UPDATED June 2024

Did you know that you can customize Windy colors for almost any layer? What is the point of doing it? You may prefer your own color palette, but also, by this way, you can deal with some specific requirement.

For example, it may be helpful to visualize a particular level of temperature from which you consider that it may hurt people and your environment. By using a particular color you will be alerted just by looking at the map.

If you are fan of boating, you may use a color like red - the usual sign of danger - when the wind reaches a certain force. And as everyone does not have the same threshold of danger for outdoor activities, it is better to set the threshold by yourself. In the example below the red color was used from 28 knots of wind, i.e. 7 Beaufort which is an usual warning level for a coastal cruiser boat.

Details are shown here.

But there are other reasons, such as the case of a Windy user who is green blind. It was better for him to replace this color with another one.

How to change a layer color scale?

Go to Settings and choose Customize Color Scale. Select the layer you want to edit.

You may want to customize the Waves layer. If you are fond of paddling on the seashore or if you are an oceanic sailor, you will not consider the same scale for waves height.

In Customize color scale, for Waves you get this table:

In the first column, you can change the steps of the scale and/or, in the second column, the colors.

How to modify the colors

When you click on a color line you open a small window which allow you to change the hue (1), the density/brightness (2) and the transparency (3).

.

When you are satisfied with your colors, click on Save created color. At any time you can switch back to the Windy default settings by clicking Load defaults

And for example you can get this type of colors scale for waves:

If you want to obtain directly this color scale just look at this thread in Windy community.

Non-smoothed color scale

An unsmoothed color scale can be based on this scheme :

Note this scheme is purely theoretical, the steps do not need to be regularly staggered with constant and regular gaps.

For example a non-smoothed color scale is used in the Icing layer

Large commercial vessels use poorly refined heavy fuel containing sulfur compounds. These boats release large amounts of sulfur dioxide SO2 which is a source of acidification for the environments (oceans, forests ...). Due to local regulations on the US coasts, the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the English Channel, these vessels must switch locally to a more refined fuel with a limited content of sulfur compounds, similar to the diesel fuel. Elsewhere they can use this heavy fuel, even in the Mediterranean where there is a lot of traffic.

In addition to SO2, these ships produce a lot of nitrogen oxides, such as NO2, to the point that coastal areas may become highly polluted areas. One can imagine pollution in cities with car traffic or near certain industrial sites. But at sea, people think that the air is clean, which is not the case everywhere.

The Windy maps that present these pollutants, SO2 and recently NO2, speak for themselves: they make it possible to highlight and monitor this pollution along the trade routes of the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean ... The comparison of these traces of pollutants at sea with the main shipping routes shows an obvious correlation.

However, these big boats remain the least expensive and even the least polluting means per ton of freight transported. If it were necessary to transport the same quantities of goods by truck, plane or even diesel train, the pollution would be worse!

Swiss weather model ICON-CH1 and ICON-CH2 are now available as open data. They would be interesting in Windy for the Alpine region and much of Europe. I assume the Windy administrators are aware of this.
https://opendatadocs.meteoswiss.ch/e-forecast-data/e2-e3-numerical-weather-forecasting-model

Cover image: Sea near Marseille when Mistral blows

Next Sunday, May 5, all models predict a storm at sea, or at least a strong gale weather, with average winds reaching 9 Bf (40kt, 75 km/h) and gusts of more than 75kt (130km/h). This type of storm is quite common in this region and it is linked to typical conditions that cause these violent winds.

The French coast of the Mediterranean Sea is surrounded by mountains that change the speed and direction of the winds when high pressures are established on the near Atlantic. The northwesterly flow at ground level is deflected by 3 mountains, the Alps, the Massif Central and the Pyrenees.

The Mistral blows in the narrow valley of the Rhone down to the coast, in Provence and in Languedoc. It is a strong and gusty wind, usually cold, which is feared in the summer for the risk of forest fires.

Northwestern Tramontane causes sudden storms in the Gulf of Lion.
Both are accelerated by the upper flow crossing the mountains with a foehn effect providing gusting conditions and a typical blue sky.

In addition to the pressure gradient, a dynamic low in the Gulf of Genoa results from the divergent upper flow after the passage over the Alps. This depression in the Ligurian Sea can move and it is its position that actually controls the direction of the winds at sea, between Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands.
 At sea, sailors generally fear deep depressions, but in this region, with high pressures settling in the west or the north of France and resulting in mistral or tramontane storms, mariners rather watch the anticyclones!

@korina
Wow, amazing view of the planet weather ! So exciting to find 3D back again !
And very useful for polar views and for an overall vision of baroclinic zones.

The dust of the Sahara desert raised by the wind can cross the oceans. Using NASA satellite imagery, scientists have shown that this transport by upper tradewinds reaches the Amazon basin and contributes to the supply of nutrients to the Amazon rainforest. Part of this dust comes from the Bodélé depression, which is an ancient lake that covered part of Chad at the time when the Sahara was green, several thousand years ago. It has disappeared, and the current Lake Chad is somehow a remnant.

The bottom of the Bodélé depression, located approximately 17°N and 17°E, is rich in dust from the microorganisms that lived in this ancient lake. This region, between the mountains of Tibesti and Ennedi, experiences violent local winds in winter that lift clouds of dust.

The transport of this particular dust is a source of nutrients needed by plants especially phosphorus, but also potassium, soluble iron... Thus the largest desert feeds the largest rainforest in the world.

This dust from the Sahara can also reach the Amazon rain forest, the Caribbean zone and even the southern part of United States.

In spring and summer, SW currents frequently bring mineral dust from central Sahara to Western Europe. The early spring that we know this year in this part of Europe because of the blocked high pressure is causing a rise in temperatures and the transport of dust from the Sahara as shown by this map from Windy. The southern flow on the west flank of the anticyclonic ridge carries this dust over Spain, the west of France, Great Britain and Ireland, up to Norway.

https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasa-satellite-reveals-how-much-saharan-dust-feeds-amazon-s-plants

https://www.windy.com/annotation/5ca33262ade88d001cd025d5

@rk95
In fact, pressure levels can be converted in mean altitudes or flight levels.
Using Sounding you get directly the mean altitude and the wind speed / direction.

On desktop right tap on your mouse.
In the app long press on screen.
Then click the altitude scale to get speed and direction of wind.
You can reduce the altitude scale to 7000m max.
Use the time slider to change time stamp.

@korina
Here are the weather models which are run by JMA, the Japan Meteorological Agency:
https://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/nwp.html
Seems the LFM model should be a suitable one.

@talal27732
The pressure at these levels are displayed as Geopotential isolines at 700hPa, 500hPa...
Select them in right menu > More layers...> Geopot. height

@ivo
Vote 2: AROME

AROME is available as free data. Very interesting along coastline, in mountain zone and for local forecasts (thunderstorms, large towns effect...)

@Nikolaj-Junge-Madsen
Hi,
Could you check this thread

@Steven-Bartlett
Could you check this post

@55267A
Every layer in Windy does not display a complete color scale in the legend. You can check Wind, waves, Rain accumulation, Snow accumulation and more. You’ll see that the legend is incomplete.
The highest values are missing, but you can find the complete scale in Settings -> Customize color scale

@Y-SHWAEB
Have you subscribed to Premium?
Seems you need to finalise the purchase.

@B3nWatkins said in Disappointed with clarity of maps:

I am 100% subscribed. I see the Premium badge above the menu, I have 1h intervals, everything is in colour. This is not the problem.

OK, but it is strange that you are not identified as Premium user on the community forum. Your posts are queued and wait for moderator approval whereas Premium users have a direct access.
Do you log into this forum with others credentials?

If it's not possible to switch the Windy maps to less than 3hrs they will be forever 'blurry'. Which is a pity because it severely limits their value.

I can’t explain this choice.

@B3nWatkins
Yes, you paid via Paddle, but did you "restore the purchase" as explained in the message I mentioned?

Do you see the Premium badge above the menu button?

Can you get hourly forecasts in the detailed forecast panel, and not just 3-hour intervals?

Are the maps in colour after 6 days of forecasts?

@B3nWatkins
On Windy maps, all models are showing rain for 3 hours.

In your screenshot with the UKV model, the rainfall is predicted for one hour. That explains the difference.

You say that you are subscribed to the Windy service, but the Premium badge should appear next to your username. Please review this message.

@HenkBellinda
Have you tried different weather models in Windy or only look at the default one? There are 10 models available for your area in Windy.
Here is the forecast by AROME

This was the forecast for the last 3 hours. It is not like Windy is not forecasting rain in Flanders.

And this the weather radar right now in Windy

@bwarff
I am not a developer but I think when everyone understands that this option is now available on the Satellite layer, this button will be removed.

@chipkaupp
Hi,
These options are the wind reference direction. Note there are no wind barbs for boats, they are displayed only for aircrafts.

For sailing use North up. It is the normal way and with this setting the wind direction is referring to the North direction.

Left to right (and Bottom to top) are mainly used by aviators. These options mean that the wind reference direction is the boat course as if you were moving from left to right (or bottom to top) of your screen. So in the planner diagram it is the “relative true wind” you observe from the boat (Note it is not the relative wind resulting from the true wind and the boat speed).

See this post for more details if you need.

Are these 2 options also useful for sailing? They can be, as they directly indicate the true wind angle relative to the boat's course, which is very useful for planning a close-hauled route.
In the following example, on the map the wind reference direction is North up as usual, but in the diagram it is Left to right

Both wind directions are identical but in a different frame of reference!