Best posts made by Marienka

Air sounding, sounding forecast or skew diagram is here! Yes, there are plenty of names for it. :)

What does it even mean?

Sounding describes a plot of the vertical profile of temperature, dew point and (mostly also) winds above a fixed location. Soundings are used extensively in severe weather forecasting, e.g., to determine instability, locate temperature inversions, measure the strength of the cap (capping inversion), obtain the convective temperature, CAPE (Convective Available Potential Energy), etc.

Horizontal lines represent height in pressure coordinates (millibars or hPa); diagonal lines represent temperature. Heavy solid lines show the vertical profile of observed temperature (red) and dew point (blue). The grey line shows the temperature of a parcel of surface air and how its temperature would change if it was lifted. Source of information: Weather Online.

Where do you find it on Windy and how does it work?

• Desktop version: Just click with right mouse button anywhere on the map, and use the link in the context menu.
• Mobile devices: A long tap on display will do!

Above is a quick video tutorial.

This feature was quickly but carefully developed by our zealous pilot & programmer @TZ who hopes you enjoy it!

So far we only support the ecmwf model but other models should follow.

Don't hesitate to give us your feedback!

To all the sailors, boaters and cruisers, mountaineers and just all of you who like Windy and repeatedly ask for the possibility to use it offline via downloading data files:

It is not possible to download the forecast data for offline use.

We do not own the data, we ‘only’ visualise it, so if we were giving it away as GRIB files, we would break the licensing agreements with our data providers.

Although we know that making screenshots (in advance) is not a perfect solution, it is the best of what's available.

Thank you for understanding and stay tuned to Windy whenever possible! :)

Please also check these links: https://community.windy.com/tags/grib file

Hi everyone,

Windy now supports more than 40 languages and it's been very difficult to maintain the high standard of translations. Therefore, we have decided to change the translation platfom, now we are using Crowdin. Crowdin is a user-friendly translation tool that everyone can join and improve or translate texts used at Windy.

To join this project, please use the following link:

crowdin.com/project/windycom/invite?d=m625h465m6g5f54373m463c3l4

Current translation status:

Here is some basic help for translators.

Thank you for helping us keep Windy the best weather service! :)

Hi @yopo , thanks for your message, we're really happy that you like Windy!

As to your suggestions - we do have "Humidity" and "Dew point" as individual layers but not a combination of these two + air temperature as a "Heat index" layer, the same with "Windchill" (wind speed + air temperature). It's not our priority at this moment, but we will certainly think about it! All the best ~ Marie

Just to make sure that I am getting it right:

Heat index = a quantity expressing the discomfort felt as a result of the combined effects of the temperature and humidity of the air.

Windchill = a quantity expressing the effective lowering of the air temperature caused by the wind, especially as affecting the rate of heat loss from an object or human body or as perceived by an exposed person.

As we all know, one of the most popular features on Windy.com is the 'Radar, lightning' overlay.

• Weather radar, also called Doppler weather radar or Weather surveillance radar (WSR), is a reflectivity measurement device used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.) or amount of predictable water in clouds. Returned echoes from targets ("reflectivity") are analyzed for their intensities to establish the precipitation rate in the scanned volume.

Its development on Windy.com has always been a work to continue:

1. Initially, our radar layer was covering the USA (including Hawaii and coastal parts of Alaska), South Korea and a couple of islands in the North Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean.

2. In June 2018, we added a number of European countries from Spain to Finland.

3. In August 2018, more and more weather radars in various countries were added: in southern part of Canada, in Caribbean, Colombia, Nicaragua, Argentina, Estonia, Italy and Greece.

4. In September 2018, this feature reached a completely new level by adding new flashing icons representing real-time lightning strikes, and even thunder sound effect. Therefore, this popular feature got a brand new name: "Radar, lightning".

   • Please note: Although the weather radar and the lightning radiolocation are both integrated into one overlay, they work independently of each other; they have different data sources and a slightly different map coverage. However, on this feature, they share the timeline occurrence; you can display them together as an animation in the time course of 12 hours to 5 mins back in the past.

   • Check the awesome video presentation above.

5. In February 2019, a number of new countries across Europe and the world were added into the weather radar composite, our main data source being RainViewer.com.

   • Kudos to @dzuremar, our backend guru, who did a splendid job on it:

Windy provides the option to choose from several different weather models. You can display their data just directly on the map.

Desktop

See the legend in the lower right corner of the screen. Then choose the forecast model that you prefer.

You can also get some more info about the data (provider, update interval etc.) via the "clock" button.

Mobile devices

It's very easy, just follow this tutorial:

Here you can find more info about the sources of weather data on Windy.com.

Many people were waiting for this feature for a very long time, and here it is: The so called CAP Alerts displayed on Windy as a new layer "Weather warnings".

A quick introduction to CAP alerts

The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is a standard message format designed for media, civic authorities and large public.

It generates warnings on all possible dangers: weather, fires, earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, etc. etc.

Official alerting authorities include: national meteorological or hydrological services, emergency management agencies, or any other organisation authorised to perform the function of alerting.

Benefits of CAP: If alerts are timely and appropriate, people can reduce damage and loss of life.

Note: All types of warnings should be understood as risks, not as observations. For example, "Fire" should be considered as "conditions that could lead to potential fires", mainly due to drought and lightning near forests. These are not fires that have already started, although they could as well.

CAP alerts on Windy

A lot of backend work was done by @kekert, a long time Windy friend and now our team member.

So far it only covers some parts of Europe, the USA, Russia etc. It is still work in progress and rather an experimental feature, so please be patient! :)

Windy is focused on displaying these warning types:

• Rain, Thunderstorms, Flood, Fire, High temperature, Low temperature, Wind, Fog, Waves & sea, Snow, Air quality, Avalanches.

There are 2 colour scheme options for the layer:

• Colorize by the intensity of the phenomena: Moderate, Severe, Extreme
• Colorize by the type of danger: according to the list above

You can select the time range to show the related data on the map, the options being: All, Today, Tomorrow, and Later (with the "All" option including all three of the following options together).

Once you pick a location on the map, a detail will open with info about the weather warning(s): intensity and type of the warning, duration, region, source + update time, some instructions, language of the warning publication, meteogram + timezone for the location.

Data providers: In case of Europe, we source the alerts from Meteoalarm.eu. Please note, the data by Meteoalarm.eu are not provided on a district level, so at this moment it is not possible to have the data for a separated district. We are not sure at the moment if future developments are being done in this area. If so, we would consider this improvement.

All your suggestions will be considered in this thread, or you can use the discussion here.

We can not repeat it enough: Stay safe!

Colorize by the intensity of the phenomena

Colorize by the type of danger

Weather warnings detail for a specific location

Are you a passionate surfer but missed all your favorite surfing spots on Windy? This is the news you've been waiting for!

Windy has added "Surfing spots" into the list of POI layers!

Thanks to this feature, we display 4,500+ surfing spots all around the world. For each spot, the following info is provided:

• Swell size range – the minimum swell size needed for surfing, plus the maximum swell size when surfing is still safe
• Swell direction – where the waves are coming from
• Breaksover – the bottom type
• Tide
• Optimum wind – the ideal wind direction
• Wave type

Please note, the “Popularity” indicator with star icons does not reflect users' reviews. It is generated automatically based on the number of individual spot searches.

Check the video tutorial above.

Our data provider is the Stormrider Surf Guide, a company devoted to collecting surf & travel information and sharing it with you.

And hey, their brand new product called "The World Stormrider Surf Guide" is the largest collection of surf spot information ever compiled! This book must have taken a huge effort to put together, so you’d better check it out!

As the book annotation says:

The World Stormrider Surf Guide is the biggest, most comprehensive, reference guide to the waves on “Planet Surf”. This mammoth book explores every dynamic surf zone known to man, from world-famous beaches to obscure reefs on the fringes of the known surf world. Each zone includes detailed analysis of the surf spots and swell forecasting, plus the lowdown on when to go, weather, accommodation, food, culture, hazards, the local scene and much more. A unique set of symbols and statistics make vital surf information instantly accessible. Combined with over 260 detailed maps and 600 superb photos, The World Stormrider Surf Guide is an essential tool and the ultimate surf travel resource for all globe-trotting waveriders.

So, enjoy this new feature and get the best waves!

Hi everyone,

here you can let us know what kind of issues you’re experiencing with our Android (plus newly also iPhone & iPad) widget: What is annoying, what could be done better and, most importantly, what does not work at all ("keeps crashing & never refreshing").

1. Make sure that you have the latest version of our app.

2. Please, provide us with info about your device and Android/iOS version.

3. Describe the problem with your widget, including all the key circumstances (your settings, location change, network/data connection, etc.).

Here are a few tips you can try if you spot a widget issue - What to do

Many thanks for your feedback, we will do our best to reflect it.

https://community.windy.com/tags/widget

Snowkiting season is coming, and a great idea was born in the head of our head, Ivo: To develop a special "Wind" display! :)

This tool helps you compare all available models at once, directly on the map! Look just how easy it is:

1. Pick a spot on the map (you can have any weather layer or POI layer on it).
2. Open the forecast detail for the picked location.
3. Choose the "Wind" option.

Check the video tutorial above.

Working on desktop, the iOS app and newly also the Android app.

Enjoy and give us a shout!

ABOUT THE DATA WE VISUALISE:

Forecasted Wind:

Average wind speed 10 meters above the surface (or at a selected pressure level). The actual wind at the ground is influenced by many factors like mountains, cities and terrain in general, convective clouds and thermal effects. That's why it's always better to compare all models and make your own decision!

More weather layers are described in our community FAQ section.

Forecast models:

Global:

• ECMWF 9km: Very accurate model provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Clear winner compared to other forecast models. Since the model is commercial, only a few companies in the world offer it.
• GFS 22km: Basic free model provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with not so good resolution. Compared to other models, GFS can fail in mountain areas, and in(when) forecasting clouds and precipitation. Since the model is free, a majority of weather applications use it.

USA + Alaska + Hawaii:

• NAM 5km: Regional mesoscale model run by NCEP. Provides better resolution than global models.

Europe:

• ICON-EU 7km: High resolution model developed and operated by German DWD. One of the most modern forecast models delivering very good results in Europe.
• NEMS 4-12km: Very accurate model developed by NOAA, but improved and computed by Swiss Meteoblue. Excels in all parameters, especially in Alpine areas.

More info about forecast models can be found in our community FAQ section.

Hello everyone!

Thank you all for your helpful comments and links to radar data resources.

THIS is how it looks like when our Windy Community is active! :)

Special thanks to @TheRadarGuy , @Tomber42 , @dugal2201 , @pfaure , @nikondgo , ... sorry if I forgot anyone as far as Canada is concerned!

When you are checking the weather for a particular location, you can choose from a number of available forecast models.

Desktop

Just pick a location on the map and get to the forecast detail for this location. It’s up to you which model meets your needs. You can easily switch between them, or you can compare them all at once:

Mobile devices

Here you can find more info about the sources of weather data on Windy.com.

Here I found some interesting link with illustrative pictures:
Will it [freezing] RAIN, SLEET or SNOW?

http://www.weather.gov/source/zhu/ZHU_Training_Page/winter_stuff/winter_wx/winter_wx.html

It is because the label that we display on Windy was deleted from the OpenStreetMap database just yesterday (see the screenshot below).

When we next generate labes to Windy (we can not guarantee when it will be), the change will take effect, unless some other OSM contributor makes a contradictory editing in the meantime.

Also please note: For every language, a different label can be displayed. For example, in Vietnamese we show "Tam Sa", while in English it's "Sansha" – just according to the translation available on OSM.

We hope this explanation has brought more light into the "wrong maps" issue. :)

Groups can gather people of similar focus and/or similar locations.

• The “Groups” section displays the same content as is displayed in the Categories >> Topics, depending on who is a member of what group.
• Every user can pick a “Badge” related to a group (only one of the groups they're in) and issue it on their profile. This can be set via >> Profile >> Edit Profile >> Group Title.
• There is no other special function of the “Groups” section – and therefore no reason to get crazy setting new groups. :-)

If you want to create a new group, please do your best to follow this procedure:

1. Check if there is a similar group already existing.

• If it is, join that group. Please do not create a duplicate group just with a slightly different meaning or title.
• If it’s not, you can create a new group.
• If there’s a group referring to an activity in a very general way, while you’d like to specify a location for that activity etc., you can create a new group with a geographic specification in the group name.

2. Don’t create a non-sense group name. Such groups will be deleted instantly.

3. Use English (or universal, internationally readable) words in the group name.

• In case you use a different language, whether in Latin, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese or any other letters, make sure to include (in brackets) an English translation of the group name.
• In case the group name refers to a geographic location (state, city, mountain, river, etc.), make sure to include (in brackets) the full name of the country concerned.
  --> Example: מזג אויר רכס ארסוף (Weather in Arsuf, Israel) ; 台灣地震分析 (Taiwan Seismic Analysis) .

4. If you can, set your group as Public, not Private. Otherwise, we will set it as Public.

5. Upload a cover picture which best describes the activity and/or location that your group refers to. If you don’t, we will upload one.
   --> Tip: You can use pictures that you took, or free photos from Unsplash.com.

If you don’t respect these rules (or at least try to), we will keep deleting any duplicate and/or non-sense groups. We really want to keep the “Groups” section clear and comfortable for everyone.

Thank you for understanding & enjoy!

UPDATE: For the reasons mentioned above, we have recently disabled the option to create new groups.

If you want to create a new group, please let me know its purpose and the title, and I will create it for you (or not). :)

Here is a quick tutorial to describe the differences between: hail, graupel (soft hail / snow pellets), ice pellets (sleet) and freezing rain. Wikipedia puts it this way:

HAIL is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American sleet), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. [...] Unlike other forms of water ice such as graupel, which is made of rime, and ice pellets, which are smaller and translucent, hailstones usually measure between 5 millimetres (0.2 in) and 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter.
In more detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail

GRAUPEL (from German language), also called SOFT HAIL or SNOW PELLETS, is precipitation that forms when supercooled water droplets are collected and freeze on falling snowflakes, forming 2–5 mm (0.08–0.20 in) balls of rime. Graupel is distinct from hail, small hail and ice pellets: the World Meteorological Organization defines small hail as snow pellets encapsulated by ice, a precipitation halfway between graupel and hail.
In more detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graupel

ICE PELLETS (American: SLEET) are rain drops that have frozen before they hit the ground. When they hit the ground, they bounce. Ice pellets are also called sleet and can be accompanied by freezing rain. In winter, precipitation usually begins falling out of a cloud as ice particles.
In more detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_pellets

FREEZING RAIN is the name given to rain precipitation that freezes on contact on surfaces maintained at temperature below freezing by the ambient air mass. Unlike sleet, a mixture of rain and snow, ice pellets, or hail, freezing rain is made entirely of liquid droplets. The raindrops become supercooled while passing through a sub-freezing layer of air hundreds of meters above the ground, and then freeze upon impact with any surface they encounter...
In more detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezing_rain

Hi @kumbaba, we have no "PRO version" and our very own Windy is free of charge. You must have purchased some other false "Windy", probably this one:

https://community.windy.com/topic/3756/warning-russian-windy-app-uses-our-name-and-want-you-to-pay-for-nothing

Hey guys, thanks for your reports and discussion, I've been keeping an eye on it since yesterday... I personally have no conclusion for you as I'm not a programmer, however, our boys will check it out.

Back in July 2018, Windy.com was the 1st weather app to deliver global lightning density forecast in combination with rain forecast. Windy integrates flash lightning forecast data by ECMWF into the 'Rain, snow' 10-day forecast by ECMWF, including all the visualizations and interactions that Windy can do. Also, for better clarification the lightning density has been added as a separate Thunderstorm layer. With this unprecedented innovation, no storm will hit you unprepared!

At any given moment, approximately 2,000 thunderstorms occur on the Earth's surface, triggering 100 lightning strikes in every single second. No doubt, lightning is one of the most spectacular meteorological phenomena. Lightning can affect the environment, and our everyday life. According to estimates, lightning kills over 20,000 people and injures another 240,000 every year. Lightning is responsible for many wildfires around the world each year, killing livestock caught out in the open, disrupting air traffic, damaging buildings, or causing power supply outages.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) has developed global predictions of lightning flash density with great accuracy when compared to existing measurements. Moreover, unlike other lightning forecasting projects, this one is run globally – which makes it the first of its kind. There are several local projects that predict severe weather (ESTOFEX in Europe, or Convective Outlook by NOAA in the United States). Windy.com is proud to be the first to visualize lightning forecasts to the wider public for free.

Director of Forecasts at ECMWF Florian Pappenberger said: “We are delighted that Windy.com is making this innovative product available to its users through its impressive visualisations. Although it is not possible to predict individual lightning strikes, forecasts for average lightning activity can have useful skill up to several days ahead. This is because the atmospheric conditions that cause lightning are routinely predicted by today’s powerful numerical weather prediction models.”

Please help:

This thunderstorm forecast can save lives, but we need to spread the word about it. If you are a journalist, please promote information about this service. Windy is free, without ads, and we just want to help others.

Download Press Release

Stay safe and let us know how you like it!