marcy_

I've been looking at the weather forecasts for France for the next week (we're leaving on Saturday),and I'm finding a huge disparity in the forecasts on different websites, so I'm wondering which one to believe.

For example:
On weather.com the forecast for Avignon, France, for Sunday July 3 is sunny, with a high of 91 and a low of 65.

On AccuWeather.com the forecast for Avignon the same day is partly sunny with possible thunderstorms, high of 79, low of 54.

That's a big difference!
What weather website do you find to be reliable?

moldyhotelsaregross

I rely upon accuweather for most of my information.

I like that the way that they break down the info on an hourly basis including the type of precipitation. It is generally the site I use while at home. It worked well for us while on vacation too. I also appreciate that it will convert back to C or F temperatures.

moldyhotelsaregross

Oh, don't forget to look for the famous words...

FEELS LIKE temperatures!

brotherleelove2004

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/...t?query=Europe

jules4je7

I've found that weather.com, which has a link to my AOL account has been the most accurate. I've done an unscientific study of checking the newspaper vs. the weather.com and even NOAA, and find weather.com to be the most accurate. The National Weather Service (a division of NOAA) tends to underestimate the amount of snow we're expecting here in Denver, and that can matter to me.

Jules

nonnafelice

I think Americans obsess about weather much more than Europeans. We did on a recent trip to Italy -- we had Internet access and checked about 5 different sites every day. Usually they were all different, most of them were wrong, and none were consistently better than the others. We decided the Europeans just didn't make such a big deal about weather. Also, if you watch any of the local TV news channels, there is very little weather forecasting compared to what you get on US programs, and it tends to be pretty cursory. Actually, the most accurate forecasts we found for continental Europe tended to be those on the BBC site.

logos999

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/

mummyplant

Yes - the BBC site works for me every time.

jules4je7

nonnafelice -- You're right, we obsess too much about the weather. We're busy obsessing about most things other people don't worry about. Which makes me want to obsess about this: "What do Europeans obsess about?" Surely, the must have something...

Jules

logos999

>"What do Europeans obsess about?"
The bad state of things and all the things what may get worse, given time. The meaning of life and the reason for the existence of the universe. The least thing they care about is the what happens in other places or even the U.S, because this is totally insignificant for the actual state of things

cybertraveler

I agree that it's not that big a deal about the weather. Where we live, it's always changing, so I'm just used to going with the flow.
When I pack for France & Italy, I'll bring clothes for summer (hot weather) along with light sweaters for potentially overchilled airconditioning, even though that isn't too likely.
And, this time I'm buying one of those new little totes umbrellas that folds up to about the size of a wallet--no more buying umbrellas on the street in the middle of a downpour for me! (Where do those umbrella vendors materialize from in Piazza della Signoria, anyway?)

mvor

Hi Marcy, we leave tomorrow for Paris and I have seen a similar range in temps. I usually use weather.com or the BBC but I don't think one is any better than the next. I usally pack for somewhere in the middle and then just deal w/what the weather gods present. Have a great trip!

Art_Vandelay

The general rule of thumb is that you should choose a site located in the country whose weather you want to know. For France, I normally log on http://meteo.france2.fr, which the weather section of France 2 TV channel's web site. It's the weather subsequently watched by millions of French people, so they normally try to get it right !

Art_Vandelay

And on France 2, weather for Avignon on Sunday is sunny, min 22, max 31.

ira

Hi M,

Bring a folding umbrella.

Dress in layers.

Remember to wear a hat in the sun.

Forget about weather forecasts.

nonnafelice

Re: "What do Europeans obsess about?"

Food, of course! At least in France and Italy, people spend a lot more time thinking about what's for dinner than what the weather is going to be.

Actually it makes a lot more sense to obsess about what you put in to your mouth, which you can mostly control, as opposed to what might come down from the sky, which you can't!

kleeblatt

Living near the Gotthard tunnel on the German side, we get the Foehn, a mediterranean wind that brings good weather and headaches to the people. When the Foehn is blowing, the temperature is mild but the future is foreboding: we know it will change radically once it stops. Also, many people claim to get headaches due to the "pressure" of the wind.

The weather forecasters still can't predict the foehn's behaviour so we can't always trust the forecast.

2cyprus

http://www.cyprusmeteo.com
for Cyprus

http://www.10daysweather.com
10 day weather forecast world wide

wombat7

Love the weather forecasts in the Uk:

"it will be rather fresh tomorrow"

"After a fresh start things will warm up"

And of course there is "chilly" "variable" and my personal fav "fresher"! - as opposed to what "stale"? You can happily listen to a whole forecast and there is no mention of temperature.

Then there is the shipping forecast - which is somewhat like Gregrorian Chant - haven't a clue what they are singing about but it does have a nice lilt to it.

Heimdall

My favourite British weather term is "bright intervals" which as far as I can gather means at times there will be only one layer of clouds between you and the sun.

No problem today, though, at least in Suffolk - not a cloud in the sky all day long.