While I lived on the water I had to keep tabs on the weather to a much higher degree then I have to now. So over the years I have been working with all sorts of gadgets and programs to give me an accurate forecast that is based on data and not the medias need for superlatives that turn a cold snap into an Arctic Vortex and all the other bull crapp that goes with todays weather prediction people. One of my favorite programs that I still use on a day to day basis in "Windy" You can customize the setting that you want to see from wave height to wind speed , pressure or rain fall with overlays on a map. Its just data, nothing more. Once you get the hang of its it is one of the most useful tools to have on your computer IMHO. Here is a link.

https://www.windy.com/?33.753,-78.907,5

These days. If they have a rain shower in the Cape Verde Islands the weather news folks here will have you fill sand bags for the flood that must surely come. This program cuts through the crap and tells you how it is.

ATB

Michael

I work outside 75-80-% of the time so I monitor the weather closely.

As you said, the local news forecasts are sensationalized bullcrap. They often give such a wide range of possibilities that they almost can't be wrong but still manage to screw it up.

Over the years my go to forecasting has been from Penn State University's WeatherWorld. It is an in-depth fifteen minute program that airs weeknights around dinnertime on the Public Broadcasting System PBS) and the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) channels. They do a concise, no-bull, short-range (two-day) forecast at the beginning and end of each program with other interesting weather segments in between depending on the night.

One segment I really enjoy is "Sure Bets." It's a mid-range (3-5 days) forecast with no waffle words. No "possibility of this' or "chance of that." The tell you exactly what's going to happen in PA (Home Bets) and somewhere in the world (Away Bets). They run it for six months at a time (Cold Season and Warm Season) Their goal is to stay above 90% accuracy. I've only seen them fall below that a handful of times over the years.

Sadly, since Fred Gadomski and Paul Knight, the old guys who were there almost from the beginning (1957) have retired, the show has slipped a little. Still the best forecasting available in this state.

I also use the old Intellicast radar loop to predict when it will rain or snow on any given day. It's hard to screw up radar but my local station managed to. They will show moderate rainfall in red. That used to be reserved for the heaviest of rain. And they've added colors to the original light green, green, yellow and red. SENSATIONALISTIC IDIOTS!

My wife will be watching and comment that, "We are really going to get hammered." Then I'll show her the actual radar, not their crayon drawings.