Useful Weather Apps
Those who watch my daily feeder talks on my live cam streams know that I am constantly citing my 3 maxims (Supply, Demand & Weather) as a consideration of how much food to add to feeder trays. I’ll post another blog on that topic in the future. However, today’s blog involves tech tools that I use for the “Weather” element of the 3 maxims.
I’ll have to admit up front that I am very fascinated with weather. Maybe it’s because I live in the Deep South, a part of the United States often referred to a the “Dixie Tornado Alley.” Additionally, my family has property at the Gulf Coast, located in the panhandle of Florida that frequently gets hit by hurricanes. In both instances, having foresight and good information about upcoming or current weather events is critical to preserving life and property.
Yes, one can also tell that I am a weather junkie because I have 21 weather apps, each that has some special feature that sparked my interest. So, with all those apps, which ones do I find that I use most often? The answer would be Weather Mate, Dark Sky and Radar Scope. Yes, I’m sure everyone has their own favorite weather apps as well as just going to the NOAA site for your area to get good intel, and I welcome you to post these in the comment section. Give us the app and the reason you like it. Apologies up front that this blog only applies to apps used on my iPhone. I’m sure there are either sister or comparable weather apps on Android. Please let us know what they are and if different, why you find them helpful.
One of the first things I do each morning (even before I look at the YouTube streams) is look at Weather Mate to examine not only the weather for this day, but also for the next couple of days. While Zig Ziglar once said “Don’t judge the day by the weather,” (which I find an optimistic maxim to abide by) I do find that I do have to judge my refill strategy by the current and upcoming weather.
Here is a screenshot from the Weather Mate site:
For instance, this morning, when I opened it I saw the following information on today’s weather and for the next 14 days. Of course we all know that reliability deteriorates as time goes on, but this is useful information as to the general weather pattern, which includes probability and predicted amount of precipitation and temperature (important for how long nectar needs to be replaced):
If I want more detail, I click on the little square drop down to get more detail:
Dark Sky
The next app that I review when rain is present or expected is Dark Sky. Dark Sky is a hyper-local weather app that gives you weather not only in the area, but where you are at the moment, which is awesome! Dark Sky also sends me notifications of when rain is expected for my immediate location. This is good for on-the-go birders in the field as well. I can also open Dark Sky to more accurately see when and how much rain is expected and the level of wind. This information allows me to know when and if a rain hat is needed over my platform feeder as in my feeder are suet nuggets which quickly absorb any moisture and quickly break down into a mushy state. Here are a few screen shots from my Dark Sky app today, which is a rainy day. This first screenshot tells me what the rain scenario is for the immediate hour and what the probabilities are over the next 12 hours.
Rain Probability Screen in Dark Sky
Dark Sky also presents the following information on a 12-hour basis: Temp, Feels-Like Temp, Precip. Prob., Precip. Rate, Wind Speed, Wind Gust Speed, Humidity %, Dew Point, UV Index, Cloud Cover, & Pressure. The next screen provides me how much rain to expect. Even the one hour chart shows levels of the rate of rain falling (light, medium or heavy) within the hour.
Rain amounts presented in Dark Sky
Lastly, important to me is also wind speed, as a short duration of light rain with no wind is no big deal, but if there is medium rain expected with higher wind speeds or wind gusts, then the rain hat becomes more of a consideration. Here is a look at Dark Sky’s view of wind speed.
Dark Sky’s Wind Speed Depiction
Radar Scope
Radar Scope is more of an app for true weather geeks and also has subscription levels. So, I won’t spend too much time on this one. It is used by a friend of mine who is a Red Cross Regional Director who needs good on the ground information about impending storms. One who is not well versed in weather may need to read up on meteorology to use this app. I know that I did! There are also YouTube videos that are also helpful here. This app is also useful in not only early spotting of tornadoes, but also presents timelines on intense storm cells on the map, so I can see when a bad storm cell will arrive at your immediate location of anywhere else that you want to follow a storm. This is not only useful for preserving the state of the feeders, but also for the preservation of life and property .
I hope some of this tech information is useful for you as a feeder owner, birder or just someone who participates in a lot of outdoor activities and likes to plan accordingly for upcoming weather. No one likes to take a hike, ride a bike, fish, or take a walk and then be caught out in the rain. Let others know what weather apps that you use and why. This is a learning site and we can all learn from each other! Be sure and subscribe to this channel if you wish to be notified of any future information added. God bless you and yours!
