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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday July 22 2017, @12:46AM   Printer-friendly
from the storm-spotters-unite dept.

Weather is big business. Farmers want to know when is the best time to plant (or harvest). Event organizers want to know if a thunderstorm might come up during an open-air concert. And the rest of us want to know about their daily commute and plans for the weekend barbeque.

During a chat not long ago in the #Soylent channel of SoylentNews' IRC server, I discovered there are likely others who have an interest in all things weather-related.

I thought it might be interesting to see what weather resources my fellow Soylentils use. Not just for forecasting, but for getting current conditions, and while we are at it, let's include space weather forecasts, too. Note: I live in the USA and my primary browser is Pale Moon; please submit comments with other resources!

Many of the sites require some Javascript, but I have had success using NoScript and selectively enabling from 1 to 4 domains to get things to work.

My favorite going-down-the-rabbit-hole site is at nullschool.net -- click on the word "earth" to bring up (and hide) a menu of features and presentations you can choose. Check out ocean currents and temps, surface winds and temps, etc. See their about page for a more detailed summary of the options.


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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @12:49AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @12:49AM (#542664)

    You can search your weather by GPS coordinates with weather.gov. It's all I use anymore.

    http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-117.11892114257815&lat=32.801915961930064 [weather.gov]

    Make sure to click the Hourly Weather Forecast image on the right side of the page.

    Look at all the FA-class coverage of hurricanes at Wikipedia:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics#Geology.2C_geophysics_and_meteorology [wikipedia.org]
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Tropical_cyclones [wikipedia.org]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @12:58AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @12:58AM (#542668)

      Wot? No Weather Underground? Or are they dead, bought out by the Weather Corporation?

      • (Score: 2) by jmorris on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:39AM

        by jmorris (4844) on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:39AM (#542685)

        Weather Underground was bought by weather.com but not dead yet.

        But I can't believe space weather is mentioned in the article but spaceweather.com isn't linked.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:46AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:46AM (#542703)
    • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:37AM

      by mhajicek (51) on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:37AM (#542757)

      Ventusky.com

      --
      The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @12:55AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @12:55AM (#542667)

    The headline implies a scientific interest in meteorology, but all you really want is for everyone to dump their weather bookmarks into the comments.

    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:09AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:09AM (#542692)

      Change the headline, and I'm going to bitch at you for revisionism. Any way you cut the cheese, SoylentNews is shit.

      • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:28AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:28AM (#542698)

        NiggerNews is one nigger's shitty news blog where his nigger friends come to post comments and take a dump in the begging jar. But the nigger had to go and form a pubic interest corporation to legitimize his shitty operation. Just like a yard nigger who sneaks into the house.

    • (Score: 2) by martyb on Saturday July 22 2017, @03:23AM

      by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 22 2017, @03:23AM (#542717) Journal

      I apologize for the misleading headline. I plead rushing to get a story submitted before having to head out for the evening. Headline has been updated.

      --
      Wit is intellect, dancing.
    • (Score: 2) by driverless on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:55AM

      by driverless (4770) on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:55AM (#542742)

      There's a really easy way for anyone to answer this question for themselves. Take various favourite weather info sources and, for a two week period, track how accurate their predictions are. At the end of two weeks, go with the one that's got the best track record in getting it right.

      When I did this some years ago, it was Weather Underground. Actually several were pretty close, but WU displayed the info in what I thought was the most useful format. The least accurate was our national weather service. Which was kinda sad that some outfit on the other side of the planet was better at predicting our weather than the local weather service.

  • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:05AM (3 children)

    by Snotnose (1623) on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:05AM (#542670)

    Back in the 70's I had a friend who had weather stuff all over his house and back yard, he wrote things down every day.

    I've got some digital doohicky that keeps track of temperature, humidity, pressure, etc. It's got a satellite sensor I've nailed outside my door that also records temperature, humidity, pressure, etc.

    I pretty much use to it look at and "huh", as I get up in the morning, scratch my balls, and do my Folger's bit.

    / postmark. Best part of the morning is waking up, peeing, and going back to bed.
    // smart people have machines that take good coffee and brew it when you tell it to
    /// cannot imagine why anyone would ever drink instant coffee, unless they were in prison somewhere with no other choice

    --
    Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
    • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:07AM (2 children)

      by Snotnose (1623) on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:07AM (#542672)

      Heh, just realized you have to be at least 30 years old to get my Folger's reference.

      / damn I'm getting old
      // grandkids are teenagers.......
      /// wonder if I'll be remembered as the kewlest grandpop ever, or the WTF grandpop

      --
      Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by slap on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:05AM (4 children)

    by slap (5764) on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:05AM (#542671)

    I'm a sailor, and I've started to use predictwind.com to get a forecast of the wind. You have to have an account - there are free accounts that give out limited information. But the free accounts give the wind speed and direction predictions which is all I want anyway.

    • (Score: 1) by idetuxs on Saturday July 22 2017, @03:40AM (3 children)

      by idetuxs (2990) on Saturday July 22 2017, @03:40AM (#542721)

      I'm a sailor too (occasional). I use windguru.cz which is quite popular where I am. And also heard of windy.com, but I don't visit the site often.
      Is predictwind accurate? Windguru has its misses, but it's pretty useful}

      cheers

      • (Score: 2) by captain normal on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:05AM (2 children)

        by captain normal (2205) on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:05AM (#542726)

        Likewise a sailor. I get Grib files to load in to my routing software from Saildocs at: https://sailmail.com/grib-files-saildocs-weather-data/ [sailmail.com]
        They can email a graphic Grib.
        The best visual rendering of Grib files for the average user is https://www.windy.com [windy.com]
        They not only show wind patterns, but also also Pressure cells, precipitation, swell height and direction as well as other stuff.
        For local weather when on the dirt, I still like https://www.wunderground.com/ [wunderground.com]
        As mentioned above http://www.weather.gov/ [weather.gov]
        is pretty good too.

        --
        When life isn't going right, go left.
        • (Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:58AM

          by Gaaark (41) on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:58AM (#542743) Journal

          Not much of a sailor:

          I just follow the Skipper and Gilligan.

          and Mary-Anne ;)

          --
          --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
        • (Score: 2) by zocalo on Saturday July 22 2017, @08:06AM

          by zocalo (302) on Saturday July 22 2017, @08:06AM (#542805)
          +1 on https://www.windy.com/ [windy.com] and all its URL variants. Not just useful to pilots (the site's author is a pilot) and sailors, but anyone who need more detailed info that your typical temperature and iconic representation of "sun/light cloud/heavy clound/light precip/heavy precip" the MSM provides. I use it heavily for getting an idea of what to expect for any outdoor activities, especially photography.
          --
          UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:08AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:08AM (#542673)

    http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/9006 [lacrossetechnology.com]

    It has a transmitter that sends the outside temperature to a receiver inside. It reads in Fahrenheit or Celsius. It also tells the time. Recommended.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:28AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:28AM (#542681)

    Dark Sky [darksky.net]

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:37AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:37AM (#542683)

    Probable New Zealand's http://www.metservice.com [metservice.com]
    They are often (3-4 times / month) not even able to predict the weather right for the same day,
    leave alone more than a day.

    • (Score: 2) by driverless on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:01AM

      by driverless (4770) on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:01AM (#542744)

      Heh, that was the weather service I was referring to in my earlier comment. Of all the ones I evaluated, they were consistently the worst, no-one else even came close. And the worst thing is that since they're the government-mandated service, if you're using weather info in an official capacity (e.g. pilots) you have to use them even if you know they're going to be wrong. Try asking a pilot in NZ "who do you *actually* use for your weather info?" some time. Not "who do you officially use" but "who do you actually use".

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:38AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:38AM (#542684)

    My gf looks at weather.com and we both read the forecast in the morning newspaper. But we are between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario (great lakes) and those forecasts are wrong at least as often as they are right. Obviously they have a better chance of being correct if you only care about 6-12 hours ahead, but even then it might rain hard here...and not at our friend's house a mile away. And if I'm planning to go out to watch the car races about five miles from here, they have a good chance of being dry (and running) when I've been rained out (and vice versa).

    So I look out the window (upwind) and see what's coming next. Also outside that window is an old glass thermometer in a vertical metal scale, angled so it can be read from inside.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by dx3bydt3 on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:46AM (2 children)

    by dx3bydt3 (82) on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:46AM (#542687)

    I live in Canada, and in my area Environment Canada forecasts are the best of those available. They also make available quite a bit of forecast data, one form I like best is a set of hourly forecast maps generated twice a day, looking forward for the next 48 hours. The maps are available for temperature, wind, cloud cover, as well as some more astronomy relevant parameters, atmospheric seeing and transparency.
    here's the page with links to these resources: http://weather.gc.ca/astro/index_e.html [weather.gc.ca]
    These maps cover all of North America, not just Canada.

    Here is a resource where you can get a simple colour coded hour by hour forecast chart for your area (North America only), created using this data: http://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/ [cleardarksky.com]

    I have a script that builds a webpage with a similar chart for my location, ephemeris information for the sun, moon and visible planets (using PyEphem), NOAA space weather predictions, and aurora forecast maps.
    Using an microcontroller, and some sensors I've got my own temperature, RH and barometric pressure data fed to my computer. I have chron scheduled script logging and plotting it every 5 minutes.
    This was fun to set up, next I'll do the sensing bit over again using a raspberry pi and digital sensors.

    I also recommend http://spaceweather.com/ [spaceweather.com] for summaries of space weather conditions as well as postings of current interesting atmospheric phenomena.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:02AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:02AM (#542689)

      Inquiring minds want to know...with all that detailed information, do you ever go outside to enjoy good weather?(grin)

      • (Score: 2) by dx3bydt3 on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:48AM

        by dx3bydt3 (82) on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:48AM (#542705)

        More than you might expect, having the information allows one to plan ahead, and jump at the opportunity when the weather is ideal.

  • (Score: 2) by leftover on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:14AM

    by leftover (2448) on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:14AM (#542693)

    I like to see what is going on and make my own near-term forecasts. Local and regional half-hour loops provide a wealth of information at a glance.

    --
    Bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:17AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:17AM (#542694)

    ...up to 6 days worth.

    Hell (summertime) [weather.gov]
    Hell (summertime) [weather.gov]--if Hell had humidity [wikipedia.org]

    Hit this link [weather.gov] in February to find out what it would be like on Pluto [google.com]--if that place had breezes. [wikipedia.org]

    .
    Here's basically the same information in tabular form. [noaa.gov]

    N.B. With Reactionaries/Neoliberals defunding gov't services, your latitude/longitude might not have a reporting station any more.

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:22AM

    One of the first things I made MrPlow (my SN IRC bot) do was pull weather from wunderground's API. Occasionally I break him though and use exec's scrape of google's weather.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
  • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:28AM

    by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:28AM (#542697) Homepage Journal

    From the Environment Canada website, a service of the Canadian government.

    http://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/qc-147_metric_e.html [weather.gc.ca]

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by jimbrooking on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:37AM (2 children)

    by jimbrooking (3465) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:37AM (#542700)
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Some call me Tim on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:42AM

    by Some call me Tim (5819) on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:42AM (#542701)

    http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/geo/#/animation?satellite=goes-east [wisc.edu]
    Lots of satellites and assorted settings to play with.

    --
    Questioning science is how you do science!
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by el_oscuro on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:47AM (2 children)

    by el_oscuro (1711) on Saturday July 22 2017, @02:47AM (#542704)

    http://www.weather.gov/ [weather.gov]

    They provide all of the feeds that other shitty websites like weather.com use. Plus they have a nice home page with no trackers that you can customize. I have the 5 day forecast for my zipcode bookmarked.

    --
    SoylentNews is Bacon! [nueskes.com]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @03:01AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @03:01AM (#542711)

      ...and only 13 scripts on that page!

      As I mentioned above, budget cuts now have some places without a -local- reporting station.
      Live in a small town|rural spot? Tough.

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:26AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:26AM (#542736)

      The Canuckistan version [weather.gc.ca] is fairly good as well.

      Not sure how the shitty websites decide on a slightly different forecast; while apparently using the same data. I suppose most people would not notice if they used a random number generator to vary things.

  • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Saturday July 22 2017, @03:06AM

    by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 22 2017, @03:06AM (#542714)
    Weatherbug [weatherbug.com] for current temp. Their network of feeds from private weather stations tend to give me a more accurate result than the other big sites most days for me.
    I also use a couple of SmartThings motion sensors that also have temp sensors in them around my porch. They are fairly accurate up to 99F but they seem to max out there.
    Accuweather [accuweather.com]for forecast because I know it probably won't be any worse than they predict since they tend to err on the side of the extreme.


    When weather gets interesting I turn to Radar Scope if I'm away or GRLEVEL3 if I'm at home for radar. If it gets really interesting I'll break out GRLEVEL2. In the spring I'll subscribe to feeds through Allison House [allisonhouse.com]
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by bart9h on Saturday July 22 2017, @03:25AM (1 child)

    by bart9h (767) on Saturday July 22 2017, @03:25AM (#542718)


    curl http://wttr.in/ [wttr.in]

    or

    curl http://wttr.in/YourLocationHere [wttr.in]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:02AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:02AM (#542724)

      "We were unable to find your location
      so we have brought you to Oymyakon,
      one of the coldest permanently inhabited locales on the planet."

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:16AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:16AM (#542728)

    http://www.foreca.com/ [foreca.com] Got the link time ago, maybe from some kind of chat or meh. The company is Finnish. They probably repack the info from public stations. But works acceptably. Checked the wttr one and they report stupidly stable temps for a given place I know, Foreca gives more real data, matching local TV and observations.

  • (Score: 2) by Hyper on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:25AM

    by Hyper (1525) on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:25AM (#542749) Journal

    Enable your ad blocker.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:27AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:27AM (#542750)

    It might be discontinued now, but it uses the NOAA weather databases in the US to provide doppler images from whatever weather radar is closest to your location.

    Not so great for forecasting, but I only really care about weather that is 1-2 hours out and is actually going to require me to move things back in.

  • (Score: 1) by RedIsNotGreen on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:09AM (1 child)

    by RedIsNotGreen (2191) on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:09AM (#542773) Homepage Journal

    * Look/stand outside, observe the sky, wind, humidity, etc.

    * Google, when I want to know the current temp (I guess that means weather.com)

    * Other people, when a big weather event is predicted

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:15PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:15PM (#542884)

      I used the same subject above in (#542684) -- but looking closer I see that you used uppercase "None" and I used lowercase. At first I thought they should have been brought together by SN thread sort, but I guess it is case sensitive.

  • (Score: 1) by SvenErik on Saturday July 22 2017, @09:52AM

    by SvenErik (2857) on Saturday July 22 2017, @09:52AM (#542835) Homepage

    I use the Norwegian Meteorological Institute website https://www.yr.no/?spr=eng [www.yr.no]. They also offer a lot of their forecast and observational data free in various formats.

    --
    "Every demand is a prison, and wisdom is only free when it asks nothing." Sir Bertrand Russell
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by kaszz on Saturday July 22 2017, @10:13AM

    by kaszz (4211) on Saturday July 22 2017, @10:13AM (#542839) Journal

    Seems all these tips presumes there's an internet connection. It may be worthwhile to look into Specific Area Message Encoding [wikipedia.org] (SAME) used to digitally transmit messages for the Emergency Alert System (EAS), NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) in the USA and Weatheradio Canada in Canada.

    The system uses seven specific channels within the frequency range of 162.40 - 162.55 MHz encoded with FSK using 1/mark=2083 .33 Hz 0/space=1562.50 Hz

    If some severe weather ruffles your neighborhood it's not sure that internet or electricity keeps working..

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @10:53AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @10:53AM (#542854)

    The liver foretells the will of the gods, hence the weather. Works for me!

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Saturday July 22 2017, @11:34AM

    by fido_dogstoyevsky (131) <axehandleNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Saturday July 22 2017, @11:34AM (#542860)

    The bomsite [bom.gov.au] of course... where else?

    --
    It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
  • (Score: 2) by chewbacon on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:16PM

    by chewbacon (1032) on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:16PM (#542932)

    I go/look outside.

  • (Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:48PM

    by Fnord666 (652) on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:48PM (#542943) Homepage

    Among other things, I sometimes set up a QFH antenna, hook up the RTL-SDR dongle, and download the images from whatever weather satellite is passing over next. Mostly built the setup for the technical challenge of it.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:43PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:43PM (#542981)

    ... at least as far as the basic "current, near-future forecast, and severe weather alerts" goes: weather.unisys.com [unisys.com].

  • (Score: 2) by darnkitten on Sunday July 23 2017, @12:10AM

    by darnkitten (1912) on Sunday July 23 2017, @12:10AM (#543176)

    Being small and rural, we don't have an official reporting station and live in a small microclimate with significant differences to the surrounding area's weather, so I take reports from the closest three reporting stations in rotation. That gives me an idea about general trends.

    Then, I make a comment about the weather some of the local Old Timers, and they tell me how the weather is actually gonna happen.

  • (Score: 2) by damnbunni on Tuesday July 25 2017, @12:46PM

    by damnbunni (704) on Tuesday July 25 2017, @12:46PM (#544136) Journal

    Specifically, I ask this gopher: gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/groundhog/usa/forecast?ny/73 [floodgap.com]

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