A single weather station is often used to indicate the temperature and wind speed for all of the Westfjords, and residents are less than happy about it.
Vísir reports that reported temperatures in the Westfjords and the actual temperatures are often vastly different. As can be seen in the linked article, the temperature for the entirety of the Westfjords on August 5 was reported to be 5°C. However, on that day the residents of Bíldudalur, for example, were enjoying a balmy 14°C.
The reason for the discrepancy: a single weather station, placed in a not-so-temperate location, being used to gauge the weather for the entirety of northwest Iceland.
“There is naturally no sense in temperatures at promontories by outer seas being used to stand for the weather of all the Westfjords,” Valdimar Gunnarsson of Arnarfjörður told reporters. He further contended that this misreporting has deterred Icelanders from elsewhere in the country from visiting.
Meteorologist Haraldur Ólafsson has taken the criticism to heart, and intends to improve the weather coverage.
“We’re going over the matter now, and taking advice into consideration, but there are many places in the country in a similar situation,” he told reporters.
Haraldur expect that more numerous – and more accurate – temperature readings will go into effect this autumn.
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