weather
Exactly one year ago, on 30th December 2024, I laid the foundation of FediMeteo.
I took a VM, installed FreeBSD, and set up the first jail to support Italy. The goal was to create a tool for my own use, support a few countries, and announce it.
Unexpectedly, the enthusiasm was incredible. That pushed me to keep going, support more countries and cities, and turn it into what it is today.
FediMeteo now supports 38 countries and 2,937 cities, with more than 7,700 followers in the Fediverse alone, not counting the many people who follow via RSS feeds or visit the web pages.
If you are curious to read the story and some technical details, you can find it here:
https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/02/26/fedimeteo-how-a-tiny-freebsd-vps-became-a-global-weather-service-for-thousands/
Today is also Tuesday, a #ThankYouTuesday, so I want to say thanks to:
* OpenMeteo - @openmeteo - for providing accurate, high quality data, without which FediMeteo would be far less useful
* @grunfink - creator of snac, who made all of this possible using very few resources, on a 4 euro per month VM
* FreeBSD, which thanks to the efficiency of the OS and its jail implementation made it possible to run this service in a stable and efficient way with minimal effort
* FediFollows - @FediFollows - that periodically spreads the word about cities, countries, and the enthusiasm around the project
*All of you*, who suggested, encouraged, corrected, and celebrated this project
And forward toward supporting more countries and other interesting features already in the works.
Happy birthday, FediMeteo! 🎉
#FediMeteo #HappyBirthday #Meteo #Weather #FreeBSD #snac #snac2 #OpenMeteo #Fediverse
It is a remnant of what it once was, the Castle of Rocca Calascio in Italy.
But a thousand years have passed, and a number of earthquakes have taken their toll, along with wind, and weather, and abandonment.
But the fortress still stands -- stubborn, determined, perseverant.
There are people like that, and if the world has to have any influencers, let it be them..
Perseverance art print -- https://stevehendersonart.com/featured/perseverance-steve-henderson.html?product=art-print
#art #artwork #mastoart #fediart #buyintoart #travel #italy #castle #weather
This is the Forecast Discussion from KSEA / Seattle WA NWS at Monday 01/06/2025 06:09:55 PST
SHORT TERM, today Monday into mid-week:
The main story for the next week is pretty benign weather for January in Western Washington.
Satellite imagery early this morning shows cloudy skies over most of the lowlands with mostly clear skies over the mountains.
Increasing northerly winds have dissipated some of the fog with a few places, like Bellingham and Everett still reporting a mile or less visibility.
Temperatures were mostly in the mid 40s.
Upper level ridge offshore building into Western Washington today.
The forecast problem for the day is how long the low clouds hang around in the lowlands.
Early morning top reports from aircraft flying into Seattle-Tacoma airport have the tops 2000-2500 msl and the cloud layer 1000-1500 feet thick. KOLM-KBLI gradient below -2 mb and will stay that way this morning so expect what is left of the fog to dissipate by mid morning.
The cloud cover is another matter. Subsidence from the upper level ridge building into the area will help compress the low level moisture layer but model soundings show light winds above the surface and the inversion not breaking until this afternoon.
1500 feet of moisture will take a little time to dissipate under these conditions.
Will word the forecast cloudy in the morning becoming sunny in the afternoon for most of the lowlands. It will be a sunny day in the higher elevations.
Highs today in the mid 40s to lower 50s.
Copy-pasted from the "Deep Weather" app on my iPhone 14
This is the Forecast Discussion from KSEA / Seattle WA NWS at Monday 12/23/2024 04:24:19 PST
SHORT TERM: Today will feature a somewhat longer reprieve from more active weather, with the next front arriving tonight into Tuesday morning. Right now, scattered showers linger along the Olympic Peninsula and in the Cascades.
This will largely taper off into the late morning hours. Expect partly cloudy conditions with a high in the low 50s today.
Going forward into Tuesday, the next storm will arrive and bring another round of rain and stronger winds. Wind direction will be out of the east to southeast for much of Tuesday morning before transitioning to southerly as the frontal system gets nearer to the coast.
Cascade gaps, northern Olympic Peninsula and immediate coastal locations will see the strongest winds. Right now, the forecast calls for gusts in these locations to be between 35 and 40 mph through late Monday night into early Tuesday morning.
Copy-pasted from the "Deep Weather" app on my iPhone 14
This is the Forecast Discussion from KSEA / Seattle WA NWS at Monday 02/03/2025 05:13:46 PST
SYNOPSIS (Sunday evening): An upper level trough will remain parked over western Washington throughout the week.
Below normal temperatures with brisk wind chills and continuing snow showers are expected at times in most areas.
Gusty Fraser River outflow winds will begin tonight and continue into at least Wednesday
Scattered snow showers continue to spin around an upper-low centered over BC this evening. For tonight, Hi-res guidance is persistent on painting showers across W WA into Monday morning.
Significant accumulation isn't expected but, locally lowered visibility and adverse road conditions are possible under heavier bursts of snowfall. Any lingering roadway moisture is subject to freezing causing a concern for black ice during the Monday morning commute.
Copy-pasted from the "Deep Weather" app on my iPhone 14
This is the Forecast Discussion from KSEA / Seattle WA NWS at Tuesday 02/04/2025 05:38:26 PST
SYNOPSIS:
An upper level low spinning across the Pacific Northwest will continue to bring chances of snow showers to western Washington over the next few days before pushing inland on Friday.
Cold, below normal temperatures will persist across western Washington throughout the week.
Gusty Fraser Outflow winds will continue to produce wind chills in the single digits to teens for northern areas like Whatcom County into midweek.
Copy-pasted from the "Deep Weather" app on my iPhone 14
On the bright side, lately I've been doing a lot of informal thinking while shoveling snow. I'm turning over an informal argument grounded on Chaitin incompleteness that if our physical universe has continuous space-time, then we must make non-computable leaps in our theories in order to increase the fidelity of our understanding. "Artificial scientists" running on computers will always have inescapable limits that don't apply to human beings. It's exactly the sort of wacky thing that makes for good shovel thinking: it passes the time, and there might be something in there that's more than passing theoretical fancy.
#maine #winter #weather #advisory #SnowStorm
This is crazy .. the wind is causing some damages in Kendall Sq
Republican #House Speaker #MikeJohnson urged fellow Republican lawmakers on Tues to avoid #public #TownHall meetings with #voters after some events turned into angry confrontations over #Trump's moves to fire #FederalWorkers & defund government programs.
#cowards #PublicDisservice #Republicans #GOP #RepresentationMatters #USpol #Musk #DOGE #FederalAgencies #SocialSecurity #Medicaid #Veterans #children #seniors #disability #PublicHealth #weather #DisasterPreparedness
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-speaker-urges-lawmakers-avoid-town-hall-meetings-2025-03-04/
This is the Forecast Discussion from KSEA / Seattle WA NWS at Tuesday 03/25/2025 14:54:53 PDT
SYNOPSIS:
The focus shifts to convection on Wednesday, with impactful weather on tap for all of western Washington
As a low pressure system approaches the Pacific Coast, showers and embedded thunderstorms are likely to form over the Olympic Peninsula throughout the mid to late morning hours
A dynamic warm front will lift across the region throughout the afternoon and into the evening, bringing a round of widespread and potentially strong thunderstorms northward
The primary threats for these storms will be hail and/or gusty winds, alongside frequent lightning and locally heavy rain
The strongest storms are currently favored to move northward east of the Puget Sound Wednesday along the I-5 corridor during the mid- to-late afternoon, likely causing impacts for the afternoon commute
Copy-pasted from the "Deep Weather" app on my iPhone 14
No, Snow, I don't think you'll be around forever, although some days it feels as if it will be so.
Rumor is that Spring is on her way. She's not in a hurry, but she's most definitely planning to be here, and I think she'll have something to say about your sticking around.
Snow Retreat canvas print -- https://fineartamerica.com/featured/snow-retreat-steve-henderson.html?product=canvas-print
#art #artwork #mastoart #fediart #buyintoart #ayearforart #winter #snow #spring #weather #nature #country #river #sun #sunshine #fedigiftshop #wallart
From now on, forecasts are richer, clearer, and a bit smarter, without losing the familiar, readable style.
You will now see more complete current conditions at a glance: feels-like temperature, humidity, pressure, visibility, UV index, and wind gusts, all grouped in a dedicated Details section. Sunrise and sunset times for the current day are also included.
The wind line is back in focus, clearly highlighted for current conditions, and gusts are shown separately using 💨 emoji so they are easy to spot and not confused with average wind.
Pressure is no longer just a number: FediMeteo now shows a real pressure trend over the last few hours, telling you if it is rising, falling, or staying stable.
A new Warnings section has been added. When relevant, the bot will automatically flag things like:
extreme feels-like temperatures, hot or cold
high UV levels
poor air quality
thunderstorms
heavy rain likely
strong winds or gusts
Everything is fully localised. Labels like “feels like”, section titles, and weather descriptions are consistent across languages, and all weather conditions are now covered everywhere.
In short: same FediMeteo you are used to, but with more context, clearer signals, and fewer surprises.
These changes will start appearing with the next forecast update.
#FediMeteo #MeteoBot #Fediverse #Weather #FediMeteoUpdates #FediMeteoAnnouncements
This is the Forecast Discussion from KSEA / Seattle WA NWS at Sunday 04/06/2025 09:11:38 PDT
SYNOPSIS:
Front moving through Western Washington tonight with rain out ahead of the system spreading over the area today
Upper level trough behind the front Monday with the trough axis moving through Tuesday
Upper level ridge trying to build Wednesday
Next system arriving late Thursday with another upper level trough behind it for Friday
Copy-pasted from the "Deep Weather" app on my iPhone 14
"In four of the agency’s 122 weather forecasting offices around the country, there aren’t enough meteorologists to staff an overnight shift, according to the National Weather Service Employees Organization, a union representing agency workers. And at least several more forecast offices are expected to stop staffing an overnight shift as early as Sunday."
New article: Pacific Northwest heatwave starts this weekend, Columbia Basin likely to hit 100°F
Dark Sky is gone. NOAA continues to be cut. And yet, one guy rebuilt a weather API used by 40K+ devs & 80M+ requests/month — in his spare time.
This is a story about resilience, infrastructure, and kindness as punk rock.
📰 The Indie API Forecasting Your Future
🔗 https://netapinotes.com/the-indie-api-forecasting-your-future/
As we kick off into summer, I always like to think back to just a few months ago when summer was just a dream, and cold was the present reality.
It's so easy to forget, especially in the heat of summer, that nature has her seasons, with different features in each one. Cold in winter, hot in summer, BUT, because nature and weather are unpredictable, surprises aren't unexpected.
Snow Retreat art print -- https://2-steve-henderson.pixels.com/featured/snow-retreat-steve-henderson.html?product=art-print
#weather #art #artwork #nature #mastoart #fediart #buyintoart
Not that long ago, it was cold, and we shivered when we went outside without a coat.
Not too many weeks from now it will be hot, and we'll hold the glass of iced tea against our face as we think about snow . . .
Winter Light art print -- https://2-steve-henderson.pixels.com/featured/winter-light-steve-henderson.html?product=art-print
#nature #art #artwork #weather #winter #snow #mastoart #fediart #buyintoart #ayearforart #rural #country #landscape #peaceful #USA #washington #hiking
#Trump appointees have ties to companies that stand to benefit from #privatizing #weather forecasts
As #commerce secy, #HowardLutnick oversees the US govt’s vast efforts to monitor & predict the weather.
#law #broligarchy #profiteering #BudgetCuts #MassLayoffs #NWS #NOAA #climate #NaturalDisasters #ClimateChange #ExtremeWeather #flooding #Texas
https://apnews.com/article/trump-lutnick-weather-service-privatization-conflicts-9892de853c283468e6fb970cfd898d96
New today: It’s a different camp, different year, different creek, but the same story. This story—the one where the Hill Country experiences devastating and unexpected flash #floods following an intense period of extended drought—is a familiar one for those of us who grew up in the area. https://www.texasobserver.org/hill-country-flood-family-home-fourth-of-july-2002/
#Kerrville #KerrCounty #Texas #CentralTexas #flooding #history #environment #weather #politics #USpol #news #ClimateChange
The administration is trying to kill every program that pops up in a search for the word “climate.” In the process, the heart is being cut out of agencies that produce information that the state needs to manage its environmental threats. https://www.texasobserver.org/trump-texas-doge-cuts-disaster-aid/
#weather #Trump #FEMA #politics #USpol #news #Texas #environment #ClimateChange