Weather prognosticators...

[cpaharley2008]

Other than Punxsutawney Phil, there are not many choices to weather prediction while on the road, other than finding a local radio station. I'm wondering if anyone has come across a reliable weather station for the trailer and or tow vehicle to keep apprised of the current situations?

[MVA]

At home, I use the Weather Underground app on my phone and have found it to be very accurate. You can get forecasts for hour by hour and 10 day. The app has data for 250,000+ personal weather stations, so there are probably stations near where ever you plan to travel. If you grant the app access to your location it will probably find stations close by or you can use the map to chose stations where you plan to travel.

- Kathy

[C&G in FL]

If you have and use a smart phone, there are apps that can be set to notify you of weather events. I get verbal announcements of NWS, and with location services turned on, they are applicable to wherever I am at any given time. On my iPhone, Storm Shield is my favorite. I also use Highway Weather. Since my tow vehicle has Car Play, I also use the phone interface to navigate with Google Maps. I find Google Maps is far superior to GPS units such as the Garmin.

[Iowa Dave]

https://www.windfinder.com/forecast/...rapids_airport
Hi Jim
I use this service locally and find it to be very accurate. I do not know how available it is in other areas but it’s pretty handy. When I wanted to burn my prairie two weeks ago I looked for a day with a SE wind 5-10 mph after 10 am ( so the dew was off). It showed 10 am on Easter Sunday morning. That’s when I burned
Didn’t scorch my spruce an didn’t take smoke towards my neighbors
Iowa Dave

[UncleTim]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

https://www.windfinder.com/forecast/...rapids_airport
Hi Jim
I use this service locally and find it to be very accurate. I do not know how available it is in other areas but it’s pretty handy. When I wanted to burn my prairie two weeks ago I looked for a day with a SE wind 5-10 mph after 10 am ( so the dew was off). It showed 10 am on Easter Sunday morning. That’s when I burned
Didn’t scorch my spruce an didn’t take smoke towards my neighbors
Iowa Dave

Hmmm... Looks like a short grass prairie to me. Anything run away from you?

Out West, Weather Underground is a very good choice. We are best characterized as a series of micro climates. Everything changes every three miles or so.

This service offers the best chance of guessing right in our area.

[Iowa Dave]

Shortgrass yes. I did not have any Big Bluestem or Indian Grass in the mix. I’ve been burning about every year if the weather allows. Not sure how to answer your question. The fire doesn’t have anywhere to go once it hits the bluegrass turf that borders the prairie. In addition I have a hose out there but have never needed it. As far as critters running out to escape the fire, there are usually a couple rabbits, lots of voles and deer mice. I planted it mostly for the pollinators and the monarchs. And I get tons of them. The benefit of the beauty, the bird and insect attraction and runoff control, is the main reason we have it. When I took Plant Ecology in 1969, I had two prairie guys for professor and grad student. I’ve been interested ever since. When I was in the municipal parks profession we planted many acres to prairie as my commissioner and director were both promoters of prairies too. Nothing like the late November afternoon sun on Little Bluestem. I’ve never had a bad experience in a prairie or a wetland. Even when there are bugs.
Iowa Dave

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Tim
My brother is retired from the Forest service. He worked for many years with Robert Bailey in Fort Collins. They became very close friends. Though he has since passed, Bailey’s work on eco regions is still relevant and available. Of course the map needs continuing updating as vegetative types change, high and low temperatures change and precipitation values trend. Forest, prairie and wetland ecosystems have always interested me. Colorado certainly has a diverse mix. I’ll post a link to some Bailey information.

https://www.fs.fed.us/land/ecosysmgmt/

Iowa Dave

[dfandrews]

We use NWS ( www.weather.gov ): in the upper left, type in a close-by location. You'll get the latest local weather info close to you. (Many weather prognosticators get their data here, then spin it so it sounds like it's their own.)
Scroll down: You can click on the interactive map to pick another location.
There are satellite and doppler radar maps as well.

Click on "forecast discussion" to find out more detailed info.
We also can pick up NOAA weather radio on our scanner.
read about it here: https://www.weather.gov/nwr&in_desc=NOAA+Weather+Radio/