Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Best weather website

Most importantly, I don't want to have to pay or subscribe.
That being said, what is the best weather reporting website where I can get a detailed report of what has happened, is happening, or will happen in a very specific region...like a pondsite. I haven't searched alot, but it seems that most weather websites only provide a regional view. And, naturally, the specific meterological measurements are from the nearest official reporting station. What if the pondsite is nowhere near that reporting station?
So....who's got the coolest weather site?

Weather.com will let you get data for any zip code you want to put in. The new interactive radar let's you see ongoing precipitation, static or in motion, and you can zoom in or out at will. If you change the transparency setting, it doubles as an aerial (satellite?) photograph source.

I have never used it for historical weather data, Brettski, and don't know if you can get that there (see the first rule of Italian driving). But the interactive weather maps and 10 day forecasts have been invaluable to me for years during those periods when I am a professional gambler (hay season).

BTW, it's free.

You might try wunderground.com (weather underground). It seems to give many different looks/options. Free too.

I don't know if it's "the best", I'm far from a weather expert, but I typically use accuweather.com because it's what the Forecastfox Firefox extension I use uses. It keeps the current conditions along with the forecast for today and tomorrow at the bottom of my web browser. It pops up a message any time a weather warning is in effect and I can click on it to go right to what the warning is. One click and it takes me to the full forecast with maps, etc.

Other neat stuff you can see in screenshots on the site:
http://forecastfox.mozdev.org/

and of course if you're still using Internet Explorer, you'll first need:
http://getfirefox.com

wunderground. Uses the same radar as NWS, but never is more than 5 minutes behind real time. Click on total precip. and you can zoom in right to your area. It shows prec. in individual cells. For instance, I will call my F.I.L. and tell him how much rain the pond got. If he tells me different, I tell him to recheck his rain guage.

On a similar note.............
The USGS has a cool feature on their website that will allow you to receive real time data for many different bodies of water all over the U.S.
I can monitor flow in cubic ft./sec., gage height, water temp, and current precip. amounts of a creek that flows through my property. The measuring station is about 100 yards upstream from my property line on gov. owned land.
Check it out, there may be a data collection site near you. It is a great tool if you are an absentee land owner!
USGS National Water Information System Web Interface.

I use a browser called Maxthon. I have a group of 8 separate weather pages that it opens simultaneously. That way, I get everything with 1 click. I get the best of the best.

Having said that, I realy like the the Weather.com interactive weather map. It could replace about 3 of my pages. The only thing I dislike about it is that the map is pretty small. You can get Google Earth overlays that are similar to that site, and run it full screen.

I have asked several of the meteorologists at the
National Weather service this question in the past, specifically if weather.com was the best site for weather info. The answer was that the weather info gathered by weather.com was assembled by a small sampling of the NOAA(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather station data. The most complete and locally accurate forecast available is from http://www.weather.gov/ which uses all available data.

In the link below:
Just type in your city & state or zip code at the top of the page.
Click on the small radar and you get a current local radar. Also on this screen you are able to go to about any radar, and there is also a storm total link on the left.
The storm total on the radar map isn't very long lived. Back on the first page there is a link to the statistics for the last 2 days right above the radar and satellite images.
Down on the bottom right is forecast discussion, pretty heavy reading. Also more history than you could want.
NOAA is my favorite.

Weather

I am not sure if the same exists in the US, but the info I get from wunderground, cnn, weather.com etc. here varies. One will say rain, another, no info an other sunshine, temps also vary. I don't know where they get their information from, as it is not consistent. I have learned to use the government site, they have a local information gathering site and update frequently.
Bretski, you might try building you own station, there is a ton of equipment currently available, my wife did some "predicting" when we lived in California and got fairly good at it. Like bird watching you will find lots of information resources available to you.

I use weatherunderground

http://www.wunderground.com/

Their nexrad seems to be the best around. With overlays for precipitation accumulation, which seem to be very accurate, updated every 5 minutes. Also you can probably find a link to a personal weather station not far from your pond.

I use this as it can be zip code specific. This link is for my area but follow the instructions and locate yours and then just put it in your fav, It is real time weather with radar.
When you find your area it is a point and click.
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/phi/

I like this old-fashioned surface map to see what's coming up:
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/noaa/noaa.gif

I like this radar site. If you have a big monitor, it's awesome. Scroll, don't click.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge/Conus/full_loop.php

I like this one to keep track of drought conditions:
http://www.weather.com/maps/Desktop/dtgarden/ussoilmoisture_large.html

Finally, this one is a great hurricane site. When a hurricane threatens, this page stays locked on my browser. The computer models have been 100% the last few years. http://www.weatherunderground.com/tropical/

It seems that wunderground draws the biggest crowd, so I spent a little time playin' around with it. I followed TN Hillbilly's suggestion to check out the personal weather stations link . V cool! I found a PWS that is 10 miles away. Yeah, I realize that is pretty far, but it's alot closer than the regional weather reporting station. The history contained therein is astounding. It's all right there; just pick the date.

I like this one since it has our pond listed an official location.

http://www.hamweather.net/local/us/ne/sponheinmer+reservoir/wxn470701.html

Of course I think the best weather site is mine.

As Brettski discuvered there are tons of Personal Weather Stations (PWS) - run by regular guys and gals who are weather nuts. I have a Davis VP Weather station connected to a stand alone PC that publishes my data to Weather Underground, the Citizens Weather Observation Program CWOP, and finally my personal web page.

http://www.wunderground.com/US/GA/Macon.html?bannertypeclick=miniWeather2

http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=CW2779!Macon&last=120

http://www.frankpinkston.com/weather

If you look around you can probably find a PWS station near you.

Frank

Brettski -

What is your Zip + 4, frugal-man?

Ha!
Nice try, bullhead-man. Your cover is blown! You go back and tell ol' Mudcat Joe and his BH stocking goons that the jig is up. As much as I may regret this, it's time to unwrap the 4 rolls of ductape off of Dwight and pull him and the miniature pontoon party barge back into shore. We have peep's in Minny! You DON'T want a visit from Guido and Vito!

Brettski � I know where you and your bride Donna-ski live. I was just trying to get you to that perfect cheap-free weather place.

I hope this doesn�t portend an incoming ship-storm��. :p

Frank,

What would it cost to set up a station similar to your's?

Theo - Nothing gets by you! ship-storm :rolleyes:

TN Hilbilly

The costs will vary depending on what weather station you use. I use a Davis VP2 which is pricey - $500+ but it is top of the line with many accessories like additional temp sensors. I have the wireless version with a rain gauge/temp sensor in my back yard and separate anemometer (wind) on my roof.

The software I use is weather display http://www.weather-display.com/index.php which costs $70 with lifetime updates free. It is GREAT software and has an extensive user community for support and help -- much like the Pond Boss site with great people willing to help.

There are other weather stations which are less expensive. The key is a weather station that can connect to a PC. See the list of stations that Weather Display supports at http://www.weather-display.com/supported.php

Other costs would be for a web host if you want a public web page and a PC. I have a separate PC dedicated to my weather stuff. I bought a cheap open box PC at BestBuy for $400.

Feel free to send me email if you want to talk more.

Frank