Personally, I generally don’t need much either. Being surprised by weather is part of the fun of life. But, I also have an interest in weather models improving. Globally, better knowledge of weather means more people eat and survive on their incomes, and prevents life and property loss from disasters. As individuals, our demand for better forecasting plays a role improving more important commercial and institutional uses.
That was wisely said. I was thinking too individually. Clearly, we need forecasts to be as accurate as possible for all the reasons you listed, not to mention agriculture. I was merely reflecting on the fact that, for my life, within the ballpark is good enough for my needs. Thanks for sharing a deeper and broader perspective.
Outdoor activities is why I want and use minute predictions. For example, if I am going outside to run on a rainy day. Does it look like I have a 30+ window where it won’t rain? Or at least the rain will be lighter?
+1
It’s no fun to see a thunderstorm forming just before you reach your turnaround point.
Doesn’t that make you run faster?
I’m a walker these days. And sometimes a very soggy one.
That’s why having looked at the precipitation forecasts from four different apps I look out of the window to be sure. The rain usually comes from the west so a glance out of my kitchen window in that direction is the go/no-go signal for me to take my hour long walk around my village. Today I’m going through that procedure around 12:30 (i.e. after lunch)
I am a Windy paid subscriber and believe it provides the best info. Has an Apple Watch complication as well. I use the site on my desktop, in iOS, and on the Watch.
I believe predicting weather more than a few hours, or at most one day out, is subject to a lot of error. I was told years ago that the nightly news went to three day then seven day forecasts not because they were accurate, but because that was the standard/competition.
In the summer I reside in an area where there are microclimates, such that the general area may show one forecast and our small area may experience rain for brief periods. Windy does as good a job as any of the apps there as well.
Try Windy and see if you like it.
Best to all,
GM
Windy.com and Windy.app are two different companies. I use the windy.com app on iOS/iPadOS and the windy.com website on my Mac, and the same subscriber logon on both.
Windy.app seems aimed at sea sports and has a ridiculously high sub price
Speaking of accuracy:
What I only refer to is the context: like maps of rainfall (6 hours ago) and cloud cover, with the explanation of the predictions (high pressure, cold air or heat waves from somewhere) and official warnings. I also need wind speed/feels like to see how cool it can be (13c with sun without wind vs 13c sunny with wind vs 13c rainy super windy).
Default weather app on my iPhone fails to do this, and compared to Met Office, winter’s temperature is always lower and summer always hotter. Feels like temperature is a joke (e.g. Met said 8c now feels like 5c while Apple said 7c feels like 1c). I personally think Met Office’s data makes sense.