View Full Version : Down to the minute weather prediction?
Some friends of mine are working on an iPhone app that makes down-to-the-minute weather predictions for your exact GPS coordinates. Imagine being able to know how many more minutes you should wait before getting out of your tent when its raining... and not having to second guess whether now is a good time to change into your last pair of dry socks.
Their app is so close to being fully funding on Kickstarter. I think it would be super cool to see this app become reality. Here's the link if you wanna pitch in: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jackadam/dark-sky-hyperlocal-weather-prediction-and-visuali/posts
Here are some screenshots of the app in progress, if you're curious:
http://darksky.s3.amazonaws.com/DarkSkyStorms.png
http://darksky.s3.amazonaws.com/dark_sky_human.png
swjohnsey
11-22-2011, 22:10
I guess it will be comforting knowing you are gonna freeze your ass off that night.
Mountain Mike
11-22-2011, 22:25
They were off by 10 minutes of my hike! It ruined the entire continuity & integrity of my hike. Ice on the trail was never mentioned & due to this flagrant disregaurd of potential hazordous conditions I fell on my butt in front of several other hikers. IN addition to severe bruising in said area & serious embarassment it has caused by it's affect much stess has persisted in my life since. I am suing for Becou $$$. I am not doing this for the money. I just don't want to see another hiker suffer what I went through.
Seriusly though sounds interesting.
johnnybgood
11-22-2011, 22:31
Would it be able to identify rotating winds aloft associated with tornados ?
Johnnybgood, Not sure. They have a really good technical writeup that explains the math / technology behind the app here: http://blog.jackadam.net/2011/how-dark-sky-works One of the takeaways from the writeup is that "while weather is chaotic and unpredictable at large timescales (hours to days), its behavior becomes increasingly linear at smaller and smaller timescales"... and they're focusing on the smaller timescales. My guess is that the rotating winds associated w/ tornadoes exist on large timescales... so maybe they wouldn't fall within the scope of the app. I don't really know though... just guessing.
Pedaling Fool
11-23-2011, 09:39
I don't use an iphone, but nonetheless, that sounds like a good idea. Weather forecasts, as everyone knows, are very unreliable, especially the further out it's projected. However, in addition to that there is another problem, and this is a big problem in my local area, weather is very much different over short distances. I live on the beach and my temps, especially in winter, can vary greatly from my local weather channel, which gets its reading from Jacksonville Intl airport, which is only about 20-25 miles NW (by way of the crow) from me. And for the rain and other things like wind it's always wrong.
I never like to get caught in the rain on my bike, but I don't look for rain reports on the weather, if I did I'd never ride, I simply look at a doppler radar (usually online) and if there are no rainstorms in the area I know I'm good; well usually even that's not 100%, but it is much better than listening to the forecasts. If I had this I could see being able to map my ride around rain storms...:-?
I guess it will be comforting knowing you are gonna freeze your ass off that night.
heheheheheheheeeee......... they ought to add a splash screen to the app that says "You're gonna freeze your ass off!" when the temp hits below say 20 degrees?
It'll surely go viral then.
Odd Man Out
11-23-2011, 14:47
Makes you wonder how people survived for 200,000 years without an I-Phone. BTW, it is clear and sunny out right now. I am predicting that it will be clear and sunny one minute from now.
Makes you wonder how people survived for 200,000 years without an I-Phone. BTW, it is clear and sunny out right now. I am predicting that it will be clear and sunny one minute from now.
Kinda what I was thinking. :)
Sounds great. I use VHF Wx channels or www.wunderground (http://www.wunderground) for my kayak tours in SW Fla, but would live to see your friends app on Blackberry. Sounds like a winner for places where weather changes rapidly.
Pedaling Fool
11-23-2011, 16:08
Makes you wonder how people survived for 200,000 years without an I-Phone. BTW, it is clear and sunny out right now. I am predicting that it will be clear and sunny one minute from now.You can say that about a lot of technology, including your computer. This morning when I first read this I attempted to predict the weather 5 minutes into the future, it was raining very hard here and I predicted it'd still be raining very hard in 5 minutes. I was wrong it actually let up, but it didn't seem like it would when I made my forecast.
If this is a ridiculous idea than that would mean that weather forecasting is ridiculous, but I'm sure everyone here still checks it out before planning a weekend or whatever.
ChinMusic
11-23-2011, 16:28
You can say that about a lot of technology, including your computer.
THIS
Even if it doesn't affect my plans one iota, I just LOVE stuff like this. It makes things more fun for me.
YMMV
ChinMusic
11-23-2011, 16:45
My kids are always looking for what to get the Dad-that-already-has-everything-he-wants something for Chistmas. Now I just gotta give them the hint.
I'm sure everyone here still checks it out before planning a weekend or whatever.
I actually rarely check the weather.
I'm all about technology that makes my life simpler. Streaming Netflix is much better to watch Star Trek re-runs than a pile of DVDs. I love the fact my entire CD collection fits into a doohicky the size of a deck of cards. And I can get a recipe for banana bread with a quick Google search.
Taking a phone into the woods so I can get a weather update 1 minute into the future does not make life simpler for me personally.
Sure other people will like it. But don't see the use for * me *.
I've spent enough time outside to know that weather is variable and that you are better off just being prepared (see above about rarely checking the weather).
Would it be able to identify rotating winds aloft associated with tornados ?
Perhaps they could tie into the inertia sensors. If you're moving rapidly in a concentric pattern...
"Tornado: now."
Either that or you're an oval track racecar driver.
I really like this, but would prefer this to be app-less. A text update would be ideal.
Wise Old Owl
11-23-2011, 22:21
Makes you wonder how people survived for 200,000 years without an I-Phone. BTW, it is clear and sunny out right now. I am predicting that it will be clear and sunny one minute from now.
clearly you have a need to move to France.... nobody there worries about weather.... and they don't care unless it ruins the grapes....
This is America - and in case you haven't noticed - while hiking the Shaded Green Tube - you cannot see when things blow your way...
I am not worried about rain, or getting wet, or a light snow storm. We all have to be concerned about sheer winds knocking and raining branches, 2nd is lightening. So i use two apps that can tell me direction and hours for the storms to show up so I can make an educated guess to stay at a shelter or keep going - playing poker with the weather. Any tool that comes along that increases my ability to enjoy a long hike does not need being pooed.
I am on board - make sure it has the notifications I mentioned.
ChinMusic
11-23-2011, 22:25
Any tool that comes along that increases my ability to enjoy a long hike does not need being pooed.
There just HAS to be a joke in there somewhere......