High Sierra Topix

I do not know if the In-Reach "basic" forecast comes from the NWS. Weather forecast on the I-Phone is different and they really stick out their neck even saying "rain to stop in 25 minutes" or such things. The I-phone seems to be updated more often. It is hard to predict exact location for rain produced by thunderstorms other than real short term based on radar. The In-Reach forecasts seem to be more accurate for large slow-moving systems like several days of steady rain. The NWS "forecast discussion" gives enough information and "certainty" estimates of the forecasts that I find that more useful. It is quite lengthy so likely not suitable, at least, for the In-Reach mini, which has a tiny screen.

In-Reach "basic" errored both ways- rain when none forecast as well as no rain when 100% forecast. I thought the wind and temperature forecasts were more accurate. Although I cannot quantify humidity, the forecast "felt" accurate- high numbers usually meant dew on my tent in the morning.

I get NWS forecast summaries on my InReach from https://wx2inreach.weebly.com/ (which is not associated with Garmin). If you set "wx now" as one of your presets, then only the single text response from weebly counts against your overall text quota, which is far cheaper than using the built-in Garmin weather option. The summary message that is returned is succinct but I've found it quite useful. You can also include a latitude/longitude in your request message if you want to get the forecast for some location other than where you are at the moment.

druid wrote: ↑Tue Sep 19, 2023 9:51 pm I get NWS forecast summaries on my InReach from https://wx2inreach.weebly.com/ (which is not associated with Garmin). If you set "wx now" as one of your presets, then only the single text response from weebly counts against your overall text quota, which is far cheaper than using the built-in Garmin weather option. The summary message that is returned is succinct but I've found it quite useful. You can also include a latitude/longitude in your request message if you want to get the forecast for some location other than where you are at the moment.

I also find the "basic" inReach weather forecasts worthless and use the wx2inreach service. However, on my last trip wx2inreach was extremely slow to respond to my inquiries. It could take an hour or more to get a response.
-Phil

One feature of weather.gov I really love is the “Forecast Discussion.” When planning a trip, I start following the first daily update, usually in early AM hours. You get to know the personality of the on shift meteorologists. The early AM update usually gives a summary and an in-depth short term and long term forecast discussion.

I use it often for all parts of the country to get a sense of how the weather behaves and how it’s usually described by the NWS. It’s just a level or 2 deeper than than the grid forecast.

forecast discussion is great. and you’re right that there are many different voices contained within!