Zumo User Forums

I have the feeling that the weather radar on the map shows the past hour instead of the coming hour
Of course, it's not so easy to say this for sure, but that's how it looks to me

Has anyone else noticed this? Or am I perhaps doing something wrong?

To be honest, I'm not interested in what the weather was like in the past .
I want to know what's coming (rain, etc.), at least an hour into the future, or even 2-4 hours

I guess the weather radar on our units is showing actual data rather than the forecast? There again most phone apps manage to do this, even if the results aren't always accurate for their guess of what is going to happen.

Knowing the rains etc direction and whether it has been moving towards me is helpful.

I stopped using the Zumo radar years ago when it stopped providing real time views while in motion. On my XT, I usually can not zoom in close enough to see exactly where the rain is in relation to the route. As you've seen, the display is also delayed, typically by at least 20 minutes. Since I have to stop anyway to check the radar, I use my phone to see current and future storm paths.

@Oop North John , @lkraus

I thank you for your responses, but they do not provide me with any further insight into my questions.

I'm interested in whether “only” the past is displayed. This can be seen from the time stamp on the short looped "weather film" shown on the map.

Whether and how exactly the content is useful is another topic. In any case, the past weather does not really help me.

So sorry I did not meet your expectations, I'll go scourge myself with a wet noodle.

I was pretty clear that the data was past, and not even recently past. You should have been able to reach the same conclusion by comparing the Zumo display to any of the weather web sites or phone apps that show current and predictive radar displays.

I've found the radar clip to be adequate for my purposes. With the route showing underneath it I can at least see if I'm heading into bad weather. It took me a while to understand that I had to be stopped for the report to work.

There is also "Weather" accessible from the three dots on the lower right of the screen. It supposedly give you the forecasted weather along your route. I've had mixed results with this feature.

Edit: Not sure if these comments are relevant as this is the XT2 forum and I have an XT.

The animated weather radar shows the last 2-3 hours of recorded weather. No forecast, no predictions. Just fact. I find that useful to see which direction the rain and black clouds have been moving.

The weather display at the right hand side of the screen shows the prediction along the route for the next 2-3 hours. I have found that to be quite good - and it seems to be reporting on what I can expect in my projected location at the time that it expects me to be there. I often have that displayed on long tours when the route is already planned and wet weather alternatives and escape routes have also been prepared. ***




Ignore the blue/orange links in the corners. I pinched the image from the XT2 simulation elsewhere on the site.

Usually it makes little difference to which way I go although I take much more notice if lightning or snow is showing. I wear full waterproof textile / Kevlar gear no matter what. Unless it is really very hot in which case I have ‘leaky’ textile mesh jackets, and summer gloves.

***I’m still a camper/long distance walker at heart, such things are important. The fact that I became a camper/ long distance biker, a hotel / long distance biker, a hotel / medium distance biker and am now considering becoming a hotel / medium distance triker has had little effect on how I plan. My top box & panniers have an emergency shelter, first aid kit, additional warm clothing, paper map, brolly, emergency food ….

I'm not aware of any radar app that shows conditions in real time. Most are delayed 15-20 minutes minimum.

The only real-time radar displays I have found are on some local TV station weather forecasts.

As others have said, direction of storm system travel is still useful, even with a 20-minute delay. Predictive future radar tends to overstate precip areas.

GPS units by definition live in the past. For example, your actual position is only updated roughly every other second. This is why the MPH display is most accurate when you travel at a steady speed. During rapid accel or decel it "misses" some readings and displays "old" information. Same for keeping track of distance traveled. It "misses" any slight course deviation between satellite samples. Years of comparing GPS distance to a calibrated front wheel sensor on my mountain bike illustrates this quite nicely. Depending on how twisty the ride is, the front wheel travels farther than the GPS.

-dan

I use the WeatherUnderground web site (bookmarked in my phone's browser) for current radar. There is a wunderground phone app, but it loads slower than my browser and the radar snapshots are delayed by about 5 minutes.

The WeatherUnderground 10 day forecast graphicss are also pretty easy to read and seem to be as accurate as any others.

Okay,
so we can note that the weather radar on Garmin's zumo XT2 and Tread 2 shows the past.

Looking at the past can also be helpful and is better than nothing.
A user-friendly weather radar should show the future, but anyone familiar with Garmin knows that Garmin often does not prioritize user-friendliness.

I cannot and will not use statements such as “GPS units by definition live in the past.”
If anything, GPS is for the present and specifically a navigation device i need to look ahead, i.e., into the future.
The fact that GPS also derives information such as speed and uses even the smallest necessary recent past for this purpose is a completely different topic.


Finally, I don't like the view of the past weather radar as Garmin currently shows it and will have to use other apps or websites.
Thanks for the tips mentioned here.