I have always had good luck using weather.gov. not the most mobile friendly website but it works and the are upfront about their data. In my town, that is helpful since, as @thesohoriots@lemmy.world mentioned, we can’t always trust closer “weather stations” if they even exist.
I don’t think they have an app, but it’s just a couple clicks away in a browser 🤷♂️
Every other weather provider uses their data, though they may reprocess it. AccuWeather doesn’t have their own set of geo satellites.
Breezy has weather.gov as a provider but unfortunately in my area it’s also been very inaccurate. Gutting funding for NWS/NOAA (especially in regard to weather balloon launches) has had a devastating effect for my area’s forecasting. That, along with extreme weather getting more and more unpredictable, of course.
The gutting of funding has impacted global forecasting models like the GFS.
That’s unfortunate 🫤 The closest weather station to me is an hour away, so even getting a temperature can be problematic in my area. I would not have noticed a change over the last 14 months. Their modeling is still pretty good! Based, however, off historical data that, I assume, is already at least partially irrelevant.
Not only that, Null said, but some weather apps might just pull from the closest airport or weather station, without accounting for the many microclimates that naturally occur.
Also, frequently, someone nearby has a busted-ass weather station in their backyard that’s way off. And unless you unlock the premium features, often subscription, you can’t pick which station better represents your actual conditions. I’m not paying another $1.99/month for forever.
I like WeatherWise! Solid radar options and I’m pretty sure they just added the ability to watch storm chasers live stream which is neat.
My phone’s weather widget is based on AccuWeather and it seems to me it’s been about three different times that it predicted clear or overcast weather only for me to find out there’s rain, and in one case, heavy rain.
I was wondering what the hell the article is on about the entire time, cause that’s not my experience at all.
Then I remembered my weather app is one of the few apps I actually paid money for.I like Weawow because it let’s you pick a weather provider source. There is also an overview that shows all providers predictions side by side.
It is only available if you donate but I think that is worth it.
Breezy also allows multiple providers.
The article recommends this app:
Anyone have any idea if it’s good?
Their privacy policy looks good / is east to read, at least. Not FOSS though. I’ll probably sick with my home made weather app for now.
You can’t really go wrong with anything using Weather.gov. that’s the National Weather Service that has a team of meteorologists focusing on your area no matter where you are, all over the country. They run the weather models, they have the radars, they launch the weather balloons. A lot of weather forecasts are repackaging of their forecasts.
Even then, weather is extremely complicated and forecasting for a large area is hard. I think the best thing to do it learn a little about weather, look at the forecast, then if it’s important or the forecast is questionable, look at the NWS Area Forecast Discussion for your area.
The AFD is a text they release several times s day giving you their thoughts that went into the forecast. You can get a sense of the variables they’re working with and the aspects they’re certain or uncertain about. And if you want to nerd out, they’re often filled with technical data to nerd out over, but you can skim past that if uninterested.
I just want the dry bulb and the dew point. None of this “feels like” sensationalized bullshit.
