Tracking weather during a ride

[yon]

I'm curious how people are tracking the weather during a ride. Any recommended apps?

The weather was perfect during my first ride, but I'm eventually going to run into issues like rain.

My thoughts were to have a weather app running during the ride on my phone that I can check on a regular basis. Also, at every stop, look at the radar and the weather conditions ahead at the next stop. That way, if rain is a possibility, I can go ahead and suit up in my rain gear.

 

[EricV]

Goretex riding gear works better than any app. You're over thinking it all. You see dark clouds up ahead, put your rain gear on. Mis-judge, pull over under cover when possible and suit up. Sure, sometimes you get wet. But that's on each of us to make the call to take care of things. You never, ever, ever want to be checking anything electronic on a regular basis during a ride. If you don't know your route when you head out, you need to plan better. It's easy enough to check the forecast for spots on your route before you head out so you have a general idea of what you will encounter.

At the end of the day, it rains or it doesn't, it makes zero difference in the ride. Snow is a different story.

 

[yon]

Goretex riding gear works better than any app.

Yes, but also a bit of an investment. Planning on upgrading sometime next year, but in the meanwhile frogg toggs will work in the interim. I also like the idea of being able to remove the outer layer/rain gear after a shower/storm in the winter time to keep myself from being cold and wet, which is a dangerous combination.

Mis-judge, pull over under cover when possible and suit up. Sure, sometimes you get wet. But that's on each of us to make the call to take care of things.

Not an issue during the warmer months, but I would prefer to avoid this as much as possible during the cold season.

You never, ever, ever want to be checking anything electronic on a regular basis during a ride.

Of course, but I'm looking for an app that I can keep open on the phone and glace at on occasion.

If you don't know your route when you head out, you need to plan better. It's easy enough to check the forecast for spots on your route before you head out so you have a general idea of what you will encounter.

Certainly, but things do change over time and I like to stay ahead of the curve is possible.

You're over thinking it all.

My specialty

Somebody on advrider mentioned the Drive Weather which let's you plug in your route and it gives you the weather along your route at the approximate times that you are there. Pretty much what I'm looking for, will have to check it out.

 

[EricV]

Most Goretex jacket's outer shells won't hold water and dry quickly in the wind. I do agree with you on outer garments holding water. I have a mesh jacket that has a rain liner. It is designed to zip into the jacket, but also designed to fit over the jacket so I have the option of treating it like a liner or over jacket. If I'm going to be in and out of rain in cooler weather, I usually wear it over the jacket. Mostly I wear my Goretex jacket in cooler weather.

Phones are not generally very water proof, despite ratings. Not to mention a touch screen will often accept raindrops as 'inputs". Yes, I know many people mount phones to their bikes. That's a Bad Idea™. They aren't designed to handle the vibration and temp swings. As an old guy with a cheap phone, it wouldn't be more than an inconvenience if I lost it or it was damaged, but I also don't have a phone with inductive charging, so wouldn't want to have it plugged in with a cable during a rain event.

Have fun playing with the app. Try not to crash while looking at the tiny screen and attempting to decipher information. People do this enough with GPS units already.

 

[yon]

I have a mesh jacket that has a rain liner. It is designed to zip into the jacket, but also designed to fit over the jacket so I have the option of treating it like a liner or over jacket.

That sounds really nice, will keep an eye out for that feature.

Phones are not generally very water proof, despite ratings. Not to mention a touch screen will often accept raindrops as 'inputs". Yes, I know many people mount phones to their bikes. That's a Bad Idea™. They aren't designed to handle the vibration and temp swings. As an old guy with a cheap phone, it wouldn't be more than an inconvenience if I lost it or it was damaged, but I also don't have a phone with inductive charging, so wouldn't want to have it plugged in with a cable during a rain event.

Correct, I'm using Quad Lock's system which includes a vibration dampener and a poncho for the phone. Of course, the electronics will get stored in a dry location if it starts raining. No reason to check the rain forecast if it's already raining.

Have fun playing with the app. Try not to crash while looking at the tiny screen and attempting to decipher information. People do this enough with GPS units already.

Thanks

 

[Shawn K]

For many years, I used a pair of bio-electrical sensors composed of a cluster of photosensitive receptors, wired to a neural network with advanced object recognition and pattern detection capabilities. The best thing about it was that it learned over time; as I exposed it to greater amounts of data, the neural network got better at pattern recognition. Depending on terrain and other local considerations, I could sometimes be notified as much as an hour in advance of impending changes in weather.

After a number of years, I tried switching to a weather app. What I found, though, was that the best the app could ever do was confirm what the bio-sensors had already predicted. So in the end, I decided to focus more on the time-tested performance of the bio-sensor/neural network combo. Even though the technology has been around for many years, sometimes the old ways are best.

 

[kyspyder]

If you are riding enough miles, the weather will change several times before you complete it. This past June I was riding in TN, the forecast the night before was hot and dry, around 9 PM, I could see that I was about to head into a storm (lightening, dark clouds etc), I started closing the vents on my KLIM pants and jackets (the ones that are harder to close while riding) and rode on. I did pull up the radar on the Zumo XT and found it interesting that I ended up on the edge of the storm and received very little rain, however, the radar showed that I should have been drowning. My thoughts on this is this, watch the sky, it will give you the best forecast ever, not too scientific but it hasn't failed me yet. Now temperatures is something I do check ahead in general, mainly to know how to layer when its colder out, warm is what it is.

 

[BigLew55]

I use MyRadar, and I think it's an app that is widely used in our community. It's pretty simple and has good resolution.

I don't use it as much as the built in Garmin weather options on the z590 and 276cx. I have my gps units in a better to view configuration on the bike, so they're easier for me to see.

I do miss having sirius weather now that I've switched from my HD. There are times that you are out of cell coverage and a look at radar would be nice. The sirius weather was always there. Now, if I don't have cell coverage, I'm forced to fall back on biological data collection and analysis. It works, but can sometime utilize poor assumptions.

 

[Jim Craig]

I use InRoute on my iPhone. It has charts for temperature, precipitation, and windspeed along my planned route. I'm not sure where the app gets it's weather information from but it is continually updated (I suspect it's from weather.com or a similar site). I use it more during planning a ride and will re-route if it indicates major weather issues along the route. I will occasionally glance at the charts while riding to see if conditions have changed. If I see storm clouds on the horizon while riding, I fire up the Storm Radar app which shows me fairly accurate conditions where I am and where I'm going.

 

[yon]

I use MyRadar, and I think it's an app that is widely used in our community. It's pretty simple and has good resolution.

I don't use it as much as the built in Garmin weather options on the z590 and 276cx. I have my gps units in a better to view configuration on the bike, so they're easier for me to see.

I do miss having sirius weather now that I've switched from my HD. There are times that you are out of cell coverage and a look at radar would be nice. The sirius weather was always there. Now, if I don't have cell coverage, I'm forced to fall back on biological data collection and analysis. It works, but can sometime utilize poor assumptions.

Thanks, I will check that app out as well.

I use InRoute on my iPhone. It has charts for temperature, precipitation, and windspeed along my planned route. I'm not sure where the app gets it's weather information from but it is continually updated (I suspect it's from weather.com or a similar site). I use it more during planning a ride and will re-route if it indicates major weather issues along the route. I will occasionally glance at the charts while riding to see if conditions have changed. If I see storm clouds on the horizon while riding, I fire up the Storm Radar app which shows me fairly accurate conditions where I am and where I'm going.

Looks like these are for iPhone only. I have an Android, but thanks for posting so others might take advantage of it.

---

Keeping a visual eye on the weather around you is very important of course, my thoughts on this thread was ways to monitor the weather along our routes, tens to hundreds of miles ahead, so we can prepare ourselves at our current location/stop, and to help prevent us from having to make additional stops along our journey. More efficient use of our limited time, so to speak. Plus monitoring the weather with our bio-electrical sensors is more of a challenge for some folks or when you're riding at 11pm with an overcast sky.

No reason to not use all available tools to plan for future events unless one intentionally wants to stick to traditional methods, which is something respectable in and of itself.

 

[EddyC]

You could have a look at Windy.com - they have an Android app as well.
Maybe sometimes a little bit over the top, but I 'm sure you could find what you need for your situation.
Stay Safe,
Ed.

 

[Dave28117]

I know it's already been said, but honestly, a gortex suit is your best bet. I bought a used one. While I do check radars prior to leaving my ride, I don't worry about rain starting or not. I'm always protected. it's certainly easier to do in cooler weather. during the heat of the summer I've even just rode in mesh and not stopped for rain gear. air dried me off pretty quickly. However, I ride a goldwing which has fantastic weather protection as long as I stay moving.

 

[Russ Black]

It's mind over matter with me. After 28 years in the military I found out that the military doesn't mind getting you wet so it doesn't matter.

On a serious note. I've tried different non-Aerostich riding jackets and pants that claim to be "Waterproof" that will keep you dry in small showers and sprinkles and become waterlogged when it comes to a real extended downpour. I've never owned any Aerostich garments so I can't vow how well or not they are in a down pour. I've had the rain suits made of plastic bonded material that work great the first time or two until the rubber starts to peel and begins to leak. I've had my best luck with the heavy version of Frog Toggs that you get from Cycle Gear, Bass Pro Shops and on Amazon. Not the ones that Walmart sells. I wear them over my "waterproof" riding jacket and pants and have the hoodie over my head inside the helmet so the rain can't go down my back. I stay dry even in extended heavy downpours. I can get about two seasons out of a set and they are fairly inexpensive. I also use them to block out the cold wind in the winter.

As far as the weather, ice is the only thing that worries me. Dry roads are dry roads. Wet roads are wet roads unless it's below freezing. If you are doing a normal certificate ride, you can decide to postpone or change it. Go east instead of west. Some themed ride you must ride on certain dates and must start/end in certain places or take certain roads so you will just have to deal with the weather like it or not. Bonus locations during a rally, same thing. There is one piece of advice I was given, even before my first IBA ride about rain gear, if you think you are going to need it at anytime before your next stop, then you need to put it on before you start out. Putting it on on the side of the road, even under an overpass is not safe.

 

[Terrywerm]

I typically check the weather app on my phone before starting out and whenever I stop for fuel, especially if thunderstorms are a possibility that day. Thunderstorms out on the western plains can create wind issues that are very difficult to deal with, and severe thunderstorms often have large hail and high winds. Nothing wrong with knowing in advance that you may encounter something of that nature. Your eyes will tell you quite a bit, but an app and your eyes in unison will give you the best of both worlds.

The app I use is NOAA Weather v2.11.7-190441 from Granite Apps. I have the paid version, which was a one-time fee of $3.99. The fee does away with ads and allows me to save quite a few locations in memory. The free version only allows you to save three locations. Both versions allow you to choose a location and see its forecast for the next few days by the day or by the hour, and it will show you radar maps as well. It is available for Android, and is very versatile.

If you have your phone mounted and have the radar portion of your weather app showing when you are concerned about bad weather, you can casually glance at it from time to time, no worse than glancing at your watch or at the speedometer. Staring at the screen would be something altogether different and should, of course, be refrained from.