Skip to main content

How to use Observations in PredictRain

How to use Observations in the PredictRain app

Matt Crockett avatar
Written by Matt Crockett
Updated this week

When making forecast decisions, comparing the forecasts and real-time observations generated from weather stations is essential. The observations allow you to view the forecast maps overlaid on the observations, enabling a direct comparison to check the forecast accuracy.

Observations show real-time wind data from the previous 48 hours up until now. The Wind map overlay will show from the start of the model run. Observations in the PredictRain App is the same as PredictRain - please see this YouTube video for a demonstration:

  1. Tap on Observations from the main menu

  2. The Map will display live wind observations around your forecast location

  3. Scroll the timeline with the back and forward arrows or drag the time slider to view the observations and wind maps over time to see how they match up.

  4. You can tap on the weather model to see the pop-up box with display options; you can choose another weather model to compare, select a resolution, wind display type, and forecast parameter to be overlaid.

  5. Tap X to exit

  6. To view the data for a single station tap on the observation.

  7. Here you will see the last 48, 12 ,6 or 1 hour of observation data in the graph. We can see Wind Speed, Direction and Gusts.

  8. You can also give the station rating.

  9. Tap X to exit.

  10. If we zoom the map to a desired level we can then select table or graph to see all the stations that are on the map in the table or graph for easy comparison.

  11. Tap table

  12. Here we see all the observations shown on the map in a table format.

  13. If we tap graph we see the observations we had on the map and tables showing in a graph overlaid with one another for easy comparison.

  14. Tap map to return to the map.

  15. Tap the back arrow to exit.

Did this answer your question?