures?
  Western Australian Sea Temperatures New South Wales Sea Temperatures Victorian Sea Temperatures Queensland Sea Temperatures South Australian Sea Temperatures Tasmanian Sea Temperatures
• Why are the forecasts so accurate?
  :-)
• Why are the forecasts so wrong?
  Simple view of how the weather works History of weather discovery.

• Why are the wind readings wrong?
  Imagine you're on your way out to install a wind meter for your favourite location. Your first obstacle is finding a suitable position that is nicely exposed to the wind from all directions. Next is to make sure it's high enough so that surrounding terrain doesn't upset the reading .. oh, don't forget avoiding vandals, and then you've also got to get electricity and communications to it. Other needs include payment for securing a lease of the site, and how long it's available. What all this adds up to is that not all wind meters are in perfect conditions. Some will favour the most common direction, others have a wind meter but are more biased towards recording accurate temperature or barometric pressure. What we're saying is that if you're after perfection in measuring the wind, you're going to be disappointed (or at least a little bit upset). Best Bet: Over time, you'll learn how a particular meter close to your favourite spot behaves.
• Why do you use green arrows for strong wind?
  Reverse Graph Colours page.
• Why do your arrows point the wrong way?
  check the maps (maybe you already have) you'll see the map makes plenty of sense to show which way the wind is going .. a Westerly wind blows across the map from west towards the east, so the arrow points towards the right. Swell charts and many other meteorological readings all show arrows in the direction that something is going .. i.e. it would look strange to draw an arrow of where waves were "coming from" .. It's only wind that sometimes has the "lets point the arrow at where it came from" concept, and that's because (we think) of wind vanes. Hope that helps understand the reasoning behind it all!
• Why do your predictions differ from other sites?
  We use our own algorithms, and provide different forecasts to other organisations. Nothing quite like a second opinion? :-)
• Your forecasts are different to the BoM?
  Read this for a simple view of how the weather works , or perhaps read up the history of weather discovery & forecasting.

Forums

• About the new layout
  

  The readability change affects primarily the Forums and Buy & Sell to a "Fixed Width" design. Over 95% of desktop computers have displays that are 1250 pixels or more, wide. On 27" monitors, stretching text across the whole window causes the "Watching the tennis" effect, where you eyes have to travel "vast" distances left/right to read the text. You could easily tweak this by resizing the browser window to your preferred with, but that's a pain, and with the move of many desktop browsers becoming 'full screen' (e.g. Windows 8), we needed to make a change. This fixed width mode will suit most people, and is highly popular around the web, and well proven on sites with 400+ million users, such as Facebook and Twitter. We've provides some action photography to fill in the blank areas (for those on wide screens), which look great, and will soon be asking for submissions so that locals can feature their photos in this area. If, for some reason, you prefer the older wide screen format, the option exists (find it a fixed/wide link at the bottom of most pages) where you can return to the original 'stretched view' layout. Some say you can't please all the people all the time, but we've given it our best shot to accomodate all. There are also a bunch of updates/fixes to the forums and classifieds, and a new taller menu so you don't need to be so pixel accurate with the mouse to choose things. In summary, I hope you really enjoy the new layout - we've been using it for a quite some time, and really enjoy it.. Change is good .. check the original look from 1997 when all we had was WA weather and an about page!

  

  And if you got this far - please accept our thanks for visiting Seabreeze, and being part of it all! Enjoy .. Laurie S. :-) Chief Bottle Washer p.s. Read here for more history of the site... p.p.s. If any part of the site is not working to your satisfaction on your device, help us fix it! It's just not possible to try every device on every page. Please do Contact us to send in the details, and we'll do our best to accomodate. p.p.p.s. iPhone App available now in the iTunes App Store
• Can you delete me?
  A simple rule of the internet is that if you don't want it read, don't write it down.
• How come so & so can post XYZ, but mine got deleted?
  Hopefully you realise there is a collosal amount of posts, and it's a massive task to keep on top of who writes what and keep it all clean / within the forum policy. Just because a similar post to one that you wrote hasn't been removed doesn't mean "we let that one go, but targetted you", it generally means we've not seen the other one. Let us know if you feel you've been hard done by. Ultimately, the goal of the forums is to create a friendly place and a great community vibe! Help us make it a great place to visit!
• I'm disgusted with what someone has written!
  Click this and it will alert the moderators of the post. If a moderator is online at the time, they will investigate, otherwise, next time one logs on they'll have a look. Please be patient. If you disagree strongly with the content, but would rather leave the censoring to the moderators, maybe use the thumbs to cast your vote against it. Rest assured both methods will not reveal your actions, and we will not contact you in regards to reports or votes. The goal of the forums is to keep it a fantastic place to visit, and with your help / feedback we can keep it that way!
• The Seabreeze Forum Rules
  The Seabreeze Forums Crash Course

  Why does this place even exist?

  

  Everyword here follows on from why the forums are here - the spirit and intent of the site.

  These forums are here to create a meeting place for people who care about our sports. We want to improve, we want to know how to fix gear, how to use the gear, the best conditions, where those conditions are, what gear works best where .. and of course, we all want to meet people with similar interests.

  In this environment, people are friendly and helpful to each other. We all stand on each others shoulders to reach higher, achieve more and have more fun.

  Our sport is our recreation. It's what we do for fun - it's not about getting all serious and upset, there's enough of that in the stuff we do for money.

  For years, the forums have been, and continue to be a success - friendships have been made, meetings on the beach organised, events attended, accomodation offered to travelling members, beaches saved through petitions, territorial disputes settled pages of shared knowledge created, and so much more.

  It aint' always blue sky...

  Occasionally, a post or topic with inappropriate content will appear. It may stay online longer than it should while we get to it. Whilst this is happening we appreciate your patience. We appreciate you taking the time to let us know via the voting mechanisms explained later.
  
  Please understand that our moderators are not pyschic or even online 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, so there will always be the possibility that inappropriate content will be viewable longer that we would all hope.

  There will be members who are different and post questionable content. Why?

  Maybe they are drunk, tired and/or emotional?
  Maybe they're stressed and are not being themselves?
  Maybe they feel anonymous and believe they won't be caught out?
  Perhaps they're blunt, direct or simply rub you up the wrong way?
  Perhaps they're injured and frustrated?
  Perhaps there is an issue that's 'emotionally loaded' for them?
  They might enjoy stirring others up?
  ...or it could just be the way they are all the time!
  
  It's for these situations that rules are needed.
  It's for these situations that moderators are needed.
  
  Unfortunate ... but to be expected .. it's part of the territory.

  Tips to handle posts that upset you.

  Beware of seeing what you want to see. A common mistake people make is to read a post with the emotion they are currently feeling, not the emotion of the writer.

  Seek to understand before seeking to be understood.

  Could there be a slightest weeniest smallest possibility that you may have made an error? Unbelievable as it may sound, some of us do make mistakes!

  Basic Rule: Have the courage to step away. Go do something different before getting all fired up on the keyboard.

  The Seabreeze Forums Rules

  No game will work without rules. By creating a login on Seabreeze, you hereby agree to abide by these rules. Breaching these rules can result in post or topic deletion and continued breaches can result in your login being either temporarily suspended or permanently banned.

  The Rules Summary

  * Be friendly
  * Be helpful
  * Show respect for others
  * Be part of the community
  * Help others be better
  * Help keep topics, on topic

  * No abuse, insults or personal attacks
  * No foul language
  * No trolling
  * No inappropriate or illegal material
  * No "For Sale" or "Wanted to Buy"
  * No business advertising
  * No cross posting
  * No forum spamming
  * No hijacking topics or trolling
  * No religious or political debates
  * No defamatory comments
  * No duplicate logins
  * No surveys
  * No complaints about moderation (email us instead)

  General Netiquette

  * Avoid Sarcasm and dry humour. It does not work with the written word. Putting a smiley after a nasty piece of text doesn't fix it.

  * Disagree? - discuss the subject, not the person. If you goal is to win them over to your point of view, provide evidence why your point of view is worthwhile adopting. Be constructive and forward moving.

  * Make topic titles interesting - they make or break whether your post gets read.
  
  * A large audience will see your post, and your words may come back to haunt you. This audience may potentially include past, present and future employers, staff at your place of study, friends, family, etc. And unlike the spoken word, your written posts will exist here for a long time.
  
  * If you are responding to someone else's comments, try to include a quote or summary of their post, to provide context to other readers. Quoting more than 10 lines is a bit much.
  
  * If you want to take a topic offline and write a personal response, please use the "Private Message" facility - an Email button is available on each post, or by clicking on the members name.
  
  * Do not start or perpetuate flame wars. If someone insults or attacks you, do not respond in kind - because "they started it" is an incredibly lame argument

  * DON'T USE OTHERS BEHAVIOUR AS AN EXCUSE FOR YOUR BEHAVIOUR. If we had a dollar for each person who wrote in " how come I can't do it when so and so is doing it? " There are plenty of reasons, the point is, just because you see someone else breaking the rules does not give you the right to break them and use others actions as your justification.

  

  Unacceptable Content

  
  Racism, Sexism, Ageism and Religious Intolerance and Vilification

  Seabreeze is open to people from any race, gender, physical or mental condition, sexual preference/orientation, IQ, age or religion, and as such intolerance or vilification of other people's beliefs, culture, IQ, gender, physical or mental conditions, sexual preference/orientation or age is unacceptable.

  
  Foul Language (Swearing)

  Seabreeze is a web site open to all ages, and we aim to have it stay that way. As such, the use of foul language is considered to be unacceptable.
  
  For the sake of the younger visitors to our site, please refrain from swearing.
  In order to prevent casual swearing, Seabreeze filters the most inappropriate swear words.

  
  Smarty Pants Swearing
  

  Please also note that swearing which is contextually understandable, e.g. removing a letter, replacing letters with @,* or other characters, or changing the spelling slightly, will also be moderated.

  
  Moderation of Foul Language
  

  The following points outline the basic moderation policy regarding foul language on Seabreeze, and applies to posts, usernames, quips, and any other content on Seabreeze:
  
  * Content containing "heavy weight" swear words, specifically the F & C words, are completely inappropriate on Seabreeze. All content containing such words - hidden or not - will be removed.
  
  * Content containing lesser swear words will not normally be moderated, provided the words are used sparingly (e.g. once in a post), and the content is otherwise on topic and useful. Use of such words in reoccurring content (usernames etc) is always inappropriate.
  
  * Content with swear words that are used in the context of a personal attack/insult will be removed, not necessarily because of the foul language, but for being a personal attack. This also goes for all those non-swear words insults like "fool", "idiot", etc.

  Inappropriate Content

  Inappropriate Content is considered to be any topic that would be unacceptable in a talk to a Year 8 class. This includes (but is not limited to) any of the following:
  
  - Sex and sexual acts;
  - Violence and acts of cruelty to other humans or animals;
  - Pictures of gore, violence, pornography or innappropriate nudity;
  - Illegal behaviour;

  
  Private Conversations

  The posting of private correspondence (PM's, emails, etc) or transcripts of private conversations (phone calls, face-to-face discussions) are not permitted, for two reasons:
  
  1. There is no way to verify the validity of the text; and
  2. There may be copyright implications arising from the publication of such private communication, in a public forum, without permission of both parties.
  
  Public announcements (such as ISP mass mail outs, etc) are considered already in public view, and are thus considered fair game for re-posting. In cases where such an announcement is made on a website, posting the URL is preferred to posting the complete text.

  
  Offensive Websites

  Seabreeze is open to people of all races, religion and ages, so links to websites containing offensive or unacceptable material, such as foul language, inappropriate images (images of a violent or pornographic nature), racial vilification (hate sites), warez links, conspiracies, etc., are completely unacceptable and will have the post removed, and the login suspended.

  

  Complaints about a business/associations

  When this occurs, the poster is usually quite fired up and emotional. Often the customer is now out to cause as much damage as possible to the business with the mission that they are "fully justified" (their words) and "simply stating facts" (their words) about the business/association.

  This may be the case .. or not. There are many sides to any story. The point is that the Seabreeze forums are not the appropriate place to resolve the issue. Go to the appropriate legal/government authority and do it there.

  Choose not to, and end up in hot water. As soon as you flame a business, you'll usually get supporters of the business come out in defence and question your behaviour and motives. People interested in the discussion will seek more information from you. It soon descends into an argument containing many and varied versions of the truth and everybody goes home unhappy.

  It has never ended well for anybody.

  The business is damaged, the poster now has a stigma in the forum community (and now can't deal with many shops because the shops know what will happen if they cross this customer - their business will get dragged through the mud.)

  And of course, there's also the situation when the poster does not really have a complaint, but is simply a competitor or naive associate of a business who thinks the way to get more business is to degrade the competition.

  A special note: This applies (and has been applied) to any business, not just businesses that sponsor the site.

  Overseas Purchasing / Why are we so ripped off / Buying Deals

  In this case the poster has discovered he can buy an item overseas cheaper than in a shop here in Australia. Now they want to share this with everybody, and also want to infer that because the price is different that "Australian businesses are ripping us all off".

  Posts of this nature will be locked/or removed as they always stir up bad vibes and arguments. Like clockwork, pro-shop crew come out versus the anti-shop crew, and it's on, and has never ended well. Ends up being just a bunch of angry people arguing over a $100 difference. It's not been worth it, and everybody goes home unhappy, so we nip it in the bud before it starts.

  Complaints about an individual

  Here's an idea - talk to them directly, or send them a PM. There is absolutely no need to post a message looking for support of your dislike/disapproval of somebody. Please seek an alternate outlet, not the forums.
  
  Why? All you need to do is imagine your response if you log-on one day and see your name as the topic of a post, followed by 8 posts by strangers dissing your behaviour. Like 9 out of 10 people, you would write to us to have it removed.

  
  

  Posts for Personal or Financial Gain

  For Sale and Wanted to Buy

  Please use the embedded buy & sell to list your gear, not the forums. This also means not posting links to sites that are selling your equipment.

  Commercial Advertising

  Some forum members are site sponsors, you'll see a "Site Sponsor" link under their name. These members have purchased banner advertising which they use to display their brand and make offers about products and services they have available.

  These businesses are essential to keeping Seabreeze online. Our forums are the discussion zone of a highly competitive industry, and we do our best to enable sponsors to have a say and discuss things of interest while maintaining a fair environment for all. It can be hard for sponsors to have a say, as there are people waiting in the wings to provide commentary on their posts.

  Therefore we ask that all businesses:

  * Use the News system for product announcements

  * Use the Events system for demo days

  * Do not post links to their website,

  * Do not post prices, price lists, sale brochures, bargains, "stock clearance" etc.

  * Do not post competitions/links to competitions/promo days

  All of these things are can be performed through the banner, the News system or the Events system. If these don't suit, please contact us to discuss alternative solutions.

  There will be times when a member is explicitly asking where to purchase an item, or for specific product information, and in these situations its ok for sponsors to provide answers.

  When sponsors do post, we ask that you give them some latitude. If you're concerned that a sponsor may be ruining your experience of the forums, please contact us first, rather than flaming the poster.

  If we find businesses, associates/team riders of businesses flaming, degrading other businesses/products, moderation and possibly immediate banning will result.

  Not a site sponsor, but want to promote your goodies?

  You'll find your local council has laws saying that it's illegal for you to stick posters and advertising on council property - "Bill posters will be prosecuted". Most businesses accept this and don't put their posters and stickers all over signs, traffic lights, bridges, tunnels, etc.

  Same here - please do not plaster your adverts/promos in/around the site - please contact us via the feedback page to find out how we can work out together to find a solution for you.

  If you see another business advertising, this is not a valid excuse for you to do so. Do you steal because someone does?

  Using Seabreeze to advertise other sites (be it your own site, or that of a friend, etc), is not acceptable. Posting about such sites or sending unsolicited PM's about such sites is unacceptable.
  
  Please note that Seabreeze members are a highly suspicious lot who can smell advertising a mile away, so if there is even a hint that your post is just poorly disguised advertising, be prepared to have your post removed and/or for the linked site to be torn to pieces from a review perspective.

  Inappropriate posting of business advertising will be removed.

  Viral Marketing

  Viral marketing is when people are employed (or given equipment "in kind") to promote a company and its products and not revealing their connection to the company and/or products. They also register multiple logins, or enlist associates to engage in a "Question & Answer" session, where the associate asks questions about a brand to setup the other to provide knowledgeable advice (and therefore marketing)

  There is also the reverse, where people getting financial reward from a competing product ask leading questions of a competitors products to make it look bad in the hope that it will make their product more appealing. These people go out of their way to directly highlight flaws, or, on occasion, even invent flaws and myths.

  It's not illegal, is usually see-through, and can result in angry feelings by those who believed the mystery posters were "ordinary customers". It is particularly dissappointing when these people take time out to degrade competitors and/or competing products via single line posts such as "You wouldn't catch me buying that." type of comment.

  
  These activites are directly against the forum rules and counts as spam.

  The common name for such a member (who indirectly promotes their own product) is a Pimp.

  If you suspect a member of being a pimp, please let the moderators know, as targeting them is against the rules and makes you subject to moderation (which was not your intent!)

  Please refrain from making accusations against companies or individuals within the forums.
  
  Note that occasional positive comments from known members have never been a problem.

  Social Networks

  Yay! You've got so excited about your sport, that you've gone and created a new facebook group. You're keen to spread the word, and get as many "Likes" as you can .. there's something new!

  Pretty much every other week, some enterprising soul does the above, and enthusiastically enters the forums and posts away about how everybody should join their new facebook group, because it's new, and we can share stuff, and it's great, and we can talk, and we can share photos, and ... and .. and ... ummm .. sorry to interrupt your flow of passion, but isn't that what the forums are all about?
  
  Take a breather and realise that you're going to look a bit silly. Everybody here is already having a great chat, and you coming in and telling everybody that they should be chatting somewhere else in an empty room you've just "created" may look a bit silly.
  
  People have been sharing and helping each other in the Seabreeze forums since before facebook was started, so do yourself a favour and get involved locally - contribute, not dilute. Help make the forums are better place, don't tell everybody to go to your "took 30 seconds to create New Social Group", it's embarrassing!
  
  As one person put it, it's like walking into a pub, and yelling out "Hey everybody! A new American pub has opened down the road, and I just booked a table - everybody come with me .. and tell all your friends too!!" .. poor form!

  Posting Errors

  Crossposting

  Posting the same Topic in more than one forum Category is not appropriate. If you can't decide which forum to post it a particular Topic in, just choose the one that most closely matches and see how you go. If you don't think you are getting the right answers, ask a moderator to move the Topic to a more appropriate location at some later point.
  
  Please note that posting new Topics in multiple forums saying "Come look at Topic <insert link here>" is not permitted, and is also considered crossposting.

  Duplicates
  
  

  Sometimes minor glitches can result in a member's post appearing more than once in a topic. Duplicate posts are sometimes removed, but if a member notices that they have posted a duplicate, they should feel free to edit one of them to indicate that a double post occurred.

  Off-topic

  Ideally, all posts in a given topic should have at least something to do with the topic. Having said that, some topics do have a natural discussion flow to them, which may move the discussion in different directions - while still maintaining a relationship to the topic.
  
  Posting off topic may result in your post being removed, particularly if your post stands out as being off topic compared to the other posts in the topic, or if your post stands to interfere with a line of otherwise on-topic conversation within the topic.

  Off-topic Topics
  

  It is also possible for a topic to be considered off-topic for the forum in which it has been posted.
  
  In such cases the topic will normally be moved to a more appropriate forum, or if no appropriate alternative is available, the topic may be deleted.

  The Moderators

  

  Moderators have task of monitoring the content of the forums. They aim to read all topics and posts and make assessments on what is and isn't appropriate. Did you know that Moderators are real people? They suffer from late nights, emotional issues (good & bad), and can often speed read topics. What this means is that they aren't some automated perfect computer program that makes the right call every time.

  Moderators can delete posts, delete topics, move topics, modify topic titles, close topics to prevent further discussion and remove offensive language from posts.

  Moderation is a very "grey" area. For example, a group of 16 year olds who have started their own topic may be having a friendly banter amongst each other, whereas to others to reads like a full on argument.

  Alerting the Moderators of inappropriate content

  Above each post is a voting system of thumbs up and thumbs down. Simply place your vote to indicate if the post should be pulled.

  You'll often see voted posts remaining, competitors often vote other businesses/products down. It may have a large number of thumbs up and thumbs down.

  The important thing is that all posts that have a thumbs down indicator are investigated by the moderators. With buckets of new posts entering the system every day, it makes it easy for the moderators to zoom in on inappropriate posts as voted by the forum users. Allow the moderators time to respond. If you're all stirred up about a post, this doesn't mean that a moderator is sitting around awaiting your report so it can be investigated.

  Moderation Explanations

  Please do not start a new topic asking why a topic was moved, deleted or closed, or why a post was hidden. If you want to know why, PM a moderator, please do not ask the community.

  Post Deletion Policy

  Posts can and will be deleted if they breach any of the forum rules.
  
  If you believe there was an error, please contact the moderators. The moderators are only human. Send in your feedback.

  Topic Deletion Policy
  
  

  Typically, topics are deleted when they breach the forum rules, by falling into one of the following categories:
  
  - Pointless - the topic contributes no value to the forum;
  - Crosspost - the topic was posted to more than one forum;
  - Flame baiting - the goal of the topic is to flame or start a fight;
  - Duplicate - there is already a topic on the same or very similar topic;
  - Off topic - not just for the forum it was posted in, but off topic for Seabreeze;
  - Spam - the topic was advertising for a business or was thinly disguised market research;
  - For Sale or Wanted to Buy - the topic was posted to ask for offers for buying or selling something (please use eBay or some other auction site);
  
  Topics which do not fall exactly into one of the above categories, but are deemed inappropriate due to their content or nature, will also be deleted.

  Topic Closure Policy

  Topics will be closed under any of the following circumstances:
  
  - Off topic - the topic is going off topic, but mostly contains useful information;
  - Flame war - the topic is turning into a flame war;
  - Purpose fulfilled - the purpose of the topic has been fulfilled - the author's question was answered, the topic has become irrelevant, or is descending into an argument/bickering about the meaning of the words people have written (i.e. topic has been lost).
  
  Topics which do not fall exactly into one of the above categories, but are deemed to have reached the end of their useful life, may also be closed. In cases where the reason for closure is not immediately obvious, a moderator will normally post a final message explaining the closure.

  Duplicate Logins Policy

  We strongly discourage users from creating additional logins for any reason - with the exception of personal accounts used by recognised Site Sponsors.
  
  We use the term "Duplicate Logins " to refer to additional logins created or operated by an existing Seabreeze member. Seabreeze Moderators have the ability to find these logins, through the use of various tools. In general we will ban any additional accounts we find.
  
  Attempts to circumvent this will not looked upon favourably. For each duplicate login we find, all posts from that login may be removed.
  

  If a member chooses to continue to create duplicate logins, and abuse our hospitality, be warned that we will not hesitate to report your breaches to your ISP's abuse department. As almost all ISP "Acceptable Usage Policies" include clauses regarding member behaviour on websites, such a report can result in a warning from your ISP and potentially the termination of your ISP account.

  
  
  Zero Tolerance Policy

  Seabreeze has a policy of Zero Tolerance for certain member behaviour.
  
  Repeated breaches of any rule by an individual can also attract a Zero Tolerance response.
  
  In cases where such breaches occur, the following actions will be taken (at the moderators discretion):
  
  - The post or topic will be deleted, regardless of whether or not the rest of the post or topic is "valid"; and
  - The member's login may be banned for a period of time, ranging from 1 week to a permanent ban.
  - There will be no emailed notification of suspensions.

  Why was I suspended?

  Occasionally members don't understand why they get suspended. No amount of explanation by moderators or other members of the community seems to provide an adequate explanation to these people.. After suspension they then want to engage in an email debate demanding immediate access, occassionaly with legal threats.
  
  If this is you, you might need to consider whether this website is for you? You were invited to join on the optimistic hope that you would add to the community, build new friendships, share your knowledge and generally have fun.
  
  The fact is, that if the moderators, through consensus and feedback from the community determine that a members is ruining the experience of other members or generally degrading the forums, our invitation to you to participate will be withdrawn. Otherwise know as 'suspension'.
  Just like you can get kicked out of a nightclub for ruining the pleasure of other patrons, you can also be refused access to this site, and repeated attempts to create logins will also be locked out. Please don't behave like the drunk outside the nightclub demanding entry. Walk away, cool down, and come back with a fresh attitude, and you are more than welcome. Creating new logins while under suspension is a surefire way to ensure permanent banning from the site.

  Problems with Moderation?

  Q. I've had a post or thread removed, should I post about it?
  
  A. Do not create a thread or post complaining about the moderation action. Complaint Topics or posts will be deleted.
  
  Creating multiple Topics or posts complaining about moderation, or creating Topics or posts to abuse or insult moderators, will result in immediate penalties being applied.
  
  Q. If I shouldn't post about the moderation problem, what should I do?
  
  A. The correct first step if you wish to discuss a moderation action, is to politely contact us with your viewpoint.
  
  Moderators are human and are eager to develop good relationships with all forum members.
  
  Moderators understand firstly that they can make mistakes, and secondly that members make mistakes.
  
  They also understand that there can be miscommunication. Approached politely, and with a constructive attitude most issues have been quickly resolved.

  Legal Threats Policy

  Seabreeze.com.au and the moderators hold the majority of members & businesses on this site in high regard.
  
  With few exceptions, the members & businesses on Seabreeze.com.au conduct themselves in a professional and polite manner, answering questions and responding to criticism with patience and understanding.
  
  This is excellent to see, especially when you consider the downsides of being in the spotlight of forum discussion - such as having your product or actions publicly discussed and dissected by all and sundry, and having every mistake, however small, highlighted for all to see.
  
  Sometimes, members & businesses turn on seabreeze.com.au and make legal threats.
  
  Seabreeze.com.au is more than willing to consider and respond to reasoned, polite requests from members & businesses regarding the removal of posts and threads that break the forum rules, or that are obviously and verifiably inappropriate or defamatory.
  
  However, where Seabreeze.com.au is of the reasonable view that a request/demand is vexatious, it reserves the right to take any or all of the following actions:
  
  * Publication of a news story on the front page of the Seabreeze.com.au site, or a prominently placed announcement thread, or news summarising the legal threats, who has made them and why;
  * Banning of the business and all emails under it's domain from this site;
  * Banning of any and all future discussions about the person / business / organisation on Seabreeze.com.au.
  

  The Final Word

  It's only a forum. Seriously - don't take it too seriously! :-)

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
• What are the thumb up/down icons for?
  They are nothing more than a visual cue of others opinions. Imagine you're standing around in a group, and someone says something. Some in the group will simply "raise their eyebrows", or frown, or laugh or .. they will make a visual indication, rather than say something. Sometimes it suits. Forum readers can have their say without having to post. They also serve another excellent purpose. Once a post receives a certain number of thumbs down, it pops up on our screens as needing attention. Sometimes "off" posts need context and can't be identified by obscene words, etc. The thumbs system helps your hosts keep the forums friendly and a welcome place to visit.
• What is the report content flag?
  in member profiles, the forums, the photo gallery and many other spots.
• Why can't I edit my post?
  We used to have a longer editing window, but we found it was mis-used by folks to completely change the meaning of their post (as opposed to fixing typos/clarify meaning). This made reading the forums difficult, especially when a 100 words of post have been replaced with "." !
• Why did you ban me for spamming the forum?
  advertising in the forums here
• Why don't you moderate the forums?
  We do! However, occasionally you might read a post that is offensive, and wonder why it's still there. Most of the time (i.e. 99%) people use the forums to share experiences & help one another. It's very rare that you'll get someone who's not themselves either because of stress, alcohol, agendas .. who knows. These people may write dodgy stuff and it's there for all to see, generally because a moderator hasn't got to it yet. Help out by clicking the Vote thumbs or the Report flag to alert us. Help us help you & the community by reporting / flagging posts that you believe are inappropriate.

Classifieds

• Buyer didn't buy! Can I reinstate my advert?
  Send us an email with your story, and chances are we'll re-instate your advert, no charge.
• Can I trust the buyer/seller?
  Much like any classifieds listing service, we publish adverts, and are unable to certify the validity of sellers, or buyers. However there are some things you can do to make it safer:

  Check their profile:

  - how long have they been registered on the site

  Make verbal contact:

  - in this age of email, you can still use your personal skills to talk with the person via phone to verify details and see what kind of character they are.

  Establish expectations:

  - is the seller/buyer an offshore worker who dissappears for two-three weeks at a time and doesn't access his email?

  Do they only check their email once a fortnight? Are they computer literate? No point getting all upset about no email reply for reasons you could have worked out beforehand..

  Delivery options:

  - Does the buyer pay, and then the seller ships, or the seller ships & the buyer pays on receipt? You'll need to sort this out upfront.

  ** Remember that Australia Post at most will refund you $100 if they lose your package. i.e. You can register it for delivery, but if it doesn't roll up (i.e. they lose it), the most they'll give you is $100. Not much consolation for your $1000 package. A hard lesson to learn.

  * * PayPal have all sorts of caveats about "refunds", so make sure you understand their policy, as you're more than likely not covered. A hard lesson to learn.

  ** COD (cash on delivery) is a great option - recipient pays upon receipt of goods. Australia Post is a massive service. In our experience via this site of shipping goods for 3 years, they very rarely lose things, but it can & does happen - be prepared for it, and be prepared for a 2-3 week wait whilst they investigate.

  The wheels turn slowly. Insurance for $15 sounds expensive when you're standing at the counter, but is may well worth it should it go wrong.

  Doing interstate deals really does come down to you speaking with the seller, getting as many photos as possible and trusting/taking the risk accordingly.

• How do I find my listing?
  • Clicking the Members/My Adverts menu at the top
  • Clicking "My Adverts" on the left of the Buy & Sell section
  • Viewing them on the "My Adverts" tab of your Profile (Members/My Profile menu)

  From your list of your adverts (if you have more than one), click on the advert of interest.When viewing the advert, you will see a large option box at the top of your advert where you can choose options such as removal, updating images, editing the text, reducing the price etc.
• How do I remove my listing?
  • Clicking the Members/My Adverts menu at the top
  • Clicking "My Adverts" on the left of the Buy & Sell section
  • Viewing them on the "My Adverts" tab of your Profile (Members/My Profile menu)

  From your list of your adverts (if you have more than one), click on the advert of interest. When viewing the advert, you will see a large option box at the top of your advert where you can choose options such as removal, updating images, editing the text, reducing the price etc.
• How long does my advert stay online?
  To avoid the classifieds getting stale, however, we will email you after a period and ask you to "refresh" the advert if it is still for sale. We'll send you an email with a link which you click to keep your adverts online. If you believe your advert has unfairly expired, please do let us know & we might be able to resurrect it.
• How much to courier something?
  www.fastway.com.au www.packsend.com.au www.smartsend.com.au www.rpmfreight.com

  (These are example links, not recommendations of businesses we have used)
• I paid but can't add my images!?
  visit here to check the status of all your adverts . Another reason can be when you pay via PayPal .. sometimes they send us an "E Cheque" which is caused by buying when you have no funds in your PayPal. Once you clear the funds in PayPal, they clear the funds with us, and your new advert becomes available to be entered. Again - visit the "Buy & Sell" home page and you'll see the link to enter your new advert, and we'll also send you and email.
• I've posted my add, but it's still not appeared?
• Paid by EFT - where's my advert?!
  feedback page .
• Putting your email in an advert
  The reason we do it is because your email inbox will soon fill up with spam, and we've had plenty of emails from people who've suggested that we've being passing their email out to spammers. (Which we don't). The "Spammers" of this world write software programs called "spiders" which are automated programs that scan internet sites like this looking for any text that looks like an email. When they find an email they gleefully add you to their daily mailouts and you can now look forward to a daily feed of unwanted emails regards your masculinity, depression, nigerian money scams, rolex watches and more. For your sake, and ours, it's best not to publicly publish your email on any website! :-)

Gallery

• How can I use a photo from the gallery?
  Click on the members name, and that'll take you to their profile. From there you'll find an "Email Member" link where you can make an enquiry, and possibly acquire a higher resolution image.
• How do I delete a photos I've uploaded?
  Click here to view your profile...
• How do I find photos I've uploaded?
  click here.