Weather - What forecast sites do you use?

[CosmicOrangutan]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering which websites people use for weather forecasts? At the moment im using BBC Weather and the satellite map for my area is only updated every 3 hours and is rarely correct in predicting breaks in the endless cloud cover  

Does anyone know of a sight which shows a Weather satellite image of the current weather that is regularly updated? from this it should give me a better idea of when a break in the clouds might appear.

thanks in advance

George

[Kropster]

I use the BBC weather site and use the Metoffice for its satellite IR cloud animation.. shows the last 3 hours of cloud movement, so you can spot a break heading your way!

[ronin]

Will look at a couple but to be honest mainly the window.

Weather sites tend to be for an area like E Anglia, not the 5 miles around where you live.

Also I think that Clear to a weather site is not Clear to an astronomer. It seems to be more like "not heavy cloud and not raining".

Usually check The Weather Outlook WeatherOutLook

[Laurie61]

I usually use the met office site for sat images, vis and ir. 

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/observations/city-of-london-greater-london#?tab=map&map=SatelliteVis&fcTime=1398924000&zoom=8&lon=-2.38&lat=52.65

This gives an astro forecast with seeing/jet-stream info - 

http://www.meteoblue.com/en/great-britain/weather-birmingham/seeing

[mrjonathanbrown]

AStro Panel on android might be available for Iphone or other devices but it seems good so far.

[dweller25]

The BBC weather site and  SAT24

[Thanet Astronomy Group]

I usually use the met office site for sat images, vis and ir. 

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/observations/city-of-london-greater-london#?tab=map&map=SatelliteVis&fcTime=1398924000&zoom=8&lon=-2.38&lat=52.65

This gives an astro forecast with seeing/jet-stream info - 

http://www.meteoblue.com/en/great-britain/weather-birmingham/seeing

Plus 1 for this met office site, new data every 15 mins. :-)

Danny

[RichM63]

I use 7Timer.com to give a fairly accurate guide for planning.

Or the cows in the field for a local 30 min guide. If they are all lying down in the lee of the hedge, it will rain within the hour.

[IanWatkins]

Sites like the Met Office, SAT24 etc. are great for observations, I.e. What is happening. It can help you to see if a good break is coming. But bear in mind, at night, that IR imagery won't show very low cloud because the temperature contrast between cloud and ground will be too low.

But I wouldn't rely on forecasts of cloud cover, they can be very poor. You might get an idea, e.g. Totally clear or totally socked in. Assuming cloud clear, or clear enough for your needs I would advise learning the following:

1. Learn to read jet stream charts

2. Learn to read total water vapour content over your location

3. If available, learn to read total aerosol forecasts

All of these will help in the turbulence and seeing.

Cheers

Ian

[carastro]

I use Yr.no for weather forecast, it is Norwegian but you can select anywhere in the UK & English, I've been using it for about 2 - 3 years and it's only been wrong twice in all that time.

Additionally I use Sat24 to see the Satelitte images of the clouds.

Carole 

[ChrisLX200]

I use BBC or the ScopeNights App (iPhone) for a heads-up but don't 'rely' on either. As stated, the IR satellite images are your best bet. Or maybe behaviour of the local cows/your budgie/goldfish depending onwhat  you find to be reliable... The funny thing is the offical forecasts are all dependent on the same Met data yet forecasts vary.

ChrisH

[CosmicOrangutan]

Lovely stuff, thanks everyone gives me a more detailed idea of whats going on.

[StuartJPP]

Most reliable is sticking your head out the window, if it gets wet it's raining if you can't see anything it is cloudy and on very rare occasions (usually coinciding with a full moon) you can see some twinkling things...

But as listed above, satellite images are good to see cloud movement.

[Peter Simpson]

I personally use Astro Panel for Android. But to tell you the truth there is nothing more precise than when I look out of my front or back windows...

[bwg]

I'm the owner of TheWeatherOutlook (TWO)  site and a keen amateur astronomer. 

The Norwegian site mentioned above is a good one to use because I think it uses data from the European ECM model. 

On TWO there are a number of resources in addition to the local forecasts to help. The most useful probably are:

Astronomy forecast page - available by expanding the +/- menu options near the top of the page. Enter your location in the place or postcode then press Astro:

http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/twoforecasts/forspecialist.aspx?postcode=London

Detailed forecast page - enter your location then select the day and click on the 'Detailed weather forecast' link near the bottom of the page. This shows forecast cloud cover at low, medium and high levels.

If you'd like to dig a little deeper go to the Chart viewer page here:

http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/twodata/datmdlout.aspx

UK cloud cover forecasts are available from the GFS model and the HIRLAM model. 

[CSM]

Speaking as an amateur meteorologist as well as well as astronomer the only reliable way when the weather is changeable, as it is most of the time in the UK, is to look outside.  On the few occasions when we have a settled high pressure system you may be able to plan ahead.  Unfortunately these systems also sometimes come with their own cloud systems.