• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

Different weather and winter specific forecasting Websites, Apps & Maps. What are you using?

MidnightJester

Active member
Joined
Oct 7, 2011
Messages
934
Points
43
So some of the basic weather sites that at least give a idea of current and future weather patterns.
What else do you use for your winter fun planning? What weather apps & sites have you come across? Are some better or worse for their winter weather predictions? It seems the two I list must use slightly different weather prediction models.



Just started to use this site recently and it seems the site is computer AI text generated through data points it draws from.


Accuweather's web site seems it is a little too filled with adds and tougher to navigate on the multi day 10 day forecasts but their phone app works smoother.
 
Last edited:

ThatGuy

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 10, 2021
Messages
1,642
Points
113
Location
Park City
Best is forecast.weather.gov point and click. Anything beyond what they predict is guesswork imo.
 
Last edited:

parahelia

Active member
Joined
Jul 24, 2018
Messages
123
Points
43
I agree that the point-and-click option on forecast.weather.gov is the best for a consensus forecast for a mountain/elevation of your choice.

I also like to keep an eye on what the various models are showing to see if there are trends in the longer-term outlook. None of the sites has all the functionality I'd like but I use weathermodels.com the most; it has a yearly cost (~$100) but since I also use it professionally I don't mind. Usually I look at the map showing precip type and pressure (MSLP), it lets me see run to run changes in the placement of the low pressure systems. For the long range (3-7 days) I look at the GFS and ECMWF models. Inside 3 days I look at the NAM medium-range model. Within 36 hours I look at the HRRR which has hourly resolution and can be helpful for determine driving windows; most of its runs only look out 18 hours but every 6 hours they do a 48 hour run.

Tropicaltidbits.com is free and has the very useful ability to toggle between different model runs, which makes it easier to see trends. But it doesn't have the precip type rendering for GFS/ECMWF (though you can approximate it with the 1000-500 mb thickness) so I find it a little more annoying to use.
 

Edd

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 8, 2006
Messages
6,635
Points
113
Location
Newmarket, NH
For apps, the stock Weather app on iOS has significantly improved as a result of Apple purchasing Dark Sky. There's just sooo much more information now. Prior to this, that app was close to useless.
 

Kingslug20

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 14, 2021
Messages
2,506
Points
113
Lately...just sticking my nose out the door.

Oh.look...it's snowing again.....
 

ss20

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 13, 2013
Messages
3,973
Points
113
Location
A minute from the Alta exit off the I-15!
OpenSnow is fantastic with the subscription. Mountain-specific forecasts with detailed information with a write-up for each region in the US/CA.

NOAA is great but it is point-n-click.

Snow-forecast is total garbage. It takes data from the GFS only and spews it out.

Spend 15 minutes a night learning about weather models and reading the NOAA forecast discussion for your area. Within a week you'll know more than 95% of others and be able to make very informed discussions.
 

Kingslug20

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 14, 2021
Messages
2,506
Points
113
There are some you tube channels that have good info to learn from..
 

BodeMiller1

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 7, 2022
Messages
2,005
Points
63
Location
Montpelier
Every one of them feeds off NOAA. For quick reports NECN fits my needs.

New England News Channel es optimus.

edit : We all know that predicting weather in the North East Mountains is not a science butt an Art. Guy above is right, if it's snowing it's snowing, if it's not....
When you get above 1,500 in these parts it changes minute by minute. That's why so many people "buy the farm" around here, they don't understand or try.
Blind Ambition if you will...
 

Kingslug20

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 14, 2021
Messages
2,506
Points
113
I know when it's snowing at my house..it's definitely snowing at Bolton..
 

Scottyskis2

Active member
Joined
Dec 17, 2022
Messages
433
Points
28
Facebook local forecasts group s from where I live are excellent at predictions of winter snow fell and have been for years tomorrow forecasts from very reibile Hudson Valley NY I think that most regions in ne us all have these people for several years now
Below is latest update for my home regions NY Catskill s souh east and west for about 90 miles outside the higher elevations to where I live
Some Evening Thoughts-

The short and long of it.

Forecast remains intact and on track, no real need for any changes of this evening. Wanted to take a moment to explain the current set up and why the forecast is going to evolve the way that it is.

But first let’s get the details out of the way. (Images 1,2,3) are the current hires snowfall projections from three models, the HRRR,NAM and RDPS. The data all paints a similar picture, a nose of warm air both aloft and at the surface pushing up the river valley and limiting snowfall amounts, more snow in the hill towns east and west of the valley and high elevation snowfall amounts exceeding six inches above 1500’.

Snow May break out as early at 9-11AM in the form of early frontogenesis as the warm front pushes north, this can be funny as they can leave some areas out of the action initially as a band of precip will lift north through the region and some southern zones may see a late morning lull in precipitation. You can kinda see this on (image four) which is the simulated radar for 9AM. By 12-1PM overrunning precipitation has broken out region wide. This initial burst of precipitation is where the entire region will make or break the snowfall forecast, with the exception of the higher elevations.

Snow may fall heavily along and north of i84 between 11-6PM, all the while warmer air will be pushing north into the region, southern most zones may only see a very brief period of snow resulting in a trace to a coating. As you head further north the duration of snowfall before changeover increases, therefore so do the amounts. The range in our snow forecast for the valley locations (black) should be digested based on your location, further south (lower end), further north (higher end), locations on the valley floor nearest to the river will warm the fastest.

The 9AM initial burst of snow can impact the morning commute, that mid afternoon into late afternoon snow will impact the afternoon commute. Between 4PM and 8pm heavy rain will be pushing into the region from south to north adding to the mess and complexity and erasing earlier snowfall. This is shown in (Images 4,5,6) which is the the HRRR simulated radar for 9AM,4PM and 8PM.

(Image 7) is our snow forecast which doesn’t differ much from our forecast last night, in a set up like this it’s best to aim low and keep snow amount expectations low, it will be a brief albeit potentially heavy period of snowfall before the change over.

Finally the reason why the forecast and many others have evolved in this manner. (Images 8 and 9.)

While we do have some cold air in place ahead of the system with lows tonight dropping below freezing in many locations, it’s a decaying airmass, and transient cold that is being evicted from the region by a warm front associated with a low pressure cutting to our west.

In the fourth image I have highlighted both the high pressure responsible for our cold air and marked the the flow around a high pressure is clockwise while the flow around low pressure is counterclockwise. The high pressure is retreating to the east, no longer supplying cold air from Canada into the region the question mark notes the missing high pressure from the previous image. Meanwhile the low pressure tracking to our east is pumping warmer air north into the region. Warm air is light and cold air is heavier and dense, when warm air is forced into cold air, it’s forced up and over it. This lift creates precipitation, otherwise known as overrunning precipitation.

When a cold air mass is not deep and well established the atmosphere eventually warms from the top down and the warm air scours out the colder air. This results in snow changing over to sleet and eventually rain. In the final image you can see that although a secondary low pressure does eventually form offshore it’s weaker than its parent low to our west. If the offshore low was the primary or energy was transferred to it, colder air would be able to rush back into the region, because our flow would no longer be out of the south. This has been a repetitive pattern this season and last, which is another topic for a less busy day! """

-Alex""
From Hudson Valley Facebook group
at few hundred feet.
"""
 

Abominable

Active member
Joined
Jan 18, 2013
Messages
486
Points
28
For apps, the stock Weather app on iOS has significantly improved as a result of Apple purchasing Dark Sky. There's just sooo much more information now. Prior to this, that app was close to useless.

Dark Sky was one of the few paid apps I had on my phone, and I was disppointed they took it away. The Apple Weather app is just not as slick (for me) with the presentation.
 

Kingslug20

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 14, 2021
Messages
2,506
Points
113
Weather reports for PC..foggy...stick nose out door..snowing
The nose..knows...
 
Top