Reliable On-Line Weather Forecasts

[missypie]

Has anyone found a web site that gives RELIABLE on line weather forecasts? The one I've used right before leaving on my last two vacations underestimated the temperature by 10 to 15 degrees a day both times, which means that we bruoght a lot of clothes that we didn't need. I'm not asking for perfection, but 15 degrees off???

 

[zulaya]

meteorology is not an exact science. That being said, I use these two:

http://www.weather.com
http://www.accuweather.com

I find them fairly accurate, but they get more accurate within the 7-10 period.

I used them for my June trip and they were right on pretty much the whole time.

Now granted, June is pretty much hot with afternoon rain chance every day.

If you are going in say, November thru January, you pretty much have to resign yourself to possible sudden changes in weather.

But I have found these two places to work well plus I always check the Orlando Channel 2 weather forecast for local input too.

 

[jwfla422]

I don't think there is any such thing as a reliable forcast anymore. If you're heading to FL in the summer you have to be prepared for rain. If you're heading to FL from August - October you have to be prepared for "unpredictable until the last minute" tropical threats. You just have to be prepared for rain.

And as far as the temperatures go, if it's rainy as opposed to being sunny the temp can easily vary 15 degrees (it can be 75 while it's raining and if the sun comes out an hr later it can be 90). This is also very common in the winter with the passage of cold fronts (it can be 85 to start the day and then go down to the 50s or below after the front passes).

Even when we went to WDW in Dec last year (we left here- less than a 3 hr drive & it was 80 here)-I was shocked at how cold it was at WDW and one day was rainy and cold (50s), yuck! As a south Floridian I was envying all those people who had scarves and gloves and hats (don't own much of those anymore!) I had to buy them at the parks!! The moral...just be prepared for anything anytime of the year

Your best bet for ideas on the forcast is to check out the Orlando news affiliates and check their forcasts.

Here in South FL they said lots of rain yesterday and less today. That's proven to be the opposite however 10 miles away it could be different. FL is such a strange state for weather.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Reliable weather forecasts? Isn't that an oxymoron?

 

[jdonat]

I tend to use the weather channel -use
zipcode 32830 for a targeted forecast. I
also use orlandoweather.com -it's one of
the TV stations in ORL.

Don't forget to check channel 98 if you're
in a Disney resort -this is the NOAA
weather radar for central Florida -I think
it's some of the same stuff that Disney
uses themselves. It gives you some
trends for rain in the summertime -helped
a lot the first week of August.

JED

 

[missypie]

Actually, it's the Weather Channel that I've been unhappy with. I guess it it says it's going to be 10 degrees and it turns out to be 25, you're still in the same kind of clothes. Same if it says it's going to be 85 and it turns out to be 100. But our problem is that for both vacations it said 60 and turned out to be 75. That's the difference between long pants/long sleeves and shorts and a t shirt.

 

[Muffy]

I use accuweather but you have to be prepared for updates. They can change the weather report daily.

 

[jdonat]

Yeah, but planning for 60 and getting
75 is a good surprise! Planning for
warm(er) weather than Chicago in
December, and then gettting a
HARD freeze (22deg f) around New Year's Eve is
no fun. We were actually wearing the
gloves and toque's and jackets that
we all wore from Chicago to WDW that
NYE. Sheesh!!!
Let's hope that this NYE is a bit warmer -I
was informed by my DW that, if this NYE
is cold (again!) its DCL and the
Carribbean Sea for us the next year!

The orlando Sentinel also does
weather reports too...

 

[angey77]

I like this one:
http://www.wunderground.com/

I'm not a big fan of weather.com either. They are off way too many times for most of my trips to Florida, whether its Pensacola or Orlando.