Weather Apps.

[Dale.]

It's that time of year again, the best time ahead for landscapes, for me anyway. I've learned that light is (almost) everything, or more, conditions, with light being a part of that.

Over the last 2 years or so, I can count on one hand, the times I've judged the conditions might be good. Covid hasn't helped of course but when I have been able to get out, despite what the weather forecast promised, the majority have been fails, conditions wise.

I use the Met Office app, but on my PC, as well as XC Weather, also on my PC.

2 questions,

what apps do you use?

and,

what do you look for?

I'm guessing the cloud symbol, together with sunshine and rain might mean good conditions?

I know it all depends on what youi're after too (snow, mist etc) but that symbol might be a good start.



TIA.

 

[mufftrix]

I same as you Dale and Met one seems most accurate of ones I tried? as for BBC one i been stood in a location when it shows full sun and been stood in torrential rain haha

 

[rob-nikon]

Apps are one thing but knowing how to read the information they give reliably is a whole different ball game! I use the usuals BBC weather, clear outside, home and dry, met office, weather maps and windy to name a few.

I’ve started to think it’s often best just to go places than try to second guess weather forecasts. Often it’s the changeable conditions that give the best light and conditions. clearly blue skies are the ones to avoid.

I often find in places like the Lake District weather forecasts are often unreliable as different valleys can have their own micro climates. I remember being in Wasdale where it was hammering down yet when we went back to the Eskdale valley we were told it had been lovely sunshine.

 

[sirch]

The MWIS (mountain weather information service) is good but very short term, which is probably why it is accurateTBF but if you are in the north and deciding whether to bother turning out on the day or the night before then it is worth checking.

 

[Retune]

The Met Office app, and Weather Underground (for its network of weather geeks who often provide more local data than the official weather stations).

 

[dcash29]

Yr

 

[popcorn]

Clear outside.
Hourly low, medium and high cloud levels plus dew point, temp and fog.

 

[Kev.s]

Another vote for clear outside

 

[Jim_Tod]

Accuweather, clear outside and MWIS

none 100% (as they‘re forecasts)

 

[Deleted member 34016]

BBC Weather app for me Dale - when planning a wildlife shoot I always check the wind direction etc


Les

 

[ecoleman]

Ventusky for me.

Browser: https://www.ventusky.com/

They also have an app for IOS and Android.

I've never found Clear Outside to be very accurate for where I am and looking up the weather in a different location (unless it's a main town or city) proves to be impossible.

DarkSky is good for telling you it's going to rain in 10 minutes and stop in 20 but for long term forecasting I've found it rubbish.

 

[sirch]

AFAIK All the original data comes from the met office and each of these sites then applies their own model to that data to make forecasts so I suspect that some models/apps/forecasters are better under some circumstances and locations that others. I have actually tried noting down what several forecasts said a few days ahead and then checked what the actual weather was against the forecast and no particular one is always better than the others.

Also forecasts come with a %age accuracy, often as percentage chance of rain, 50% means they don't know, >80% its going to rain <20% its unlikely to rain. These percentages are arrived at by running the forecast model many times with slightly different conditions (wind, temp, pressure, humidity) and essentially the percentage if the number of times the model gave the same result. So its quite common when conditions so 50% for one site to show rain and another to show dry, that is just the spin that they put on what the model actually predicted.