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Ctrlos

macrumors 65816
Sep 19, 2022
1,005
2,195
Much like the rest of the world the Apple weather app gets confused at using outdated imperial units 😉

In all seriousness it can be hit and miss. The instant rainfall forecast is really useful but the precipitation forecast can be way off.
 

jazz1

Contributor
Aug 19, 2002
4,601
18,852
Mid-West USA
The Apple weather app. is as accurate as my local T.V. forecasting team. I think they use the same Ouji board to forecast weather! 😂 I don't know, to be fair maybe environmental climate change has made it even harder to make accurate weather predictions?
 

iStorm

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2012
1,850
2,262
Why is Apple’s weather app so bad? I know Apple isn’t generating the data. And it’s not that the data is bad, because weather.com is seemingly correct, it’s that Apple is delivering bad or severely delayed info.
Apple is actually generating the data now, unless otherwise specified at the bottom of the Weather app. The weather information no longer comes directly from The Weather Channel (weather.com), as it once did. It now comes from "Apple Weather". Basically, they are aggregating data and trying to predict the weather now.

Temperature and precipitation map data is provided by Apple Weather. If you use iOS 15.2 or earlier, you might see some temperature and precipitation data that's provided by The Weather Channel.
 

NewOldStock

macrumors regular
Mar 20, 2023
123
73
Just dont rely on the radar mapping same goes for safari browser using a track pad both are terrible at re-drawing the maps.
%1000 MyRadar app.
 

CarpalMac

macrumors 68000
Nov 19, 2012
1,630
4,018
UK
It is comically, deceitfully bad, I agree. Based on a predicted sunny day I emptied out my garage to paint the floor. Come lunchtime it absolutely chucked it down and didn't stop for over 3 hours. It was only after the first hour of rain the app even indicated rain was about to start, in 10minutes. One of hundreds examples I can give.

I used to trust it but certainly for the last 12months or so, it is woefully bad.
 

Razorpit

Suspended
Feb 2, 2021
1,165
2,417
What I've noticed is that they seem to try out some features in certain areas, I've spent a couple of days in Belgium the other week and the weather app had rain prediction (Rain in 20 minutes, rain stopping in 8 minutes and so on), which is unavailable here in Germany.
Same here in the U.S. I live in the north east and get those updates. Have been on the road last few weeks, South Carolina and Texas, and have not received those updates.
 

TonyC28

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Aug 15, 2009
2,779
7,010
USA
Apple is actually generating the data now, unless otherwise specified at the bottom of the Weather app. The weather information no longer comes directly from The Weather Channel (weather.com), as it once did. It now comes from "Apple Weather". Basically, they are aggregating data and trying to predict the weather now.


That’s interesting about them trying to predict the weather, because sometimes it seems like what they report as current is trying to follow along the forecast instead of reality.
 

NOATAK

macrumors member
May 8, 2018
50
214
So true, I once compared the weather app with another (German) weather app and the difference in temperature was about 6°C. Also, it never rains when it's supposed to rain according to Apple's weather app, and vice versa, it always rains when it wasn't in the forecast. IMO the weather app is practically useless most of the time, at least for my location. In addition, there are constant outages on Apple's side that cause the weather widgets to remain empty. I've since switched to another app completely. The other apps are not as pretty as Apple's, but what's the point of a pretty app that only displays useless data? :confused:
 

owilderman

macrumors newbie
Nov 29, 2023
21
39
Meteorology student here.

Weather data is expensive and big. There is so much more going on behind the scenes than you’d think and it’s really challenging to piece together whats actually going to happen. At any given moment there are normally 30 different ways that a storm can change and that can influence if you get a sunny day or a downpour.

As far as the temperature inaccuracy, that can be explained as simply as a difference in temp from your location to the location where the thermometer is. Maybe there was direct sunlight onto the tool? 🤷‍♂️. Each app and service has their own station that they read off of (apart from radar which is set up through the Doppler system). Those services might not have had the same inaccuracy or tool malfunction.

My advice is to use multiple apps or sources. Carrot Weather (Premium) is excellent for this allowing you to switch between multiple sources at a time to compare. It’s the app I use for 99% of my forecasting for the day (Radarscope for some more technical radar maps)
 

TonyC28

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Aug 15, 2009
2,779
7,010
USA
Meteorology student here.

Weather data is expensive and big. There is so much more going on behind the scenes than you’d think and it’s really challenging to piece together whats actually going to happen. At any given moment there are normally 30 different ways that a storm can change and that can influence if you get a sunny day or a downpour.

As far as the temperature inaccuracy, that can be explained as simply as a difference in temp from your location to the location where the thermometer is. Maybe there was direct sunlight onto the tool? 🤷‍♂️. Each app and service has their own station that they read off of (apart from radar which is set up through the Doppler system). Those services might not have had the same inaccuracy or tool malfunction.

My advice is to use multiple apps or sources. Carrot Weather (Premium) is excellent for this allowing you to switch between multiple sources at a time to compare. It’s the app I use for 99% of my forecasting for the day (Radarscope for some more technical radar maps)
I’m not sure how to explain Apple saying it’s 80 degrees when Weather.com, WeatherBug, Accuweather and so on all say it’s 72. Or Apple consistently showing a lower UV index than everyone else. I don’t even mind a crappy forecast, but current conditions should be right, no?
 

TechnoMonk

macrumors 68020
Oct 15, 2022
2,161
3,224
Where I live weather forecasts suck for all apps and sources. Anything with less than 70% chance of rain usually means no rain. And one day with 10% chances of rain creates a flash flood. And for the storms it’s usually European prediction techniques work better than American, though I am not close to Europe. In the end, weather prediction is a coin toss. Don’t even get me started on snow predictions, the city gets shutdown for a week with 1-2 inches of snow. It’s like boy who cried the wolf.
 

TechnoMonk

macrumors 68020
Oct 15, 2022
2,161
3,224
I’m not sure how to explain Apple saying it’s 80 degrees when Weather.com, WeatherBug, Accuweather and so on all say it’s 72. Or Apple consistently showing a lower UV index than everyone else. I don’t even mind a crappy forecast, but current conditions should be right, no?
Is it surface temp? I usually go by feels like in weather temperature. Surface temperature could be higher but wind chill can make it lot colder.
 

polyphenol

macrumors 68000
Sep 9, 2020
1,948
2,323
Wales
I usually check Apple Weather. Partner usually checks UK's Met Office. And we have lots of (light-hearted) disagreements about what is going to be happening.

Sometimes I could almost set a clock by the accuracy of Apple's "It will be raining in 8 minutes" alerts. Other times it is hopelessly wrong - might not rain at all.

Partner often tells me that it is going to rain in half an hour (as today), so we went shopping at 14:00 to try to get back before it started. And it didn't rain until 19:00 - which is what Apple had said.

Overall, I think they are as bad or good as each other. And we live near the coast and often see fairly major changes within a few hundred metres. Combine both the forecasts with what our eyes tell us and we don't go too far wrong.
 
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TechnoMonk

macrumors 68020
Oct 15, 2022
2,161
3,224
Yes. Just regular temperature, not the feels like reading.
That could be a big difference. Both weather channel App and Apple weather app show 90 currently but feels like is 98 on Apple and 100 on weather channel app. My thermometer shows 96, it’s a prediction not an accurate measurement.
 

TonyC28

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Aug 15, 2009
2,779
7,010
USA
That could be a big difference. Both weather channel App and Apple weather app show 90 currently but feels like is 98 on Apple and 100 on weather channel app. My thermometer shows 96, it’s a prediction not an accurate measurement.
Right now Apple says it’s 81 and feels like 84. Weather.com says it’s 86 and feels like 90. WeatherBug 84, feels like 86. Accuweather 86, feels like 91. ABC says it’s 86 and feels like 90.

I’m not looking for perfection, just wondering why Apple is the outlier.
 
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TechnoMonk

macrumors 68020
Oct 15, 2022
2,161
3,224
Right now Apple says it’s 81 and feels like 84. Weather.com says it’s 86 and feels like 90. WeatherBug 84, feels like 86. Accuweather 86, feels like 91. ABC says it’s 86 and feels like 90.

I’m not looking for perfection, just wondering why Apple is the outlier.
What matters is your thermometer, the actual weather. I have seen that usually weather.com is more extreme than Apple weather. Lot of these sources have weather stations, and temperature can differ from which weather station the data is fed from to the apps. I live on a hill and temperature couple mins away from me is 4-5 degrees higher. If you are particular about accuracy, invest in a good weather station at home.
 

Chinch07

macrumors member
Nov 9, 2017
55
130
No issues for me. I’m on Long Island. I play a lot of golf and have found the rain start / stop notifications to be very accurate.
 

splifingate

macrumors 68000
Nov 27, 2013
1,533
1,353
ATL
I guess it’s just me and the OP then when Apple weather says 0% chance of rain when it’s absolutely pouring outside? 🤔
MyRadar.jpg AAPL-weather.png

MyRadar vs AAPL Weather . . .

. . . both provide drastically-different Hourly's!

My Current "Steps-Outside-Observation" shows the externally-mounted thermometer (the vertical, red-gel-filled type) @29C, and the skies rule in AAPL's favour 🤷‍♂️

Generally tend to use a weather apps for future guidance, rather than in-the-moment stuff.

I work out in the field, and lean heavy on past -> future radar-tracking to make my judgements (mostly as to where the storm cells are, and where they might be going).

The rest of it is basically just decoration ;)
 
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splifingate

macrumors 68000
Nov 27, 2013
1,533
1,353
ATL
Where I live weather forecasts suck for all apps and sources. Anything with less than 70% chance of rain usually means no rain. And one day with 10% chances of rain creates a flash flood. And for the storms it’s usually European prediction techniques work better than American, though I am not close to Europe. In the end, weather prediction is a coin toss. Don’t even get me started on snow predictions, the city gets shutdown for a week with 1-2 inches of snow. It’s like boy who cried the wolf.

:)

I always lean-in on the idea that "A 10% Chance of rain" means that 10% of the people in that area will probably get 100% of the rain ;)
 
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Tagbert

macrumors 603
Jun 22, 2011
5,957
6,924
Seattle
I guess it’s just me and the OP then when Apple weather says 0% chance of rain when it’s absolutely pouring outside? 🤔
Probably not, but not all of are experiencing this problem. In my experience, the Apple Weather app has been quite reliable. I was surprised at your posting and assumption that this was a universal situation. Perhaps you will get other people posting here have had problems like this.
 

NewOldStock

macrumors regular
Mar 20, 2023
123
73
In the USA taxpayers pay for a lot of weather stuff.
2021 news: NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will receive almost $3 billion out of the $1.75 trillion in the bill.
They'll spend $80 million on supercomputers and computer weather models.

NOAA intends to upgrade its computing power, including storage and processing power.

The money spent on computer weather models also has the potential to make a big impact. The climate models and our day-to-day forecasts should become more accurate.

Some of this money will also go to software that will predict droughts and floods. Also, there is a focus in this bill on wildfires.

https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/we...g-billions-in-improving-your-weather-forecast

you get the idea as taxpayers we fund a lot of this.
 
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