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LIVE from the Camino Snow/Rain info source

islandwalker

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Francés and routes in Andalucia
We have found the app Windy (recommended by VNwalking in this thread, #43) so useful in the last few days that I put together a few photos for anybody who might have missed the original mention. You can save yourself hours of searching for weather info on the individual towns in front of you by using this consolidator app to get a visual picture of an entire area showing forecasts of where snow or rain will be, at what depth or intensity, and how long it will still be around. Of course, the forecasts may turn out to be wrong, but the visual picture of a wide area that it presents sure beats anything else I’ve used for making a wrenching decision about whether it is wise to proceed on a planned trajectory in the face of a major storm front or to change to a different location/camino.

1. Download the app.
84E021D5-CDF2-470B-A734-E5278CC98F32.jpeg

2. Zoom in to the area of the world you are interested in, and click on the menu symbol, bottom right.
06F5C46C-4655-404F-803F-1B92DD3FA6B6.jpeg

3. Tap on more layers.
27596B3B-1F3B-4E96-9610-DC9BCCF5D9D0.jpeg

4. Tap on the desired option (new snow, snow depth, rain accumulation, and many more).
1403751B-FF80-4EAD-B469-A44A631741B4.jpeg

5.Tap on the main map and select the desired time period at the bottom of the screen.
92747C8D-57D9-4489-B481-876F873A9E59.jpeg

6. For detailed info on a particular spot, tap the screen. A white dot will appear near the top of the screen. Move the map so your desired location is under the white dot. (You can’t move the white dot; you have to slide the map around.)
C171CFA7-C663-4C50-ACD2-A11E6A2BDEE4.jpeg

Thank you, @VNwalking, for this great tip. It has been immensely helpful to us with the recent November storms. We are now happily back on track in Galicia. (journal here)
 
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We have found the app Windy (recommended by VNwalking in this thread, #43) so useful in the last few days that I put together a few photos for anybody who might have missed the original mention. You can save yourself hours of searching for weather info on the individual towns in front of you by using this consolidator app to get a visual picture of an entire area showing forecasts of where snow or rain will be, at what depth or intensity, and how long it will still be around. Of course, the forecasts may turn out to be wrong, but it sure beats anything else I’ve used.
1. Download the app.
View attachment 66740

2. Zoom in to the area of the world you are interested in, and click on the menu symbol, bottom right.
View attachment 66741

3. Tap on more layers.
View attachment 66742

4. Tap on the desired option (new snow, snow depth, rain accumulation, and many more).
View attachment 66743

5.Tap on the main map and select the desired time period at the bottom of the screen.
View attachment 66744

6. For detailed info on a particular spot, tap the screen. A white dot will appear near the top of the screen. Move the map so your desired location is under the white dot. (You can’t move the white dot; you have to slide the map around.)
View attachment 66745

Thank you, @VNwalking, for this great tip. It has been immensely helpful to us with the recent November storms. We are now happily back on track in Galicia. (journal here)
Great app, I use it every day. The last couple of weeks it has been very useful. The rain in Galicia has been unreal and every predicted moment of no rain a blessing!
 
I have used "eltiempo.es+" for six Caminos now, and always found it very comprehensive, though less graphic than Windy...as you show above. Eltiempo.es+ is from the Official Spanish Meteorological Service Office and has data sources from almost every named place in Spain.

They use a network of solar-powered remote, automated reporting weather stations located all over the place. For example, you can get current weather and forecast information from odd places, like Foncebadon, just before Cruz de Ferro on the Camino Frances... go figure.

This said, @VNwalking is a very good friend... why didn't she tell me this before... hmmm? Anyway, I think I shall download WIndy and make use of both apps this coming Camino - April / May 2020.

Thanks for the endorsement.
 
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Thank you, @VNwalking, for this great tip. It has been immensely helpful to us with the recent November storms. We are now happily back on track in Galicia. (journal here)
Very nice, thank you for pointing it out in a separate thread and for posting some of the visuals. I'll keep Windy bookmarked and may even download the app.

I myself am still happy with Meteoblue and the occasional look at aemet.es for severe weather warnings. I also have MeteoGalicia on the iPhone. MeteoGalicia is nothing fancy but they were the only ones that alerted us to granizo (hail) which promptly feel on us as predicted, accompanied by some rolling thunder and a bit of lightning, during the most recent spell of frio.

During the day, I find that it's enough to look at the sky as well as from time to time at the precipitation radar images and there it doesn't matter which app you are using :) .

Buen camino, @islandwalker, I wish I were where you are!
 
Thank you, @ortemio, @t2andreo, and @Kathar1na, for adding such good details about the other weather apps that are so useful here. As you say, each has its own strengths. I’ve loved using meteoblue (such great precipitation grids!), aemet, and el tiempo for daily weather info, and now I shall have to add meteoGalicia! :)
 
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I also ask locals . cafe owners etc.
I never ask the locals about what the weather is going to be like. I am a local at home and I grew up in a small agricultural village where everyone is a local, and in my experience of many decades locals listen to the news on the radio or telly or read the newspaper to find out what the weather will be like today and tomorrow, just like I and everybody else does 😊. However, I love to talk to locals about what the weather is doing right now and they will often be more than happy to venture ideas about whether the weather right now is normal or not normal and what it was like last year or in the past or when they were kids.

My main interest in short-term weather forecast (next hour, afternoon, tomorrow morning) is whether and how much it will rain and, to a lesser extent, snow and/or storm right now and right here and within a 20 km range, and that's where modern weather apps are unbeatable.
 
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To add a bit more: I think of it this way:
There are three kinds of weather questions that I ask myself, two frequently and one rarely. Which app I use depends on which type of question I’m asking.

1. Short term
What shirt shall I wear today?
Should I put my rain jacket at the top of my pack?

For these, I use Meteoblue and El Tiempo because I can see the day pictorially broken down into hours at a glance (sun symbol, clouds with drops coming out, rain grids, PoP).

2. Long term
What gear should I pack for a trip in XYZ month?
I find WeatherSpark good for this. Nice graphs of historical data with both extremes and averages shown.

3. Events with a cumulative time frame over a wide area
How much snow will there likely be on the ground in x number of days? (ie, not how much will fall, but rather, how much will accumulate)
Is it wise for me to proceed in the face of a given weather event; should I just wait a few days; or should I change my location? (ie, a personal decision)

This is where Windy helped. You can choose accumulated snow depth overlays for various time intervals. Its prediction showed us visually that if we walked on from Foncebadón there would possibly be 10-30 cm of snow around us in every direction for the next 5 days. (Walking after knee surgery, that would not be good. :confused:) So I used it to find the “edge” of the snow, and we (sadly) made the decision to relocate to Sarria. Local advice agreed.
 
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St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
I downloaded and set up Windy on my iPhone earlier today. While I will not actually use it on a daily basis until my next Camino until April, I can tell you that it contains WAAAY too much information for me personally. This is an opinion...

I want to know what the current conditions are where I am, like first thing in the morning, so I know how many layers to put on or take off, and if I need to deploy my poncho.

I want to know what the weather is likely to be as I walk that day, including what is the percent probability of rain and expected temperature. Over experience, I've learned than about anything less than about a 40% chance of rain usually means no rain needing a poncho.

Finally, I like to know as early as possible how tomorrow is expected to look. BOTH apps give me all of this information. RIght now, and IMHO, El tiempo.es+ appears to be the more simple interface.

However, Windy contains SOOO much MORE information, that to me at least and IMHO, it is nearly information overload. It truly is a wonderful application, with TONS of useful information. However to me at least, much of the information is so esoteric and scientifically pertinent, that is almost ceases to be useful for the simple purpose of planning my days' activities whilst on Camino.

Now, if I were a an airplane pilot, or the captain of a boat on the ocean, or a weather forecaster for a TV station, or weather service, Windy would be a very good standard application. I think I would rely on it. The graphics are great. A tiny smartphone screen does not do them justice.

But, overall, the comparison between Windy and Eltiempo.es+ is like comparing a Swiss Army Knife with maybe 6 or 8 tools, versus the über complete model with the every conceivable gadget known to man. You know, the one that weighs a kilogram and has like 40 or 50 useful (at some point in your life) tool or gadget.

This said, both apps are FREE. There is no harm in downloading both to your smartphone. Once you have used both, make your own choice.

I plan to try using Windy on my next Camino in April 2020. While both apps approach providing information in opposite formats, they are both very useful. I will decide later which I prefer...

Hope this helps.
 
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Windy is not only a good info source for rain and snow (including cumulative effects) but also for wind and wind gusts. Given the detailed severe weather warnings (when, where, how long) that the Spanish weather service Aemet issued for today and the next few days, I was surprised to see that some of the weather apps that are often recommended on the forum don't even seem to mention this.

Go to Windy, select for example Burgos and click on Wind and in particular on Wind Gusts - quite a colourful picture at the moment.

A few years ago, we met a Canadian woman who had to end her camino after just one day when her collar bone broke after a strong wind gust had lifted her up and she then fell to the ground. This happened on the way up from SJPP.

I am aware that trees can fall over and branches can drop on my head during a storm and in the days after a storm but I had never heard of this kind of accidents before. She looked like she weighed a lot less than I did. ☺
 
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Thanks for sharing. I guess more information is better.
I will miss the nights sitting in an albergue or in a bar trying in four different languages to determine what to have packed on top in my backpack and possible locations to add or shed layers. I will always remember what a pilgrim from Berlin shared with our group, “If you are cold; walk faster”. You’ll never find that on an app.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Where it's likely to meet some strong wind gusts around noon this Saturday in Spain and where it's likely to be not so windy.

Windy 21 Dec noon.jpg
 
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“If you are cold; walk faster”. You’ll never find that on an app.
Yesterday, the Bomberos of Navarra were busy with dealing with damage caused by the strong winds, luckily material damage only. The only persons, says their press release, that needed their direct intervention was a group of 7 pilgrims, two of them minors, on the Camino to Santiago both on foot and on bicycle who called for help on the Ibañeta pass between SJPP and Roncesvalles when they realised that the strong wind gusts made it too difficult for them to continue.
 
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