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Deluxestogie's Favorite On-line Weather Site

deluxestogie

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My favorite weather site (for the US) is Weather Underground: https://www.wunderground.com/ (WU)

Log in, and enter your zip code. Once you've done this, then bookmark the page, and it will allow you to bring up your location from your bookmarks.

I find the site particularly helpful for several reasons:
  • It provides a 10 day forecast.
  • The forecast is available in an easy to follow, graph format.
  • The graph can be customized to show only what interests you.
  • The graph allows you to pinpoint the time that, for example, rain will begin.
Rather than just stating that there is a 60% chance of rain on Thursday, the timing on the graph allows me to plan activities more predictably. In the spring, a quick glance at the graph easily indicates what time of what day there is a risk of freeze. Once the calendar has reached 10 days prior to my "last frost" date, I check the WU site to see if I can go ahead and transplant tobacco or veggies. Although it does not directly indicate soil temperature, the graph makes a guess about that more useful.

The customization feature of the graph can make the data as simple or as complex as you like. Below, I've captured today's graph for my Zip code, and added data one feature at a time. (I've shrunk the images.)

WUTemp_600.jpg


Different display features are selected in the customize menu (upper right). Below, the probability of precipitation is displayed by the hour.

WUTempPrecip_600.jpg


Dew Point is the temperature at which water vapor will condense. In warm weather, you will encounter fog when the temp and the dew point approach one another, unless it's raining.

WUTempPrecipDP_600.jpg


For handling harvested tobacco, knowing the Relative Humidity can guide you as to opening and shutting a tobacco shed, to either increase or decrease the humidity inside, and can be useful in planning when to strip tobacco at a manageable case. Notice how the RH graph line undulates by day and night.

WUTempPrecipDPRH_600.jpg


While the tobacco is still in the field, the Wind Speed graph may alert you to take some required actions.

WUTempPrecipDPRHWind_600.jpg


With all the graphical data, positioning your cursor over the graph will display the time (top), as well as the numerical values of each variable that is graphed. Here, I've positioned the cursor over Noon on Saturday.

WUCustomize_600.jpg


As you can see from the customize dropdown, there are a number of other values that can be displayed. For example, the atmospheric pressure graph can tell you when a storm (low) is approaching, and signal when it is moving away.

If you click on a single day, the graph will expand to detail of that day. The tabs at the top allow you to select a table or descriptive text, instead of the graph.

Of course, WU also has radar maps, and a link to "Wundermap", which can be expanded from truly local to the entire continent, and can be animated. The Wundermap also allows a great deal of customization, including a number of different predictive models to animate future conditions.

Bob
 

Charly

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Thanks, interesting site, I will try it to see if it is accurate for France :)
 

deluxestogie

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Bob that page work very good in the Nordic countries..
That is good to know. I haven't tried it for regions outside the US.

Well, how about that! I just entered, "Riyad, Saudi Arabia", and it came up just fine. (It's going to be a high of 104ºF next Thursday.)

Bob
 

SmokesAhoy

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows...
 

deluxestogie

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Here is a "10 day" weather forecast from a site that can't count. It shows 15 days, counting today.

https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/USVA0659:1:US You can just enter your zipcode to see your local weather. I've shown Roanoke, VA as an example. But, as you can see, there is no frost expected for the next 15 nights. My own "Last Frost Date" is nominally 15 May (though that has surely shifted in recent years), so if I check on 1 May, looking at the subsequent 15 days, I can decide whether or not to gamble on transplanting early.

TenDayWeather_example.JPG


I had to shrink down this screen capture. The actual display is much easier to read. I do miss the graphic representation. Weather.com also offers a "monthly" display that inconveniently displays only by calendar month, and everything beyond that 15 days is indicated as "Average"values.

Bob
 
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