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weather4all

Submitted by: Arjan
Created: Aug 17, 2007, 6:15 am

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The Idea

Lots of activities are dependend of the weather. And sports even more so.
Weather4all (or any other name you can come up with) gives you the predictions that are translated to suit your outdoor activity. Weatherpredictions are one. But making a fair prediction about ideal circumstances for a certain outdoor activity is another. That's what weather4all will give you.

Surfing for instance, requires quite a few factors that determine a good day for catching waves (offshore wind, long wave frequency, high swell, upcoming tide etc). This site should use weather data to make a prediction translated into a go / no go situation. Easy and simple. With the abiltity to subscribe for your cellphone, email and rss you will not miss out on the possibilties to enjoy your sport to the utmost.

I thought of this idea when I was...

I am a surfer myself, and aware of the intricacies of making a good surfprediction out of weatherpredictions. This is not just the case for surfing, but for lots of other outdoor activities. (Mountaineering, crosscountrycycling, boating, kayaking, etc). You want the ideal circumstances for your outdoor activity. And it simply isn't out there.

Comments Posted

zentropy Posted: August 21, 2007, 4:34 am

Maybe you can combine the activity with the location by using the Google Maps API. For example so that you have a quick oversight on a map where surfing conditions are optimal. You could use an overlay layer that is constantly updated which uses colors to mark areas which are ideal(for example green) and areas which are not suited for surfing at that particular time(red), maybe you can even mark danger zones.

fossiloflife Posted: August 22, 2007, 3:08 am

i think its already out there

cRitter Posted: August 22, 2007, 2:29 pm

i believe weather.com has pretty cool forecasts for gardeners, golfers, etc. if you want something more specific maybe you could ask them! :)

firefox Posted: August 22, 2007, 11:13 pm

How will u get the content for this?

MCaballes Posted: August 23, 2007, 4:47 am

Any unique business model for this?

bcforrester Posted: August 23, 2007, 8:31 am

I was an avid windsurfer and had a office that looked over Halifax harbour - however wind conditions there were no guarantee of good winds further up the coast where my favorite site was. Sound like you need to hook into the local surf/windsurf etc crowds - perhaps through local specialty shops. A site that posted this data through p2p could over time provide trends and hence provide indications for travel...

thunderbear Posted: August 24, 2007, 11:20 am

Weather has been mastered in centuries but never conqured...nothing original in your idea nor service to provide Sir.

MCF Posted: August 24, 2007, 12:45 pm

The notion that certain activities are affected in different ways than other for a given weather pattern is a good one. Storms + Weddings = Bad, but Storms + Surfing = Good (to a point). But since the means of getting forecasts are already well-developed, I am not sure the interpretation exercise provides much opportunity for a specialized service.

One thing that I have found most useful in making weather-based decisions are localized webcams. For example, I live in the mountains where it is usually sunny but down by the coast it may or may not be foggy. When I check the webcam down on the wharf, I know what I am in for! Combine that with a big-picture map of stormfronts, etc. and I think you can be as prepared as possible given the volatility of weather. So perhaps GPS-ed webcams atop Google maps? Zentropy hit on this a bit, though I think seeing a camera image is better than (or necessary in combination to) having red/green indicators.

Arjan Posted: August 28, 2007, 2:50 am

thanks for the input.
i will refine my idea.

PhilipH Posted: August 28, 2007, 8:31 am

What are you proposing - a site that uses some sort of optimised algorithm to combine weather data available elsewhere and give you a yes/no based on the likely effect on your preferred sport?

Brenden Posted: August 28, 2007, 10:14 pm

weather network dose this

Hello!

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