What weather to trust

sotied · Post by **sotied** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 3:58 pm

I went to noaa.gov the other day and saw that M, T and W would be passable riding days, but I'm mired inside as the mist and rain continues along the path of gravity and is making the ground wet.

When will I get back on the scoot!!??

And who can I trust for an accurate forecast?

7eregrine · Post by **7eregrine** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:04 pm

I don't trust any weather people any more. They said we were getting thunderstorms overnight and rain all day today. Didn't rain at all last night and there are blue skys in every direction. If I listened to them I wouldn't have scooted to work today.

bunny · Post by **bunny** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:22 pm

weather.com has always done right by us.

I have it on my iGoogle page.

illnoise · Post by **illnoise** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:38 pm

I use NOAA (http://forecast.weather.gov/) usually, but no one can guarantee anything days ahead of time.

When they say "70% chance of rain" people usually think it means "there's a 70% chance I'll get stuck in the rain today" but you're generally not riding ALL DAY, so your odds of getting stuck in the rain are much lower, especially if you watch the radar (animated) and wind direction and time your rides to gaps in the rain. That's been the key for me.

I think most of the other sites are just getting their info from the NOAA anyway, so I'd rather see the raw data without ads, y'know?

iinigma7 · Post by **iinigma7** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:48 pm

I usually go with http://www.accuweather.com/. But yeah. It's all educated guess-work, so the best advice is that you use the interface you like the best and stick with that.

MikieTaps · Post by **MikieTaps** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 5:13 pm

NOAA is usually pretty good. When we are planning out our U.S. Coast Guard Aux missions, we use NOAA. BUT… My dad was doing a Lake Michigan crossing about a week and a half ago, went out based on a mild weather forecast from both NOAA and the Weather Channel, they ended up with a main sail that was ripped to shreds and a dead motor, they called Coast Guard Station Wilmette Harbor, to get set up on a COMS schedule, so that the Coast Guard would at least know where they were should they not respond, but the communications got all fouled up and they ended up launching a USCG Helo out of Milwaukee. My dad and his friend were able to jimmy rig a small head sail and were making way by the time the Helo showed up so they waved them off. About 20 minutes later they were about 45 miles off the shore of North Chicago and they saw a water spout, a tornado on the water, a few hundred yards off their bow. All this happened when both NOAA and Weather Channel said, scattered showers with winds 10-15 knots gusting to 20…

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:00 pm

I have this problem all the time in SoCal. The forecast says it's going to be 83, but then it's like 85 or 86. That's just insane.

I use weather.com most of the time, actually. One of the problems we do have here in the LA area is that temperatures, wind, rain and other conditions can vary quite a bit depending on your location—often within a couple miles. On my old commute, there would be places I could feel the temperature drop or jump, or I'd hit the side of a hill in Griffith Park and get some hardcore wind, or encounter the Santa Anas in the Valley. Keeps things a little varied and interesting.

7eregrine · Post by **7eregrine** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:05 pm

Actually I think the best is Weather Underground.

http://www.wunderground.com/

They have their forecast, plus they get reports from all the smaller cities around you.

Tazio · Post by **Tazio** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:19 pm

Ditto on Wunderground. Many local private stations download their data to Wunderground. I have mine set up to do an automatic update every 1-2 seconds. Just enter your city and state or zip code for your local report.

jmazza · Post by **jmazza** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:35 pm

Thanks for the weather underground tip- I'd not used that site before.

However... even with this:

I'm still riding every day this week!!

kazoo · Post by **kazoo** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:44 pm

Geesh Jmazza, I would think if you could come up with a way to power you vehicles with thunderbolts you'd have it made.

Kaz

jmazza wrote:

I'm still riding every day this week!!

MikieTaps · Post by **MikieTaps** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:46 pm

that would be some awesome back to the future action!

DennisD · Post by **DennisD** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:43 am

You will miss many good riding days by watching any weather reports. Besides, who cares? What difference does it make? Don't you have frog toggs under your seat?

Remember, you are waterproof. Only your clothes will get soaked.

The only time I might not ride is if it is pouring down when I open the garage door. Then I'll give it a few minutes to see if it stops.

Dennis

MikieTaps · Post by **MikieTaps** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:50 am

you are lucky you live in an area where it might actually stop raining after a few minutes... if I open the garage and its raining, i put down my visor and hit the throttle...thats weird I have the same response when it is sunny... hmmmm

addictionriot · Post by **addictionriot** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:23 am

We have something called a weather rock. I'm sure you have one near you..

When its wet, its raining
When its hot, the sun is shining
When its white, its snowing

Or I use accuweather.

The Weather Channel is usually a few days off in everything they say.

MikieTaps · Post by **MikieTaps** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:01 pm

weather rocks are great... 100% accurate, however, their lead time on the information sucks

7eregrine · Post by **7eregrine** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:03 pm

Once again today, everyone is saying 50% chance of rain.... blue skies in every direction.

pleasefeedthedog · Post by **pleasefeedthedog** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:19 pm

And then there are the Race Track Weather Conditions Rocks

http://tinyurl.com/262uja

addictionriot wrote:We have something called a weather rock. I'm sure you have one near you..

When its wet, its raining
When its hot, the sun is shining
When its white, its snowing

Or I use accuweather. The Weather Channel is usually a few days off in everything they say.

jmazza · Post by **jmazza** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 5:35 pm

jmazza wrote:Thanks for the weather underground tip- I'd not used that site before.

However... even with this:

I'm still riding every day this week!!

Well, crap. Tuesday caught me... sitting around waiting for the deluge to stop so I can go home.

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 5:44 pm

NOAA (aka the Weather Service) is the actual source of most all US weather forecasts. All these other websites just summarize and relay the Weather Service information. Who else has weather satellites and all that stuff? For all that, weather forecasting is as much art as science. Nobody can tell you with 100% certainty what is going to happen in a particular place at a particular time.

hcstrider · Post by **hcstrider** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:38 pm

Dooglas wrote:NOAA (aka the Weather Service) is the actual source of most all US weather forecasts. All these other websites just summarize and relay the Weather Service information.

+1. ( http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ ).

On longer scooter trips my wife and I use walkie talkies with a helmet headset for Buddy-to-Buddy communications as we drive, i.e. watch out for this car coming up behind us. These walkie talkies also receive the NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts so we have access to current weather conditions as we ride.

gymnation · Post by **gymnation** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:41 pm

hcstrider wrote:
Dooglas wrote:NOAA (aka the Weather Service) is the actual source of most all US weather forecasts. All these other websites just summarize and relay the Weather Service information.
+1. ( http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ ).

On longer scooter trips my wife and I use walkie talkies with a helmet headset for Buddy-to-Buddy communications as we drive, i.e. watch out for this car coming up behind us. These walkie talkies also receive the NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts so we have access to current weather conditions as we ride.

What kind of walkie talkies do you use hcstrider? We're thinking about some as well....

hcstrider · Post by **hcstrider** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:50 pm

The walkie talkie radios that I have are Cobra PR 4250 WX FRS/GMRS radios. I purchased these about 5 years ago and have used them quite a bit when camping. They have a 7 mile range but they are fairly bulky. But don’t focus on the model of radio that I have because there are newer FRS/GMRS radios available now which are smaller and have a longer range, up to 25 miles. Popular manufacturers of these FRS/GMRS radios are Cobra, Motorola and Midland. The radios are available at a lot of stores such as WalMart, Target, Sears, BestBuy, etc…

When my wife got her Buddy we decided that it would be very helpful to communicate with one another while driving. If there is some sort of obstacle or hazard we can communicate how we are going to handle the situation. I found a headset that is designed for a motorcycle helmet and plugs into a Cobra or Motorola FRS/GMRS radio. The headset is made by Tork and they have styles for either a full face or open face helmet. Here is the URL for the headset that we have:

http://www.torkworld.com/sport.html

We have the Tork Sport for a full face helmet and these work very well. Even when we are driving at 50/55 mph we can hear each other clearly.

If you already have FRS/GMRS radios then you can purchase the Tork headset separately, they are $50 each. If you don’t already have radios, Tork sells the headsets and Motorola radios as a set.

GFridrich3 · Post by **GFridrich3** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:34 pm

Ive been using accuweather.com recently, and its been fairly accurate to within 3 days or so. I check every morning before work to make sure weather will be good til 5:30pm when i head home. Spend all this money on it, you bet im gonna ride it as much as possible. Even rode separate with a few guys to lunch today so I could get out on the road!

DennisD · Post by **DennisD** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:55 pm

Didn't check the weather today. Don't have to. Summer weather here is usually low in the 70's, highs in the 90's with 30% (or more) chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Boring. Got caught again at the back of the bayou and my clothes got all wet. Went to the dentist this evening and it rained while I was in the chair. It quit before I left so it was just a matter of swipe the seat with my hand and ride home. Another NW Florida summer day.

Don't need no steeeking weather report!

Dennis

runtotorun121 · Post by **runtotorun121** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:21 am

We use wunderground too. A couple of weeks ago it looked like it was going to storm horribly all day long even though the report said nothing would happen until evening. By the time my husband got off work I was desperate for a little ride and asked him if we couldn't just figure out when this dang storm was coming. We were able to use some feature that allowed us to see the storm front, look at how fast it was traveling, and then make our decision that we had at least an hour or more before the rain would hit. Out we zipped, home we came, and rain arrived right about on time (after the little Buddy was safe and dry in the stable!

).