In subject.
I have five weather apps, including the stock iOS app on my phone and some days they all say something different. Really different. A few weeks back it was 0% chance of precipitation on one and 80% on the other.
Does anybody have a suggestion? I have a locally developed app that isn’t bad but what I’ve read online has suggestions for apps primarily from the US and I’m unsure if they would be accurate enough in Taiwan. I’m fine paying a few bucks for something that is good.
Windy
Rain Alarm
觀天氣
those the only ones i frequently peruse, in no particular order
Windy is good for finding out what’s happening if a typhoon is coming. That’s the only app that appears to be accurate - now looking at it, I didn’t realize it had predictions for temperature, etc in it as well.
天氣即時預報 is moderately accurate but way off on things like precipitation.
Windy. Uses 2-3 different models, including the ECMWF and GFS, and other models for waves, etc. Geta weather forecast up to 10 days in advance, at any altitude, for anywhere on earth!
Most apps (including the OS based ones) use the free GFS model, which tends to be a bit dramatic and overestimates rainfall likelihood and wind speeds.
ECMWF is charged for, but donors keep it available on Windy.
I paid, because I use it all the time for sailing and surfing forecasts.
another reasonable one is WindFinder.com, which uses GFS. It only reports from identified stations, but is does have a few in Taiwan.
and lastly, Tropical Storm Risk, really good for keeping track of typhoons, and reasonably good correlation of forecast to actual tracks. http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com/
Wish I had suggestions - I’ve got the same issue. I wonder about the source of the variation: do some apps just see “Oh, you’re in New Taipei City, so here’s the [rather meaningless] New Taipei City forecast”? Or is forecasting in Taiwan really hard? Or is the tech other places use not yet available here?
The New Yorker had a recent article about how weather forecasting keeps getting better (did you know the Nazis landed in Newfoundland to build a small weather station?! I didn’t!), but as I was reading the article I kept thinking, “Wait, if it’s getting better, how does my phone have five different descriptions of what’s happening outside my window right now?”
It does amuse me that my wife still asks me if should she put an umbrella in her bag for the day. We still live in Taipei, right? Then yes, pack an umbrella.
I want to clarify that I am not a Nazi. I condemn all Nazis. I condemn pretty much everybody who posts here.
I’ve been playing around with Windy (it was already on my phone) since I posted this yesterday and it’s probably the best that I’ve seen here. Taiwan is the only place that I’ve ever lived where weather can kill you or, at the very least, seriously impact your plans, and I have never paid attention to forecasts before. A few weeks ago, my wife asked what the weather would be like in the morning and I read her results from three or four apps - all reading something different. I think an umbrella for the rain and a jacket for the a/c are constants though.
lol.
Windy also integrates live satellite and radar data into the scene. Not from everywhere, but Taiwan and Japan are covered, as are most of USA and EU.
I recommend you download the app for iOS for a cleaner mobile experience.
I already have it. Until about 20 hours ago, I didn’t realize it did anything outside of showing when a typhoon was coming.
I guess it’s not in subject anymore.
Bumping this in frustration: the iPhone Weather app is telling me it’s currently drizzle here in Danshui. Windy is telling me the same thing. It’s actually quite nice outside, mostly a thin layer of cloud with blue peeking through. This inaccuracy seems to be happening a lot.
I know forecasting is difficult in northern Taiwan, but can anyone recommend apps that are a bit more accurate for current conditions? Or are there alternate data sources I can perhaps use, buried somewhere in the settings for these apps?
I like the CWB app (called Taiwan Weather in the App Store)
I’ve been using it for years.
The forecasts are generally accurate.
I was just talking about this with a friend. Last weekend it was an absolute downpour and the apps each of us use showed no rain and a low chance of rain.
Today, similar situation, was raining a bit and apps would say 20% chance. Windy showed some rain today, but I just hate their app, and it’s 3-hour forecasts vs one hour (like the govt one). Weather Underground looked the most accurate. Used to use it years ago, will try it again here and see.
I’ve quite liked Windy until recently: I hope the bizarre inaccuracies, like reporting we’ve had 9mm of rain over an entirely dry morning, are an odd blip that will soon resolve.
I just hate their UI
Thanks: this one is working reasonably well for me. Is there an easy view I’m missing for total anticipated precipitation? That’s one of the things I like about both Windy and the iOS native app: it can show me how much rain is actually expected, which helps me figure out if it’s worth going for a bike ride anyway. I’ve just found both of them quite inaccurate lately.
I’ve heard that Carrot weather does a great job at predicting likely precipitation for the next couple of hours, but I don’t know how well it works in Taiwan. Is anyone using that here?
Maybe the Taro version will work better?
If you click the ‘forecast’ tab, there’s an item at the bottom of the page called ‘QPF’. Is that what you’re looking for?
You mean when you scroll down, and see the maps? That’s roughly the data I’m looking for, yes, but not presented as usefully as I’d like: Apple gives a graph with total expected precipitation in every hour, while Windy does the same for three-hour blocks (whereas those maps are six-hour blocks, if I’m reading them correctly).
I usually explore the options of apps, but never pressed that QPF thingy. Thanks for the tip!