Editorial Standards
🌎 Our Commitment to Accurate, Useful Weather Information
At Orbis Weather, our goal is to make weather, climate and natural-hazard information easier to find, understand and follow.
Weather information changes rapidly. Tropical systems strengthen and weaken, earthquake magnitudes are revised, wildfire acreage changes, forecasts evolve and computer models can shift considerably from one update to the next.
Because of this, accuracy, transparency and responsible sourcing are central to how Orbis Weather produces its reports.
We aim to clearly distinguish between observed conditions, official forecasts, computer-model guidance and our own editorial analysis.
📰 How Orbis Weather Produces Content
Orbis Weather monitors weather and natural hazards around the world using information from meteorological agencies, geological organizations, emergency-management agencies, scientific institutions and established weather-data providers.
Our editorial process generally involves:
🔎 Identifying Significant Events
We monitor developing weather and natural-hazard events and select information we believe is useful and relevant to our readers.
Not every weather event becomes an Orbis Weather report. Priority may be given to events involving significant hazards, unusual conditions, large populations, important forecast changes or noteworthy scientific developments.
📡 Checking Reliable Sources
Whenever practical, important information is checked against primary or authoritative sources.
This can include storm intensity, forecast tracks, earthquake magnitudes, temperatures, rainfall amounts, wildfire activity, warning status and other important data.
🧭 Adding Context
Our goal is not simply to repeat information available elsewhere.
Orbis Weather reports aim to explain:
What is happening
Where it is happening
What is causing it when reasonably established
What areas could be affected
How significant the event may be
What has changed
What readers should monitor next
Where appropriate, we also convert measurements, compare information from multiple sources and organize complex information into easier-to-understand reports.
🛰️ Primary Sources
Whenever possible, Orbis Weather prioritizes information from government, scientific and meteorological organizations.
Sources may include:
🇺🇸 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
🌀 National Hurricane Center (NHC)
⛈️ National Weather Service (NWS)
🌪️ Storm Prediction Center (SPC)
🌊 NOAA Ocean Service and National Data Buoy Center
🌎 United States Geological Survey (USGS)
🛰️ NASA
🌐 World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
🌋 Government geological agencies and volcano observatories
🔥 Government wildfire agencies
🌧️ National meteorological agencies around the world
🚨 Official emergency-management organizations
Scientific institutions, universities, established weather-data providers and reputable news organizations may also be consulted when they provide useful additional information or when primary information is unavailable.
Whenever practical, reports identify or link to important underlying sources so readers can examine the original information.
✍️ Original Reporting, Analysis & Curation
Much of the underlying weather and hazard data used by Orbis Weather originates with public meteorological and scientific agencies.
The role of Orbis Weather is to make that information more useful.
Our editorial contribution can include:
Selecting significant developments from large amounts of incoming information
Comparing multiple sources
Organizing events geographically or by hazard
Explaining the meteorological situation
Identifying important changes between updates
Converting measurements and terminology
Providing historical or geographical context
Summarizing complicated forecasts
Highlighting uncertainty
Creating original maps, graphics and visual presentations
Combining multiple hazards into regional or global briefings
Providing editorial analysis of what readers should monitor next
We believe a useful weather publication should provide more than a collection of links or automated data feeds.
Our objective is to help readers understand the information rather than simply display it.
🤖 Technology & AI-Assisted Research
Orbis Weather uses modern technology to help monitor a very large amount of global weather and natural-hazard information.
Automated systems and artificial-intelligence tools may assist with tasks such as research, organization, data comparison, translation, formatting, summarization and identifying developing events.
However, technology is a tool — not an authoritative weather source.
Important weather and natural-hazard information should ultimately be grounded in reliable meteorological, geological, scientific or government sources whenever those sources are available.
Content intended for publication is subject to editorial review and curation.
We do not consider an automatically generated summary, computer model or artificial-intelligence response to be an authoritative source by itself.
When technology assists in producing content, our goal remains the same:
Provide useful information, add meaningful context and maintain editorial responsibility for what appears on Orbis Weather.
🌀 Tropical Weather Reporting
Tropical cyclone coverage requires particular care because conditions and forecasts can change rapidly.
Orbis Weather prioritizes official information from agencies responsible for forecasting tropical cyclones within their respective regions.
For Atlantic and Eastern/Central Pacific systems, this normally includes information from the National Hurricane Center.
For other parts of the world, information may come from the appropriate national meteorological agency, Regional Specialized Meteorological Center or Tropical Cyclone Warning Center.
We distinguish between:
Existing tropical cyclones
Officially designated disturbances or areas of interest
Potential development indicated by official outlooks
Computer-model scenarios
A computer model showing a hurricane several days into the future does not mean a hurricane will occur.
Model output should never be presented as an official warning or forecast.
📊 Forecast Models
Weather models are valuable forecasting tools, but they contain uncertainty.
Orbis Weather may discuss models such as the GFS, ECMWF and other numerical weather-prediction systems when they provide useful insight into potential future conditions.
Individual model runs should be treated as guidance rather than fact.
We aim to avoid presenting one dramatic model run as though it represents a confirmed future event.
Confidence generally increases when multiple forms of evidence support a forecast and when official meteorological agencies reflect that threat in their forecasts.
🌡️ Temperature Rankings & Weather Records
Orbis Weather publishes recurring features covering unusually hot and cold locations around the world.
Temperature rankings can change as observations are reported, quality-controlled or revised.
When publishing temperature rankings, we aim to use reliable observational data and clearly identify the period represented.
A temperature reported by an individual station does not necessarily constitute an officially recognized national, continental or world record.
Claims involving significant weather records should be treated as provisional unless confirmed by the appropriate meteorological authority.
🌎 Earthquakes & Geological Hazards
Earthquake information may initially change after an event.
Preliminary magnitude, depth and location estimates are frequently revised as additional seismic information becomes available.
Orbis Weather therefore treats early earthquake information as preliminary unless otherwise indicated.
For significant earthquakes, we prioritize information from organizations such as the USGS and appropriate national geological agencies.
Tsunami information should be obtained from official tsunami-warning authorities.
🌋 Volcano Reporting
Volcanic activity can change quickly and can involve considerable scientific uncertainty.
Orbis Weather prioritizes reports from official volcano observatories, geological agencies and recognized monitoring organizations.
We aim to distinguish between confirmed eruptions, elevated unrest, changes in alert levels and speculative reports.
🔥 Wildfires, Flooding & Severe Weather
During rapidly developing disasters, early reports about acreage, casualties, evacuations, rainfall and damage can change substantially.
We aim to identify preliminary information appropriately and update significant figures when more reliable information becomes available.
Official evacuation orders, emergency instructions and warnings should always take priority over information presented by Orbis Weather.
⚠️ Breaking News & Developing Events
During major weather and natural-disaster events, information can emerge faster than authorities can verify it.
Being first is less important to us than being accurate.
When information remains uncertain, we aim to use language such as:
Preliminary
Reported
Estimated
Possible
Forecast
or
According to officials
rather than presenting uncertain information as established fact.
We may update developing stories repeatedly as better information becomes available.
🔄 Corrections Policy
Accuracy is important to Orbis Weather.
If we discover a factual error, we aim to correct it as quickly as reasonably possible.
Routine corrections involving spelling, grammar, formatting or clarity may be made without a formal correction notice.
When a significant correction materially changes the meaning of an article, we may add a correction or update notice explaining the change.
Weather data itself is frequently revised by the agencies responsible for producing it. Updating an article to reflect a revised earthquake magnitude, storm intensity, rainfall total or similar official measurement does not necessarily mean the original information was reported incorrectly.
Readers who believe they have identified an error are encouraged to contact Orbis Weather.
🔗 Attribution & External Content
Orbis Weather respects the work of meteorologists, scientists, government agencies, journalists, photographers and other publishers.
When information comes substantially from another organization, we aim to identify or link to that source when appropriate.
External photographs, maps, videos, graphics and other material should only be used when permitted by copyright, licensing, public-domain status or other applicable usage rights.
We do not intentionally present another publisher’s original reporting as our own.
🚫 Sensationalism & Misleading Headlines
Weather can be dramatic without exaggeration.
Orbis Weather aims to avoid headlines or descriptions that materially exaggerate the available evidence.
We do not intentionally present:
An individual model run as a confirmed forecast
A forecast possibility as an observed event
A preliminary report as a confirmed fact
Routine weather as an unprecedented disaster
An unofficial social-media claim as an official warning
Headlines may highlight significant events, but they should remain consistent with the information available at the time of publication.
🛡️ Independence
Orbis Weather is independently operated.
Editorial decisions are not made on behalf of advertisers, government agencies, weather-data providers or other outside organizations.
Advertising and sponsorship arrangements do not determine our weather forecasts, hazard assessments or editorial conclusions.
Sponsored material, if published, should be clearly identified as such.
⚠️ Safety Information
Orbis Weather is not an official weather-warning, emergency-management or disaster-response agency.
Our reports, maps and tools are provided for general information, education and situational awareness.
During dangerous weather or natural disasters, readers should always follow instructions and warnings issued by the appropriate official authorities.
In the United States, this includes agencies such as the National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center and local emergency-management authorities.
Outside the United States, readers should consult their country’s official meteorological, geological and emergency-management agencies.
Never rely exclusively on Orbis Weather when making decisions involving personal safety, evacuation or emergency preparedness.
📬 Contact & Corrections
We welcome feedback.
If you believe an Orbis Weather report contains an error, outdated information, incorrect attribution or a malfunctioning data source, please contact us through our Contact Orbis Weather page.
Please include the URL of the page and a description of the information you believe should be reviewed.
Orbis Weather
Independent Weather & Natural Hazard Information
Founded in 2026
Founder & Publisher: Paul Harrison
Weather data, straight from the source — with the context to understand it.