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You can count on people on social media to complain about the accuracy of weather apps. NPR hears some advice on how to pick more reliable ones.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Rain or shine, count on social media to cast a dark cloud and complain about the accuracy of weather apps.
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BREE LABREE: Apple, they’re currently reporting that it is 83 degrees, and it feels like 88, with a high of 84, in Chicago, Illinois.
MARTÍNEZ: That is Bree Labree (ph) on TikTok.
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LABREE: This is a screenshot taken at the exact same time of AccuWeather. It is actually 92 degrees, and the real feel is 103 degrees.
MARTÍNEZ: TikTokkers Malcolm Carter (ph) and Megan Jones (ph) have also lost faith in their apps.
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MALCOLM CARTER: Apple, you told us the next time it was supposed to rain was supposed to be seven days from now, yet it rained today.
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MEGAN JONES: Our weather apps are not accurate. That’s really scary because what happens during a weather event? Yikes, yikes.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Cliff Mass teaches atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington and says the TikTokkers are right about the apps getting it wrong sometimes.
CLIFF MASS: Weather forecasting is not precise. So the fact they’re not perfect and they don’t agree with each other, that’s to be expected.
INSKEEP: The weather services get forecasting data from many different sources, and some are better than others.
MASS: The National Weather Service, the global model used by the weather service, is inferior to the European Centre model. And that’s not good.
INSKEEP: Mass says weather professionals do not rely on a single source of information, and you shouldn’t either.
MARTÍNEZ: So with more than one app on your phone, how do you know the good from the not so good? Eric Flare heads forecastadvisor.com, a company designed to grade weather app accuracy.
ERIC FLOEHR: We look at temperature and how different the high temperature and low temperature they forecasted was from what actually happened. We look at wind speeds and direction and how different they were from what actually happened. We look at precipitation. Did they say that it was going to rain and did it actually rain?
INSKEEP: Win in doubt, step outside.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter) Yeah, that’s what I do.
INSKEEP: Just check. You know, the weather app says it’s raining. Well, you got a window.
MARTÍNEZ: That’s the only way to know for sure.
INSKEEP: Anyway.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “STORM IN A TEACUP”)
THE FORTUNES: (Singing) One drop of rain on your windowpane doesn’t mean to say there’s a thunderstorm coming. The rain may pour for an hour or more, but it doesn’t matter. You know it doesn’t matter. One gentle breeze blowing softly through the trees doesn’t mean to say…
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