Had not noticed that…and the hyper local is one of the better features of DS. At least here in SW FL…if I get North Fort Myers which technically we are in but we’re on the northern edge of the city I get the wrong weather from everything but DS. Choosing Punta Gorda the next city north doesn’t work either. Because of the barrier islands offshore here we frequently get storms that pass either slightly north or south and it can be pouring 4 miles in either direction but sunny here and DS has always given me the best weather at my house info. Glad to know that Weather uses actual location for hyper local as well.
There are no weather models that forecast to that precise an area or location. The highest resolution models are currently running a ∆x of ~3km grid point spacing. That means they can resolve features of ~4∆x , or about 12 km. Everything else is interpolated.
4 Likes
This has lead to a myriad of photos showing Apple’s weather app on two different phones showing the same city, but different temperatures and weather.
I have to explain one is a city forecast and one is the hyper local showing the same city name.
Tip: If you scroll to the bottom of the Weather screen, it will show the street name of the hyper-local location. I’ve found that to be helpful in distinguishing between the two.
4 Likes
I’ve always looked at the dots on the bottom of the screen representing your saved locations. If the arrow one at the front is highlighted, it’s your current hyper-local location. However, the location on the very, very bottom would help in explaining why the temperature on one phone is different than the same weather on the other phone even if both are displaying the same city name.
Yes, the pinpoint in NOAA defines an area, less than a mile square. But that area is in a microclimate between mountain range foothills zone and valley/town zone. Yes, my forecast is an interpolation but it is very accurate for this microclimate.
1 Like
I’ve been mostly depending on Windy, with a side swipe at Sailflow (one of a suite of weather apps for people who recreate on the water using wind). Windy has many good features - it’s international, it shows tides, it can be configured for a variety of conditions (rain, clouds, waves, air quality etc.), it has an easily movable map, if you scroll in deep enough it becomes a road map, with many useful features like landmark names, road names, topographical characteristics. As a backup and for quick info I use Wundergroud.
DS has been my favorite, I use Weather Strip, Apple default and Hello. I like the layout of Weather Strip the best. Recommended.
Not available outside Australia but the Aus Weather app gives me alerts for approaching rainstorms, based on “AI” interpretation of weather radar maps and my current location. It has proven very handy in recent weeks (eg “Moderate rainfall in 15 mins”). The alert subscription is a few $ per year.
Maybe there are similar apps for other countries?
We have a weather station in our backyard that reports to the Weather Underground, Ambient Weather Network and PWS Weather https://www.pwsweather.com . I know … it’s like having two wristwatches… one never knows what the actual time is. Add to those, I use Ventusky to watch the systems move in from the Pacific.
1 Like
Most weather apps now give approaching rain alerts. It was the defining feature of Dark Skies. I assume in Australia your weather apps would give you warnings when a group of the toxic wildlife so common in Australia is approaching.
Warning
Herd of Redback Spiders approaching in 10 minutes. Take cover and update your life insurance policy. Also, it might rain.
2 Likes
I’ve been a fan of Weatherbug for a number of years, both the app and the website. It’s been pretty accurate, I’ve noted over time, here on the US East Coast. As a sailor, I particularly like its lightning strike map and warning notifications.
For wind and tides, I use WindAlert or Windy and have found them to be quite accurate in their forecasts too.
I have run my own weather site here in New England for over 20 years. I still get a good amount of traffic because forecasts from the weather services are, more or less, focused on urban areas of greater population.
There is a BIG difference between a Boston forecast and one out here in South Central New Hampshire.
No money to be made, just a service I have provided all of these years. Sharing my “hobby” with others…
Rich the Weather Guy
Visit the NEW RichLefko.com
5 Likes
Dark Sky was my first purchased iOS app. I will miss it. But what I don’t miss? The App store and its process to find a replacement. It shows Carrot weather app as “Editor’s Choice!” but it rates it as the Number 2 weather app. So? Well? What is Number 1 weather app? Another “Editor’s choice” is Living Earth weather app. What about Windy (a current fav of mine that more features only available as Premium sub for $19 or one year for $30)? I searched for Windy on the App store… doesn’t show.
I think Apple’s App store rating and search criteria have much need for improvement.
And Apple’s weather app isn’t bad. But would benefit from some granularity like making an option to change default of Temperature to other like Precipitation (Open Weather, select Today or other day, and its default display is Temperature Chart. You need to select the pulldown to change. Or if you scroll down on the Weathr page past the days, past the radar, to the Precipitation section, it takes time from something that could easily be a setting/option). Moot maybe. Why not just allow selection reorder?
I’m going to go with Apple’s app and Carrot myself after some deliberation. The ‘current location’ option in the former gives one a more hyper local forecast as somebody noted here the other day…which in my area is a good thing as the weather 4 miles north and south is frequently different despite the flatness of SW FL
I have an appreciation of personal preferences for weather apps yet for those who also want to consider “accuracy” it may be worth checking out…
Forecast Advisor
I can’t comment on their methodology for determining accuracy but at least appreciate that it gets some attention.
For example, though a Dark Sky fan, for my zip code Forecast Advisor for October 2022 shows a 71.74% accuracy versus top-rated Weather Underground at 89.52%. ymmv of course.
Just FYI, there was another thread about Dark Sky a few months ago and this post by David Blanchard suggests that Forecast Advisor may be suspect for these comparisons.
1 Like
BBC Weather?
DS gave us simple & direct weather data, and while the data is still available, Apple’s upgraded and glonky IMO weather apps require way more clickin’ & swipes…
1 Like
I’m in Australia and I’ve never used Dark Sky. The government here has an excellent web based meteorological app which presents fairly decent reports and warnings.
I was interested in the Apple Weather app in Ventura and tonight took a look as the rain was on the roof. According to Apple Weather there is no rain anywhere nearby:
but at the same time the government BOM web tells me it IS, in fact, rain falling from above:
I can confirm the ground is wet and if I stand outside I get wet. The Weather app looks OK but it appears the accuracy needs work. Perhaps it’s a localisation problem but right now it’s not useful.
1 Like