If you are like me, trying to find a good source for reliable weather forecasts can be frustrating. Sometimes your local news has good forecasts but that is not always the case. Then there are the channels we see on TV but the most well-known of those – plus most of the local news apps – harvest your personal info like crazy. I am privacy-minded and do not need to share info, especially if you are placing ads in the apps (and that is fine – stuff has to be paid for somehow). I always check to see what info an app gathers. If it is something I need but the app is too nosy I will use the website instead. I use a VPN and an ad-blocker and both stop trackers of all sorts. I can tolerate ads but not my personal info being harvested so I stop it best I can.

If you do your research you can find out the best weather apps. One thing to keep in mind is that NOAA – home of the National Weather Service here in the States – does NOT have an official app even though you will see it in the title of an app even though it is a lie. Another thing is you want an app that draws info from multiple sources including European models because they are some of the best & most accurate.

I have downloaded numerous weather apps through the years and it has been frustrating. Forecasting has gotten better the last few years so that is making a big difference, but I still have struggled to find one that is accurate for my location and my needs. I eventually found a good website to get information on accurate weather data for my location and for my plans.

The website I found is called Forecast Advisor. I found it interesting that with the different locations I have checked, they suggest different apps/websites have better accuracy in each place; you will not see one best app for everywhere. The most popular app I mentioned above is pretty accurate, but again they look deep into your devices and your persona business (why does a weather app need things like my purchase history?). That may be fine for you but it is not fine with me so I will not use that app. Another of the most popular ones has very good accuracy, and it has ads, but you can upgrade for ad-fee and more features at a reasonable price – without much tracking you.

Both of these apps I have found rank high for accuracy but might not always the best for where you might be. Forecast Advisor will give you an accurate forecast, plus it also tells you the most accurate website/app for the places you are searching. Don’t be surprised if the website mentions weather forecasts from sources you might not have heard of, and you will also find that many you DO know are NOT mentioned because they suck. If you are needing accurate forecasts for your job, vacation, sports, etc. this is a good resource to check.

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Took a day trip with Addy to see Meghan at fire camp today. We drove a few hours to get there but it was good to see her and it was interesting.

First thing we did was went to the helicopter site where the air support is dispatching from. There were about 3-4 Chinooks and we got to see one land with a bucket, refuel, and go again.

I have been in the area of a big forest fire before but never have seen any of the aerial stuff up this close. The small blue helicopter weighs 5400 pounds but will pick up 6000 pounds. Pretty impressive machine. No tail rotor but two counter-rotating blades keep it from spinning.

You can see what appears to be a pump on the side of the water bucket. I asked about that and it is a pump, but it is hydraulic. The big line that hooks to the helicopter is not only the cable but also two hydraulic lines to run the pump. Pretty genius – no worries of getting pulled down by submerging the bucket to get water. Also in that setup is the mechanism to open the bottom of the bucket to make the drop.

So it was a good day in many ways.

That’s it for now. Been a long day so it’s off to bed. See you next time.

Shawn