Weather apps

Author
Discussion

maccboy

Original Poster:

633 posts

138 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
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I'm sure everyone has at least one weather app on their mobile. What I don't understand is how they can all have different forecasts!
I wanted to check the forecast for 2pm to see if I needed a brolly, and got these results:





Surely there are only so many weather satellites and supercomputers doing the forecasting so how can they be so different? Most importantly, which one is right?!!

cobra kid

4,944 posts

240 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
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Look in hindsight and see.

MonkeyBusiness

3,933 posts

187 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
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I like Hyperlocal Weather which is based on the excellent Dark Sky but for Android (Apple bought it and made it iOS only).
"Yr" is also good.

Also have the Met Office but tend to look at that to see what weather they've guessed today.

maccboy

Original Poster:

633 posts

138 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
quotequote all
MonkeyBusiness said:
I like Hyperlocal Weather which is based on the excellent Dark Sky but for Android (Apple bought it and made it iOS only).
Cheers. I'll add it to my collection of apps!

Radec

3,837 posts

47 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
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I used to love the F Weather app but not sure you can get it anymore.

It basically tells you the weather with curse words.

E.g. Make sure you take your brolly it's fking pissing it down.

I kind of became the work weatherman and had to provide a daily update to people in the office as everyone thought it was hilarious.

It was pretty accurate too.

Easternlight

3,430 posts

144 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
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Recently discoverd Windy.com
https://www.windy.com/?52.389,1.714,5
The forcasts aren't particularly accurate but the amout of information you can get from it is incredable. (for free)

dickymint

24,332 posts

258 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
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Accuweather for me especially for local weather "rain starting/stopping in x minutes" is pretty accurate. Their 'live' radar is excellent too.

xx99xx

1,920 posts

73 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
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Yep, they all use the same raw data but might have different forecast models. Some use the same forecast models but display the data differently (i.e. the map looks different) although still the same forecast.

If all you're interested in is rain then look at any radar forecast on the map (and not the hourly symbols) as they'll all be pretty much the same and pretty accurate (up to 8 hours ahead).

Can't go wrong with met office though.

dickymint

24,332 posts

258 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
quotequote all
xx99xx said:
Yep, they all use the same raw data but might have different forecast models. Some use the same forecast models but display the data differently (i.e. the map looks different) although still the same forecast.

If all you're interested in is rain then look at any radar forecast on the map (and not the hourly symbols) as they'll all be pretty much the same and pretty accurate (up to 8 hours ahead).

Can't go wrong with met office though.
Mystic Met no thanks rofl

Even the Biased Broadcasting Corp ditched them!

spitfire-ian

3,838 posts

228 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
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dickymint said:
Accuweather for me especially for local weather "rain starting/stopping in x minutes" is pretty accurate. Their 'live' radar is excellent too.
AccuWeather is my go to app too. It’s normally pretty accurate.

snuffy

9,756 posts

284 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
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I have this one:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com....

You can select from 3 weather data providers.

Or, just look out of the window for a more accurate forecast !


xx99xx

1,920 posts

73 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
quotequote all
dickymint said:
Mystic Met no thanks rofl

Even the Biased Broadcasting Corp ditched them!
Yep, MeteoGroup were cheaper.

rdjohn

6,177 posts

195 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
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spitfire-ian said:
dickymint said:
Accuweather for me especially for local weather "rain starting/stopping in x minutes" is pretty accurate. Their 'live' radar is excellent too.
AccuWeather is my go to app too. It’s normally pretty accurate.
I once looked at their board. Most expertise was in Internet marketing and none were meteorologists. Presumably they buy the data from a third party.

I use Meteo-blue, it shows you probability and real time radar and satellite. Looking at those shows why a small shower can be forecast but actually realises as a very near miss.

The notion of an accurate 14-day forecast is laughable. Probably not much more than the average temperature / sun / cloud / rainfall for that day over the last 5-years.

MattyD803

1,716 posts

65 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
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I've recently been using "Snow Radar", which despite it's name, provides what appears to be quite an accurate radar for all sorts of precipitation, especially when you need a bit more detail for a 2-6hr look ahead. (i.e. days out, sports events, track days etc).

MonkeyBusiness

3,933 posts

187 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
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rdjohn said:
The notion of an accurate 14-day forecast is laughable. Probably not much more than the average temperature / sun / cloud / rainfall for that day over the last 5-years.
Agree. Anything over 48 hours is guessing.

If anyone reading this is a hiker/hill climber, the Mountain Forecast site is very good. https://www.mountain-forecast.com/