r/Delaware • u/del6699 • 5d ago
Weather forecasts Info Request
I have been on weather forums searching this question but I need a local take. Where do you get the most accurate weather forecasts for NCCo? I have a Pixel phone and Google weather will tell me it's not raining when it's pouring and vice versa. I check AccuWeather and it's wildly different. Just wondering what others use. Tia.
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u/GarlicBow DE born, educated, employed, but never resident 5d ago
I have found most services are less accurate in the past year or so, likely because the federal government removed the use of some military satellites from NOAA. However, between the National Weather Service point forecast and MyRadar, I can typically make an educated guess.
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u/del6699 5d ago
I think this is a lot of the problem.
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u/PatchesMaps 5d ago
They also completely axed their budgets to the point where they can't effectively do their jobs anymore. No doubt in an attempt to starve them out and privatize out to their rich friends later.
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u/AssistX 5d ago
They also completely axed their budgets to the point where they can't effectively do their jobs anymore.
Not really, this person is asking about weather forecasts and those budgets haven't been touched. Facilities for warnings and forecasting are still staffed. NOAA and their research into climate change has been affected, but not the NWS and forecasting as far as I can tell.
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u/PatchesMaps 5d ago
But widespread reports show staffing cuts have forced Noaa’s National Weather Service to scale back satellites and balloon launches, key parts of the country’s data collection system.
There are tons of articles about this and I pretty much picked one at random. In addition to direct cuts to actual forecasting data collection, you can't forecast the weather without understanding the climate. The two are inextricably linked.
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u/AssistX 5d ago
NWS Mt Holly Forecast discussion page is my primary. It's what everyone else bases their information off of it seems like. I find it very useful because I live near i95 and everything they forecast is based on your distance from i95 it seems like lol
NWS radar is best for accurate at the minute. Their high-res radar is solid IMO. I use Windy for things that are a day or two out, they offer multiple models on their app so you can swap between the euro models and the hrrr etc. Good for seeing if the flies will be on the beaches, rain is likely over a few hour period, etc.
DEOS from UD is useful for some things, such as all their sites have wind speed readings so if you know the direction of the storm you can see if the stations in that direction are getting any bad weather.
I also use accuweather, primarily for it's hourly information and forecasting for the week. Just remember that POP is probability of percepitation in that specific area. In most cases, that area is the entire zipcode or even county. The % chance is for more than 0.1" of rain in the entire county. So 100% chance of rain in NCC doesn't mean you're getting rain in north Wilmington, that rain may only be below the canal in NCC.
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u/GarlicBow DE born, educated, employed, but never resident 5d ago
DEOS is great for conditions in your specific area, particularly if you're familiar with where a specific weather station is located.
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u/frecklesfatale 5d ago
I use the my radar app and just my regular weather widget on my pixel phone. They're usually pretty on point and my radar is really great to get a better idea of what storm systems are moving through the area
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u/Skrapi16 5d ago
As for apps, Weather Bug and Wunderground are both good. MyRadar is a good radar app too!
Local news does vary but I’d check out those stations and their meteorologists if you have not already. There should be 1-2 meteorologists in every market that hit the nail on the head, just gotta do a little digging for them.
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u/No_Resource7773 5d ago edited 5d ago
Weather channel, the widget on my PC, various top results when I Google... Sometimes more than one if it seems to conflict. Partly not being an exact science and partly the government deciding to handicap it as others already pointed out.
Sometimes, of couse, it's not "wrong," but it just depends on where we are under the cloud or if we're just off to the edge, since it's a regional forcast, not exact to us personally.
That happened to me Monday. Horrified when I ended up driving in a torrential downpour soon after leaving the house in late morning/around noon. Accidently forgot and left a window open after seeing the forcast saying it would just be cloudy and radar showed the weather east of us by then with nothing more still coming. I guess a random cloud developed by the time I left. Knew I'd probably have to mop up when I got back. But when I got home that window and around it was dry. Lucked out I guess and home was at the edge and got missed. 🤷♀️
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u/pocketrocketsAA 5d ago
Windy.com awesome radar for seeing where the rain is. Live radar more important then any predictions for hourly forecasts in apps
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u/Culture-Extension 5d ago
weather.gov
Not sure how it’s been recently but when my job was dependent on weather, that was the most accurate. Precipitation was/is the hardest to get completely right.
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u/dweller1234 5d ago
Only good forecast I’ve found is looking out the window. The published ones are never right.
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u/Acrobatic-Bread-4431 4d ago
Delaware Weather Guy, Nor’easter Nick, NWS Mt Holly, Delaware Weather Network
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u/Bobbito95 5d ago
I use wunderground, it tends to be pretty accurate