What's your favorite weather website?

[AngryScientist]

I am totally sick of weather.com's overly busy web page with way too much of what i DONT want to look at.

who's your go-to for a quick and informative weather forecast glimpse?

[sandyrs]

accuweather or NOAA.gov or weatherunderground.

[rnhood]

accuweather or NOAA.gov or weatherunderground.

Agree, WU is my fav followed closely by NOAA. I think most all these weather outfits mostly pull info from NOAA, then add their wrapper and local radar.

[AngryScientist]

just found darksky.net. love it. perfectly simple.

[daker13]

I'm using accuweather and then I check the website of the local TV station, which gives a good overview... I was a huge fan of Beautiful Weatherspark, their site went down and never came back up. For anyone who ever saw it, it was a really good, unique picture of the weather.

[Bwana]

Wunderground, for sure. I also check www.windytv.com for some cool wind speed/direction visualization.

[MattTuck]

Yeah, bummer about weatherspark. too bad.

As far as weather resources, I prefer the local TV station's web forecast. If I just need temperature forecasts, then yeah, wunderground and others are good.

Usually I am less concerned about temperature, and more concerned about the timing of precipitation, and I just prefer the forecast maps on the TV station, along with their interpretation of the rate/probability/timing of the precip.

[Bentley]

I use the National Weather Service, its generally right on

I also think that most local TV stations have their weather reports on line, but generally not real time reports

Best thing about NWS is the weather radar, it shows you what is happening real time so you know if weather is moving in.

Best

Ray

[echappist]

weather.gov, though i don't like the interface

most often on wunderground, though it is the same as weather.com these days...

[Bwana]

Oh, RadarScope is easily the best phone radar app, costs a few dollars but well worth it for all of the data you get.

[zennmotion]

NOAA, at least until it gets shut down, because, science. Weatherspark when I want to geek out.

[weisan]

thanks for posting the question, angry, I was thinking of the same thing. I always accidentally clicked on their stupid Severe Alerts dropdown when I am actually looking to click on the Hourly...

[wallymann]

intellicast.com

i like the wind overlay, helps plan out riding routes!

[Ray]

Never heard of Darksky before. Just checked it out and I really like it. The site is good (although it seems once you move to their maps, tough to get back to the forecast page), the IOS app is even better. It costs a few $$, but way worth it. Just replaced weather.com app on my phone. My use both on the desktop for a while to see which I like better over time...

-Ray

[notsew]

I like all those listed, though I agree that it all seems to basically stem from NOAA with some bells and whistles layered on top.

For precipitation, I really like the Raindar app on my phone, it makes it pretty easy to tell when and where it is going to rain.

[Louis]

NOAA.gov by a mile

[verticaldoug]

I use accuweather. The minute-cast is pretty much spot on for Westchester Country in NY and Greater London. When weather is looking iffy, it is my goto to see if I can sneak a ride in.

D

[dustyrider]

My window. Meteorology; one of the few professions you can be completely wrong in and yet still keep your job.

[bluesea]

NOAA:
- Hawaiian Coastal waters Forecast http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/pages/CWF.php
- Honolulu, Honolulu International Airport (PHNL) http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=21.313257854016744&lon=-157.862548828125&site=hfo&unit=0&lg=&FcstType=text#.WIfbJLGZOqD

For the latter there's a map where you can select other parts of the island to get the local forecasts. Pretty helpful on a small island (about 115m round by road), with a mountain range running athwartship of the weather coming off the ocean.

[bikingshearer]

My window. Meteorology; one of the few professions you can be completely wrong in and yet still keep your job.

"Dear Mr. TV Weatherperson: I just got done shoveling two feet of 'partly cloudy' off my driveway . . . ."

:D

[retrofit]

Another vote for Wunderground (Weather Underground (https://www.wunderground.com))

Love their mobile app, as well.

[merckx]

I use Weatherbell.

I once used Weatherbell until I discovered that one of the principals is an absolute wingnut.

[pgrizzwald]

I'm also a wunderground user along with windyty for wind readings

[dcama5]

Wow, Darksky.net looks like it will work for me way better than the ad-heavy Weather.com which I have been using for so long. Thanks Nick!

[ojingoh]

Wow, Darksky.net looks like it will work for me way better than the ad-heavy Weather.com which I have been using for so long. Thanks Nick!

Yeah Darksky is great. It's pretty accurate for precipitation for my 'hood. Works on a phone too.

[Frankwurst]

NOAA or Wunderground.:beer:

[Ralph]

I have "My Radar" on all phone and tablet.

[OtayBW]

Intellicast for me, and this: http://hint.fm/wind/

[charliedid]

Count me as a Dark Sky user. As I understand, it is basically the NOAA info built around a very UF interface.

I like it

[chuckroast]

National Weather Service

[Llewellyn]

Any one that shows temperatures below 30 degrees C. I'm sick to death of the relentless heat of a summer in this city :mad: Although to be fair we've had a couple of days of beautiful soaking rain and the temps have been far more pleasant. Much nicer than the 42 degrees we had last Thursday.

[bikinchris]

For forecasts and warnings/watches, I use weather.gov
For radar, I use the PYKL app. You can add lightning information to it, but I haven't done it yet.

[54ny77]

PERFECT thread. Thanks for this.

Can't stand weather.com, even though been using it for years. It's so bloated and full of video and ads, can't stand it. Runs like crap. It's almost as bad as photobucket, and that's saying something.

[gallant]

I use the Dark Sky iPhone app:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dark-sky-weather/id517329357?mt=8

It's amazingly accurate and can often tell me exactly when it is going to rain in my area. I use it to check before I ride anytime there might be a chance of rain. It is $3.99 but well worth it. Another app I use is called Weathertron.

http://theweathertron.com/

Nice interface and gives me everything I need to know about today and tomorrow's weather including how much it will rain if it does rain. I care a lot more about estimated rainfall in inches than I do about % of rain when chance of rain is 100%. :)

[gallant]

Oh yeah forgot. For those of you who are skiers this is a great weather site:

http://www.yr.no/place/United_States/California/Hampton_Inn_%C2%A40026_Suites_Tahoe-Truckee,_CA/

It gives you very accurate info on snowfall levels and can be a godsend in helping figure out if you can make it up to Tahoe when there is a storm. Most detailed info on weather specifics down to the hour that I have seen. It's saved me tons of times from venturing up for the weekend.

[cloudguy]

My window. Meteorology; one of the few professions you can be completely wrong in and yet still keep your job.

Troll. Let me guess: you're a white old man who voted for he-who-should-not-be-named?

[Bob Ross]

I'm a big fan of the National Weather Service Forecast Office (http://forecast.weather.gov/) along with Wunderground and US Air.net's Aviation Weather Report. WeatherSpark used to be awesome but they seem to have disabled the dashboard that allowed you to overlay animated radar histories with current satellite images.

That DarkSky.net looks pretty succinct though, thanks for the heads up.

And agree, weather.com has turned into an advertising/Flash nightmare, I rarely have the patience to wait for the whole page to load, and even once I do it always seems to have a completely different prediction than all the other weather sites!

[oldpotatoe]

I am totally sick of weather.com's overly busy web page with way too much of what i DONT want to look at.

who's your go-to for a quick and informative weather forecast glimpse?

Works everytime.

[bluesea]

Works everytime.


I live in a low area at the end of one of the wettest valleys in Honolulu. What I see in the sky can be completely different from whats going on over the hill 1 mi away.

[josephr]

Works everytime.

you're in Colorado on the east side of mountains....practically high desert....if rain is coming, everybody already knows about it. :beer:

mostly use an app called weatherbug on my phone....nice radar feed, hour by hour predictions that are about as accurate as anybody else.

[Davist]

I guess I'm an outlier. I like the Yahoo weather iphone app. Easy interface and gets pix from instagram of the local area. good enough.

[CampyorBust]

Troll. Let me guess: you're a white old man who voted for he-who-should-not-be-named?

:rolleyes: here is a great weather website (https://www.liberaltears.com/). Though it always seems to be pouring rain, which is fine by me.:D

BTW if cloudguy is not the best troll name ever for a proestablishment agent of the deep state I dont know what is.:beer:

Oh and FYI young white guy here who did not vote for he-who-should-not-be-named.

[Mark McM]

The reality is that practically all weather reporting and forecasting information comes from the same source - the National Weather Service (a part of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA). So the accuracy of all the web sites and apps is likely to be the same. About the only difference will be in how the information is presented, and maybe the frequency of the updates.

[cloudguy]

BTW if cloudguy is not the best troll name ever for a proestablishment agent of the deep state I dont know what is.:beer:


No, I actually just work in a NOAA lab, but if that makes me a pro establishment agent of the deep state (had to google that, btw) then good luck living under your tinfoil hat.

[mjalder2]

I ask this same question every time I accidentally go to weather.com. Accuweather isn't a whole lot better. Nor is my "local" news station. Banner ads, pop-up videos blaring music throughout my office, and Chrome-crashing amounts of foolishness ruin it for me. And I like the weather.

Darksky looks cool. I've always been a Wunderground fan. Thanks for the thread, and the tips!

[Bwana]

No, I actually just work in a NOAA lab.

Sounds like you're more qualified than anyone here to answer the original question.

Very interested to hear what you use (although I'm guessing just the NOAA site)

[fiamme red]

I just learned that Apple bought Dark Sky and is killing it off for Android.

https://9to5google.com/2020/03/31/best-weather-apps-android/

[palincss]

I just learned that Apple bought Dark Sky and is killing it off for Android.

https://9to5google.com/2020/03/31/best-weather-apps-android/

And in the process, killing the web site and killing the API as well. :mad:

[fiamme red]

And in the process, killing the web site and killing the API as well. :mad:I'm really sorry about it. I've been a regular Dark Sky user since 2017.

[jischr]

Its all my fault. I just found Dark Sky last summer and really like it. Typically when I like something that means a vendor upgrade that turns it to crap or it disappears completely. :eek:

Sorry

[martl]

Http://Weather.us

Kachelmann is a wizard and he pioneered a few techniques. Also he is very open about which of his data are actual forecasts and which are based on calculation models and should be taken with more grains of salt :)

[scoobydrew]

I just learned that Apple bought Dark Sky and is killing it off for Android.

https://9to5google.com/2020/03/31/best-weather-apps-android/

I recommend using the "Windy.com" app found on the Google Play Store.

IMO not as intuitive as Dark Sky, but it shows a ton of information,

[HenryA]

mobile.weather.gov

Just weather, no ads, fast loading.

You do realize that many if not most dedicated apps sell your information? Why use them when you don’t need to?

[azrider]

IBM owns www.weather.com so of course it sucks :p:p:p

Weather Underground all day err day

[Ralph]

I like "MYRADAR" on my phone. For when I'm out on bike, and want to know if I'll get wet. Or maybe how to ride around it.

[buddybikes]

https://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=BOX&product=NCR&overlay=11101111&loop=yes

then for forecast just put in zip

[scoobydrew]

IBM owns www.weather.com so of course it sucks :p:p:p

Weather Underground all day err day

IBM also owns Weather Underground

[azrider]

IBM also owns Weather Underground

https://media.giphy.com/media/a93jwI0wkWTQs/giphy.gif

HAAAAAAAA.........had no clue.

[scoobydrew]

https://media.giphy.com/media/a93jwI0wkWTQs/giphy.gif

HAAAAAAAA.........had no clue.

Oh man your gifs are always on point. Love it.

[Buzz]

The only weather forecast that matters:

https://opensnow.com/dailysnow/tahoe

Super accurate and interesting to read.

[joosttx]

wunderground

they report from a station on the top of Tamalpias.

[fiamme red]

Dark Sky update:

https://blog.darksky.net/

By Adam Grossman on June 6, 2022

Update: As previously announced, the Dark Sky iOS app will no longer be available beginning on December 31st, 2022 and, as of this date, already purchased versions of the app will no longer provide weather data. The Dark Sky API and website will continue to function until March 31st, 2023.

Dark Sky's forecast technology is now enhanced and integrated into the all-new Apple Weather forecast, powering Apple’s updated Weather app...

[RoosterCogset]

Dark Sky update:

https://blog.darksky.net/

Yeah I saw that. Since I have an iphone I'm not too upset, except it's not clear what will become of the Epic Ride weather app (cycling specific).

[Irishgirl]

I subscribe to a cocktail of weather apps with weather underground and NOAA my favorites followed by ***…What the Forecast to get the commentaries.

https://nightcatproductions.com/whattheforecast


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KevinC]

Weather Underground for phone app.
NOAA if I’m on PC.

[samwell187]

bummed about darksky, their hyper-localized forecasts were always super useful and not replicated elsewhere that I know

[tellyho]

Daily bike commuter. Would not look anywhere other than NOAA. I link the webpage on my home screen. Radar and weather graph are essential for granular forecast and clothing decisions.

[Jeffrobots]

I really like Windy these days.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bironi]

I would recommend that anyone using accuweather read a bit about the founders ideas. Trump wanted him to head NOAA.

[Dired]

Dark sky never lie. Big shoutout to epic ride weather.

[paulh]

I would recommend that anyone using accuweather read a bit about the founders ideas. Trump wanted him to head NOAA.

Do they recommend nuking hurricanes?

[htwoopup]

Clime-NOAA Weather Radar….sign up for the Pro at 10 bucks a year. You can track rain etc over time predictively. So when it says rain probability on some other app you can look at this and know that it will only be drizzle (or whatever) at 4:07 pm where you are (or where you tap it). Plus it gives pretty good forecasts. I use it in conjunction with Dark Sky which is going away.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[litcrazy]

Like a couple others, I have found the windy app to be quite good for wind forecasts.
I also am fond of the weatherbug app. For those of us in the mountain west, the distance to the most recent lightning strike is quite useful. I like to blend their hourly forecast and radar options.

[ap_az]

Another vote for Windy, especially the ability to compare different forecast models. It also has some very cool features for route planning in which it will predict weather changes over time over a given route. This is especially useful when planning a ride through varying terrain during storm season.

The other really useful resource is the old-fashioned NWS text-based forecast discussion. Once you understand the jargon you'll find that these are packed with information usually no more than about 8 hours old. Best of all they are generated locally by actual humans who understand local weather patterns. These are my go-to source of weather information when I'm doing a through hike (if I can get a signal).

[BdaGhisallo]

https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/

Tropical Tidbits is a site focused on hurricane activity but it is useful if you like to look at the various weather models and see what they are forecasting for different regions of the planet.

[fiamme red]

Dark Sky is gone. Thank you, Apple! :rolleyes:

I'll be using Weather Underground from now on.

[jamesdak]

They're all fake news! the only career where you can lie and be constantly wrong and still have a job. Well.....other than being a politician. :banana:

[Mark McM]

They're all fake news! the only career where you can lie and be constantly wrong and still have a job. Well.....other than being a politician. :banana:


The definition of a meteorologist is someone who can tell you tomorrow, why what the predicted yesterday, didn't happen today.

(Its also the same definition of an economist.)

[jlwdm]

I think weather apps have come a long way. You can get good forecasts and watch a storm moving towards you and see if the direction is changing.

There are lots of factors affecting changes in weather. It is not possible to predict perfectly.

Jeff

[fourflys]

I'm pretty happy with AccuWeather..

[C40_guy]

Dark Sky is gone. Thank you, Apple! :rolleyes:

I'll be using Weather Underground from now on.

Well, it's not actually *gone*...it's just been zeroed out. :(

[merckx]

My new favorite weather website is Tim Kelley's New England update on Twitter.

[bikinchris]

Every single one of these apps get their information from NOAA.

[Tim Porter]

Another vote for Windy.com. We use it for sailing, boating in general, cycling, hunting, etc. Very helpful in all regards. To me, it's worth the premium upcharge.

[robt57]

All the data I need pre-ride days ahead:

https://www.wunderground.com 10 day

the mouse arrow/cursor shows hour by hour as you move across it as well.

[Ken2]

For those Android users lamenting the loss of Dark Sky, its successor is Hyperlocal Weather, available in the Play Store.

[fiamme red]

I really liked that Dark Sky would let me know, e.g., "Heavy rain starting in 10 minutes." It wasn't always accurate, of course, but usually close. And I had to click much fewer times to find what I was looking for than when I'm using Weather Underground.

[tellyho]

Every single one of these apps get their information from NOAA.

100%: it's all there. Radar + weather graph gives you all you need to stay dry.

[RoosterCogset]

Every single one of these apps get their information from NOAA.

Do they? I don't know the degree to which NOAA is plugged into hyperlocal weather gathering options. I know for example, that you can report your own weather wherever you are through DarkSky (now Apple Weather) app on your phone, which goes into refining and finetuning weather where you are. Kind of like the WAYZ traffic app but for weather.

A decent read:

https://gisuser.com/2021/01/everything-you-need-to-know-about-hyperlocal-weather-forecasts/

"Hyperlocal weather forecasts help you achieve this by converting on-ground infrastructure into weather sensors.

Instead of solely relying on radar and satellites, new-age weather intelligence platforms collect data from closer-to-ground sources, such as:

Street cameras
Connected cars
Drones
Airplanes
Smart dustbins
Cell phone towers
For instance, a weather app can use street cameras installed throughout a neighborhood to collect data related to precipitation and visibility. Likewise, connected cars can relay information about fog-light and wiper usage to their manufacturers."

[merckx]

I once used Weatherbell until I discovered that one of the principals is an absolute wingnut.

[C40_guy]

I once used Weatherbell until I discovered that one of the principals is an absolute wingnut.

I once used Twitter until...

:)

[charliedid]

I really liked that Dark Sky would let me know, e.g., "Heavy rain starting in 10 minutes." It wasn't always accurate, of course, but usually close. And I had to click much fewer times to find what I was looking for than when I'm using Weather Underground.

I'm with you but I am not 100% on functionality yet and believe it still might be the case. I'm waiting until tomorrow when rain is expected to see if it does in fact show up as I think it might. Do you have rain or snow in the forecast today?

This image leads me to believe it still functions that way.

[merckx]

I once used Twitter until...

:)

I hear ya.

[windsurfer]

Ventusky

Direct access to national weather service model results. Cut out the weathergirl on tv and correct to the source.

[Bob Ross]

Every single one of these apps get their information from NOAA.

I would find that much easier to believe if every single one of these apps actually showed a consensus.

But I guess there's some editorializing going on with how each app interprets and represents that shared data?

[Mark McM]

I would find that much easier to believe if every single one of these apps actually showed a consensus.

But I guess there's some editorializing going on with how each app interprets and represents that shared data?

Even NOAA doesn't have a single weather forecast. NOAA has several computational weather models, which they run several times a day. The forecasts from the different models can yield different results. It is up to local meteorologists to interpret the data from the different models. Sometimes they lend more weight to some models over others, depending on localized situations, or sometimes they "average" the model outputs together.

In any case, any weather forecast requires a large amount of data collected over a wide area, and at least in the US, really only NOAA has the resources to collect all that data.

[charliedid]

Ultimately I preferred DarkSky because of the graphic representation/logic layout.

I'll adapt

[cgolvin]

My initial fiddling with Apple Weather now that Dark Sky is “zeroed out” leads me to think that virtually all the functionality is there, just have to learn how to access it. (I realize that is of little consolation to Android users.)

[RoosterCogset]

My initial fiddling with Apple Weather now that Dark Sky is “zeroed out” leads me to think that virtually all the functionality is there, just have to learn how to access it. (I realize that is of little consolation to Android users.)

Though I think you can still get the Epic Ride app for android, which was powered by DarkSky and is now powered by Apple Weather.

[windsurfer]

Even NOAA doesn't have a single weather forecast. NOAA has several computational weather models, which they run several times a day. The forecasts from the different models can yield different results. It is up to local meteorologists to interpret the data from the different models. Sometimes they lend more weight to some models over others, depending on localized situations, or sometimes they "average" the model outputs together.

In any case, any weather forecast requires a large amount of data collected over a wide area, and at least in the US, really only NOAA has the resources to collect all that data.

That is one of the reasons I use Ventusky, because I can select between many different models. Mostly I use HRRR, but also ECMWF, ICON, and GFS depending on what I am looking for over which time frame. Satellite and Doppler imagery are also available

[fourflys]

so this is what Angry originally posted:
"who's your go-to for a quick and informative weather forecast glimpse?"

while I didn't read through every reply on this thread, it sounds like you all are going deep into meteorology on some of sites! :eek:

AccuWeather app gives me a nice hourly breakdown of the weather in my area from a quick glance.. guess I'm not sure why I'd need much else? Maybe if I was planning a multiple day adventure ride with a lot of microclimates?

[slosh415]

I'm sticking with Weather Underground even though it's gotten steadily worse since IBM bought it and stopped maintaining the consumer site and app. They have a view that shows forcecast temp, precip, pressure, and wind (speed and direction) in a single graph of the next 10 days. Incredibly useful.

[Bob Ross]

guess I'm not sure why I'd need much else?

I started down the rabbit-hole of consulting multiple weather sites when I was coaching an annual 12-week training program for my cycle club, and I would be responsible for making the Go/No-Go weather call that would determine whether ~50 some odd participants and another ~20 leaders would be riding on any given Saturday.

I had to take not only the safety and comfort of all these cyclists into consideration, but also the "Why Did You Cancel The Ride, The Weather Turned Out Fine?!?!" second-guessers ...or, alternately, the "Why Didn't You Cancel The Ride?!?!" complaints from dozens of miserable soaked riders.

One app simply isn't enough data to reliably make that call when that much is riding on the decision.

I stopped coaching that training program a couple years ago, but old habits die hard: I'll still consult at least two if not three different weather sites before I decide whether or not I'm going out for a bike ride. Forewarned is forearmed.

[redir]

I just go straight to NOAA since I figure that's where all the data comes from anyway.

I do like the Wundergrounds weather map radar better though.

[fourflys]

I'll still consult at least two if not three different weather sites before I decide whether or not I'm going out for a bike ride. Forewarned is forearmed.

whatever works for you for sure! Living in the Bay Area now, if it looks like rain, I'm probably just not gonna ride as I'll probably be fine to ride tomorrow.. (this past week and week coming up excepted)

not afraid of a little weather though.. still would probably only check accuweather though.. :)

[weaponsgrade]

I've been having fun playing with this one: https://www.ventusky.com/?p=32;-102;2&l=wind-10m

[Frankwurst]

NOAA, Weather Undeground. Check one and then the other. I prefer Weather Underground for wind directions and speeds.:beer:

[slosh415]

I just go straight to NOAA since I figure that's where all the data comes from anyway.

Actually, companies like AccuWeather have their own satellite data and forecast models, which are starting to come into conflict with NOAA.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/11/25/weather-is-big-business-its-veering-toward-collision-with-federal-government/

[fmradio516]

Sorry if this was already asked but i went to the Dark Sky website and it says that their service is already integrated into the Apple Weather app. Does this mean that the Apple Weather app is just as good as Dark Sky?

[sjbraun]

Apple bought DarkSky. Whether (or weather) its better or worse now is yet to be determined.

[tellyho]

Here's an alarming discrepancy for my commute tomorrow. NOAA is stripes, Hyperlocal is black.