#SevereWeather #PolarVortex #WeatherApps
From AP News.com: What weather apps sometimes miss about dangerous winter storm conditions
That snowflake icon on your smartphone app might be quick and handy — it just might not be as accurate as a human when the weather gets rough. Experts say that’s especially important during winter storms like the one forecasted to smack the eastern U.S. with a mix of heavy snow, treacherous ice and subzero temperatures. The popular Weather Channel app, for example, uses artificial intelligence to analyze everything from computer models to citizen weather reports. But humans always have the last word. Most experts say the best place to get the most accurate forecast is still probably local television meteorologists.
Okay. I'm needing suggestions for a good indie Android weather app. Before anyone goes crazy, it's for my second phone. 😀
Weather tracking has become vital in some areas of the country. Learn why meteorologists say to ditch the weather apps and use the right website instead.
#WeatherTracking #WeatherApps https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/beware-the-weather-apps-how-meteorologists-gauge-california-s-heat/ar-BB1pubs0
Reading Time: 2 minutes
For five years it was sunny almost every day in Switzerland. It was sunny so often that the water tables declined and village fountains dried up, as did fields. Clouds of dust could be seen rising when tractors worked the fields. It’s because of this excellent weather, for years in a row, that I stopped looking at weather apps.
Now, weather is interesting again. Two or three weeks ago Geneva flooded. A few days ago Zermatt flooded, and, now Morges has flooded too. So many places are flooding. This is due to weather weirding on one side, but also climate change on the other. With more heat the clouds can store more water, and when they meet a cold front a deluge may ensue.
The other issue is that villages are replacing villas with apartment buildings. Where there was grass, and gardens, and trees, you have tarmac and cement. The result is that water can no longer drain into the soil. It runs down hill until it finds basements, garages and other places.
it flooded the streets of Morges yesterday, and parkings in Geneva a few weeks ago, and the streets of Zermatt just a few days ago. Because of the droughts people forgot that water needs to be able to flee, to go into empty fields, and rivers, and gardens.
A tree captures water before it hits the ground. A few weeks ago I was hiking in a forest and the trees kept us dry. It might have been raining but the leaf canopy kept us dry.
If you remove trees you increase not only the speed with which rain hits the ground but also the speed at which it runs off from the ground. That runoff looks like nothing higher up but once it hits Morges, or Geneva, it floods.
Gardens with trees also help to slow down the flow of water. A garden can absorb rain, and if it can’t absord it then puddles form. Trees suck up some of that moisture and store it. The rain might be heavy but it has plenty of places where it can be buffered.
In contrast, as villages replace every green space in villages with apartments and tarmac parkings, so the opportunity for rain to flee, to be absorbed is gone. That’s when flooding occurs. That’s when underground parkings and ground floors flood.
## And Finally
Although it is frustrating to have rain forecast for every weekend this summer it is nice to see how nature is thriving, thanks to the rain. For years nature was on survival mode. I noticed that the dirt under an underpass has now been replaced with nature thriving. Nature has really benefitted from all the rain that has fallen this year.
https://www.main-vision.com/richard/blog/watching-the-weather-again/
Been testing a couple of iPhone #WeatherApps head to head just for myself. Saw something in the #Apple app I never saw before. It told me the rain would stop in about 12 minutes, and it was more or less right!
The other app had some other inaccurate calls the Apple #Weather app got right at home and during travel…
#Impressed - whatever else you think of Apple, this is a new level of awesome, for people who live where the weather actually changes a lot.