Good weather forecast sites?

Can anyone recommend a good site for weather forecasting please?

I hear alot on here about max temps and night low temps, thought I should really start getting me head around this.

 

This is the one I use Nfrost
It gives you daytime and nightime temps . Wind direction and strength. Amount and probability of rain. Number of sunshine hours and sunrise and sunset times . Its pretty accurate as well !!

http://www.weathercast.co.uk/world-...hbXA7b3B0X3R5cGU9Y2l0eSZhbXA7c3JlZGlyZWN0PS0x

 

I use Wunderground.com ... the Weather Summary for us Low Countries is really frustrating, as they only ever seem to be interested in the Mediterranean, the Balkans and the UK.

however, over the past few years, I've found them really reliable on snow predictions (important to me, as I run a dog training school in a rather remote area, so I need to be able to call adverse weather and road conditions early). A downside - they don't specifically warn of frost, but you do see recorded temps ("why was everything so slow last month?". "Oh, look at the temps!").

My one tip is that there are normally a number of weather stations in your area. Some professional, some amateur. Work out exactly where they are, and which one is nearest to your garden in orientation, altitude, prevailing wind etc, and you're away!

 

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/ryton#?tab=fiveDay

I like met office site , you can set it up for your locality and gives 5 day forecast, gives min /max and wind chill, as good as any, tends to err on side of caution.

 

I use accuweather.com

I've stopped using the Met Office one because it's usually wrong for my neck of the woods.

 

I recorded their 5-day prediction (the one that gives a range of likely temperatures, and a "most likely" within that) against the actual Min/Max I recorded [on my weatherstation] for several months last Spring. I recorded the prediction for each of teh days from 5-days our to 1-day to see how they changed. I used the 1-day out (i.e. 12-24 hours before actual) and compared it to my actual; a significant proportion (from memory more than 50%) of my night minimums was below their predicted "range", and the max day temperature was above it ... bit like a chocolate fire guard.

I don't expect their "most likely" to be accurate, but I did expect that the limits of the Range they predicted should be good to 95% percentile, or something of that ilk. It wasn't. As an indicator of whether I should Fleece the outdoor plants, or ventilate the greenhouse during the day, it was useless.

The only thing I can say is that where their predictions increased, or decreased, compared to previous days that trend tended to be accurate, and that trend was as accurate from 5-day prediction to day-before one.

 

I don't like the BBC Weather or the Metoffice , because as you say Lawnman they err on the side of caution. In fact they are downright pessimistic / miserable . I think a few holiday resorts have took them to task over their overly gloomy reports , when the weather was not half bad. As all weather forecasts must come from the same data collection networks , satellites ,weather stations , radar etc. Who actually interprets this data , for the hundred and one weather sites.

 

I like this,it gives you an outlook for all europe ...http://www.weathercast.co.uk/world-weather/europe.html

 

I dont give much thought to five day forecasts, they are mostly pie in the sky where ever you look.
The max and min temperatures vary within my garden, and its not very big, so expecting an accurate night and day temperature for YOU, is expecting too much.

To me I just want a good next day forecast along with maybe a probability forecast for the next couple of weeks or so.
Anything else is just looking into a crystal ball.

And I dont think anyone forecast this long protracted cold spell back in January, (or did they).
Maybe the Daily Express did.

 

My weatherstation tracks almost identically with the half dozen within 15 miles or so around me on Wunderground, so I think its a fair comparison to the met office's forecast. Looking at Wunderground I don't see a lot of variation (apart from the one or two which are clearly poorly calibrated, or sitting in someone's living room waiting to be installed or have new batteries fitted!) The majority of the weather stations conform to a pattern that is gradually changing as you pan across the map.

I do agree that a single temperature forecast would not be for me specifically (that woudl be nice though ), but I feel very strongly that a forecast which gives a range for possible Day-max and Night-min should be accurate to 95% degree of confidence - i.e. my actual value should only fall outside the predicted range on 1 or 2 occasions a month and then I would not expect it to be more than a degree or two out. I'll dig out the figures but I'm pretty srue that there were several occasions in the month when it was more than 5 degrees wrong.

They probably did, but even they were not expecting it, but rather just trying to sell copy

 

But Kristen, surely that is Nowcasting, not Forecasting, to expect a forecaster to say how cold it is going to be in you particular place, I assume your are out in the sticks, is in my opinion expecting too much.
As I said,even one end of my garden to the other can vary a couple of degrees, that can mean the difference between frost and no frost.

Surely you get an idea yourself when you go outside if it will be frosty or not.
I always like to play safe.

 

And that's why they garden on a sandy soil Armandii!

 

I bet they get the hump when it's cold Armandii.