As I mentioned earlier in this thread,  the CARROT app lets you choose from seven different weather sources that never agree.  Here are the seven forecast for the amount of rain we will get tomorrow.  So you can choose the weather you like.  🤪

 

Foreca - 1.21 in

Apple Weather - 0.93 in

Accuweather - 0.38 in

Tomorrow.io - 0.00 in

XWeather - 0.12 in

OpenWeather - 0.57 in

NOAA -0.02 in

I use AccuWeather most often, but around my house, we refer to it as InAccuWeather. It very often contradicts itself. On the hourly weather page, it will show no rain, and on the current weather page it says that it is currently raining when it is in fact not raining at all. Or, it may be raining heavily and will be for some time,  but the forecast may show only a 70% chance of rain even when it’s raining over the entire portion of the state. Like I said, I do use it, but I don’t rely on it for accuracy. 

I follow a private meteorologist who works for airlines, farmers, etc., for longer term forecasts, and then I verify with live radar.  He has gone into great detail why weather apps will never be correct due to how they analyze data and models.  He has been wrong himself but always has a reason or explains how he missed or misread a model. 

On 6/18/2025 at 8:54 PM, Tennessee Boy said:

As I mentioned earlier in this thread,  the CARROT app lets you choose from seven different weather sources that never agree.  Here are the seven forecast for the amount of rain we will get tomorrow.  So you can choose the weather you like.  🤪

 

Foreca - 1.21 in

Apple Weather - 0.93 in

Accuweather - 0.38 in

Tomorrow.io - 0.00 in

XWeather - 0.12 in

OpenWeather - 0.57 in

NOAA -0.02 in

So how much rain did you actually get yesterday?

26 minutes ago, OldManLure said:

So how much rain did you actually get yesterday?

Good question. I checked using the daily rainfall map derived from radar.   We got 1.4 inches.  The telling thing was that within a 5 mile radius of me you could find a place with a rainfall amount that would match any of the predictions.  So one way to look at is that some were off by more than an inch of rainfall but none of them missed by more than a few miles.  The nearest town which is about 10 miles away got almost no rain.  Some of the forecast may have been for the town, not my exact location.

 

My conclusion.  Weather forecasting is hard and meteorologist do a pretty good job.

9 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Good question. I checked using the daily rainfall map derived from radar.   We got 1.4 inches.  The telling thing was that within a 5 mile radius of me you could find a place with a rainfall amount that would match any of the predictions.  So one way to look at is that some were off by more than an inch of rainfall but none of them missed by more than a few miles.  The nearest town which is about 10 miles away got almost no rain.  Some of the forecast may have been for the town, not my exact location.

 

My conclusion.  Weather forecasting is hard and meteorologist do a pretty good job.

I agree 100% with your conclusion.

On 6/16/2025 at 1:01 PM, LonnieP said:

I use MyRadar. It sends alerts for lightning 

X2 

Living in FL full time the "lightning capital" I get alerts quite frequently.

Out on the water I use Weather Underground for the radar.  Before I leave on a trip I check the NWS, Accuweather, and the weather channel.

I use Weather Channel app; mostly the radar.  But cell service is weak on most of my lake, so I keep one eye on the sky every afternoon.   If I'm concerned without enough signal for radio, but enough for a call, I call my wife and have her look at the radar.  I'm getting pretty good at reading the clouds, but don't take chances with lightning 

I use my local NWS office and my eyeballs. I took the NOAA storm spotting class several years ago when I was chasing a little in my early 20s. I would encourage anyone who regularly operates a watercraft or spends time in remote areas to take the course

NOAA and Wunderground. iPhone app for shorter term. As mentioned earlier it's pretty accurate with the "rain starting in X and stopping in Y.

Wunderground, WeatherWise, and the Weather Channel. All Free.