3 ms·

% cloud cover by hour

chatmasta 2y ago
You’re right, this one is missing. Although I’m skeptical of the utility (and accuracy) of something as precise as “percentage of cloud cover,” compared to what is available in the app, namely “clear, cloudy, mostly sunny, etc.” Is there a meaningful difference between 25% cloud cover and 35%? Or is it better to just give names to the “conditions” at buckets of 25%, 50%, 75%, etc?
- ShroudedNight 2y ago
  I would expect certain segments of aviation to find the additional granularity critical.
  - chatmasta 2y ago
    Presumably they shouldn’t be using a consumer weather service and mobile app.
- joeconway 2y ago
  in my experience its more like: 0-5% - Sunny; 5-60% - Partly Cloudy; 60-100% - Cloudy; I've not seen other descriptors, and to view it changing over time its just on the timeline as a sun, sun+cloud & cloud emoji's It's not useful other than as a binary 'is it cloudy' which in Bay Area weather it is a meaningful difference between 30% and 60% coverage
- shagie 2y ago
  The best cloud cover that I've found is yr.no For example (and it always takes a bit for me to find it) https://www.yr.no/en/details/table/2-4887398/United%20States/Illinois/Cook/Chicago https://www.yr.no/en/details/table/2-4887398/United%20States... (and https://www.yr.no/en/details/graph/2-4887398/United%20States/Illinois/Cook/Chicago https://www.yr.no/en/details/graph/2-4887398/United%20States... ) And here's their API - https://developer.yr.no/featured-products/forecast/ https://developer.yr.no/featured-products/forecast/ It breaks it down by overall, low, medium, and high clouds.
- SkyPuncher 2y ago
  At the fringes, there is a meaningful difference. The center 50%, not really. A 95% coverage day is a bit different than a 100% coverage day. Particularly, when it comes to rain and wind expectations.
  - fkyoureadthedoc 2y ago
    How is that difference meaningful? What actions are you going to take differently at 95% cloud coverage vs 100%? I can't think of anything I'd do differently if I was expecting 100% cloud coverage tomorrow to wake up and find that it was actually at 95%.
    - chatmasta 2y ago
      Yeah, and I’d argue that if the difference is meaningful to you, then you probably want something more accurate than what a consumer-grade weather service can provide. So it would be borderline irresponsible of Apple to even give you the false confidence of some precise measurement of cloud cover.

You’re right, this one is missing. Although I’m skeptical of the utility (and accuracy) of something as precise as “percentage of cloud cover,” compared to what is available in the app, namely “clear, cloudy, mostly sunny, etc.” Is there a meaningful difference between 25% cloud cover and 35%? Or is it better to just give names to the “conditions” at buckets of 25%, 50%, 75%, etc?

ShroudedNight 2y ago
I would expect certain segments of aviation to find the additional granularity critical.
- chatmasta 2y ago
  Presumably they shouldn’t be using a consumer weather service and mobile app.
joeconway 2y ago
in my experience its more like: 0-5% - Sunny; 5-60% - Partly Cloudy; 60-100% - Cloudy; I've not seen other descriptors, and to view it changing over time its just on the timeline as a sun, sun+cloud & cloud emoji's It's not useful other than as a binary 'is it cloudy' which in Bay Area weather it is a meaningful difference between 30% and 60% coverage
shagie 2y ago
The best cloud cover that I've found is yr.no For example (and it always takes a bit for me to find it) https://www.yr.no/en/details/table/2-4887398/United%20States/Illinois/Cook/Chicago https://www.yr.no/en/details/table/2-4887398/United%20States... (and https://www.yr.no/en/details/graph/2-4887398/United%20States/Illinois/Cook/Chicago https://www.yr.no/en/details/graph/2-4887398/United%20States... ) And here's their API - https://developer.yr.no/featured-products/forecast/ https://developer.yr.no/featured-products/forecast/ It breaks it down by overall, low, medium, and high clouds.
SkyPuncher 2y ago
At the fringes, there is a meaningful difference. The center 50%, not really. A 95% coverage day is a bit different than a 100% coverage day. Particularly, when it comes to rain and wind expectations.
- fkyoureadthedoc 2y ago
  How is that difference meaningful? What actions are you going to take differently at 95% cloud coverage vs 100%? I can't think of anything I'd do differently if I was expecting 100% cloud coverage tomorrow to wake up and find that it was actually at 95%.
  - chatmasta 2y ago
    Yeah, and I’d argue that if the difference is meaningful to you, then you probably want something more accurate than what a consumer-grade weather service can provide. So it would be borderline irresponsible of Apple to even give you the false confidence of some precise measurement of cloud cover.