Which Site Has The Most Accurate Weather Forecasts?

by Dave Seminara on

Human beings have no control over the weather, but when I’m on a trip or planning one, I tend to check the weather forecast obsessively when the weather is not to my liking. If it’s too hot, too cold, too wet, or windy, I want to know how bad it’s going to be and when it’ll get better. And if the weather is just fine, I tend not to check the forecast at all, for fear of breaking the good luck pattern.

I’ve used a variety of weather sites, including CNN, The Weather Channel, Weather Underground, Accuweather, and a host of others over the years but have yet to find one that I think is very reliable for locations outside North America. I don’t expect long-range forecasts to be very accurate, even in the U.S., but when you wake up and check what the weather is supposed to be like that day, you expect it to be fairly accurate.

I’ve been traveling in Europe for the last two months and have all the places I’ve been to plugged into my list of cities on my iPod weather app, which is powered by The Weather Channel. It never ceases to amaze me how inaccurate the predictions are on this site/app, even for same day forecasts.Yesterday, for example, we were in Syros, Greece, and when I woke up and saw that, according to the Weather Channel, the high temperature here was going to be 84 degrees, I thought we were going to be in for a beautiful day. We planned to tour, Ermoupoli, the island’s hilly capital, on foot without the benefit of a rental car.

We left our apartment at 10 a.m. and it already felt like it was in the upper 80s and humid, and it only got worse from there. By 10:30, my shirt was already completely soaked through and I wanted to return to our place for a cool shower. I kept wondering what the temperature was but couldn’t find any signs displaying it.

In the evening, I asked four locals what they thought the high temperature had been that day and they all guessed between 34-37, which is 93-98 Fahrenheit. People are prone to exaggeration though, so when I got home I checked a variety of weather sites to see how they recorded the actual high temperature here.

The recordings ranged between 90-94, a far cry from 84, and the high temperature forecasts for the following day varied from the Weather Channel’s low-ball estimate of 82 to a local website’s prediction of 88. Of course, we’ve also enjoyed the serendipity of experiencing glorious weather when the forecasts called for rain. On one occasion, while we were in Lucca, the forecast looked so unremittingly wet and gloomy that we nearly changed our plans to go somewhere else – thankfully we didn’t because the weather turned out to be lovely. In fairness to all the weather sites, you really only tend to remember forecasts when they’re wrong.

Which site has the most accurate forecasts? A quick troll of the Internet doesn’t reveal a conclusive answer to the question. Five years ago, a site called Omninerd published a study that concluded that The Weather Channel and a site called Intellicast were best at making long term forecasts, but they found no clear winner in the short- to medium-term forecast category.

Needless to say, I take my forecasts with a massive grain of salt, especially using websites based in the U.S. for overseas forecasts. Let us know which sites you find to be most and least accurate in predicting the weather, or do you not bother to check the forecast at all, since there’s nothing you can do about the weather anyway?

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Update: The Weather Channel was way off on Syros weather again today. My iPod told me it would be a high of 82 today and it actually reached 92, according to local media here. TWC thinks it’s going to be a high of 82 here again tomorrow, but I’m not banking on it. Note to TWC: It’s hot in Greece! Much hotter than you think.

(Note: The National Weather Service isn’t used in the poll since it only makes forecasts for the U.S.)

[Photo by Mendhak on Flickr]

Chinese Architects Pose As Tourists In Attempt To Steal Plans For Austrian City

by Jessica Festa on

It’s not uncommon for different cultures to influence each other and even borrow ideas. However, China is taking this to the next level by literally transforming the industrial city of Huizhou into a replica of Hallstatt in Austria.

According to the Daily Mail, the plan, which will cost over $7 billion, was found out about when blueprints were left behind at a Hallstatt hotel. Apparently, the Chinese had been visiting the city for three years, getting the necessary information to recreate the buildings and environment – even including an artificial lake to match.

So, how do locals of Hallstatt feel about China’s plan? Most are pretty proud, actually.

Says Ingrid Janu, the owner of a souvenir store in Hallstatt, “We’re happy they find it beautiful enough to copy.”

However, there are those who are upset over the sneaky approach used by the Chinese.

“I don’t like the idea of knowing that a team was present here for years measuring, and photographing and studying us,” comments Monika Wenger, a hotel owner.

You have to admit, she does have a point.

What’s your opinion?

[Image via pipimaru]

Shroud Of Turin One Of 40 Fakes, Historian Says

by Sean McLachlan on

The Shroud of Turin has been causing controversy for centuries now. The linen cloth, measuring 14 feet by 4 feet, has what appear to be bloodstains on it. Also, the image of a wounded man can be seen, an image that becomes clearer when looked at as a photographic negative.

Now historian Antonio Lombatti of the Università Popolare in Parma, Italy, says the Shroud of Turin is a fake, and not only that, it’s not a very original one. About forty pieces of cloth purported to be the burial shroud of Jesus circulated in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Religious relics were popular then and now.

Lombatti say the shroud was given to a French knight in Turkey in 1346. This is the first concrete record of the Shroud and agrees with radiocarbon analysis of the linen. In 1988, the University of Oxford, University of Arizona, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology independently tested parts of the Shroud and each said it dates to sometime between 1260-1390.

The photographic negative image was well within the ability of medieval technology as far back as the eleventh century A.D., according to one researcher who made his own shrouds using medieval techniques.

Also, John 19:40 and 20:6-7 clearly state that Jesus was wrapped in several strips of linen, not just one, and that his head was wrapped in a separate cloth.

None of this, of course, will dissuade the thousands of believers who flock to the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, where the Shroud is kept and (rarely) exhibited.

[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

15 Crazy And Daring Ideas For Your Next Trip

by Jessica Festa on

While you may think you’ve done some crazy things on your travels, you’ll probably change your mind after reading this list. Planning your own kidnapping? Paying someone to torture you? Getting into a tank with giant saltwater crocodiles? These experiences are definitely once-in-a-lifetime, and not for the faint of heart.

Although some of these daring activities can be pretty – OK, very – dangerous, they have all been done time and time again by adventurous travelers. And, if you’re looking to take your adrenaline to the next level, or just want to try something new, you may want to consider adding some of these excursions to your trip itinerary.

For some daring and unique ideas for your next vacation, check out the gallery below.

[Image via Puuikibeach]

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Picture Perfect Patmos

by Dave Seminara on

Have you ever fallen in love with a place before you’ve even been there? Several years ago, I became obsessed with the Greek island of Patmos, after reading “The Summer of My Greek Taverna,” Tom Stone’s highly addictive account of his adventures operating a taverna on the island.

Stone fell in love with the place and decided to move there with his family after a Greek friend suggested they open a taverna together. Stone’s business partner swindled him but it didn’t diminish his love for Patmos, an island that’s been occupied by the Romans, the Venetians, the Turks and the Italians again from 1912 until 1948.

I’ve been plotting a visit to the place ever since reading the book, but my wife and I had one child, and then another. We finally got to Patmos last week, and unlike many places you fantasize about long before you visit, Patmos did not disappoint.Patmos is a special place. The island is best known for being the site where St. John the Divine wrote the Book of Revelation, but it also has stunning scenery, great hikes, lovely beaches, historic monasteries with frescoes and antiquities that date to the Middle Ages, great food and a bustling port. But there are quite a few Greek islands that have all of those things. What sets Patmos apart, in my mind, is the way locals and tourists mix seamlessly in a relaxed vibe.

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On many Greek islands and indeed many touristic places everywhere, tourists inhabit one universe and locals another, and their paths only cross in order to conduct commercial transactions, i.e. you buy, they sell. I did not have that experience in Patmos.

Unlike Kos, for example, no one thrust a menu in my face, or tried to pressure me into taking a boat excursion. I broke bread and prayed with the monks of St. John’s, I spent hours chatting with locals at Agriolivado Beach, and by the time I left the island, I felt like I knew half of its 3,000 inhabitants. I asked Kostas Chatzakis, a banker I met on the island, if there were any tourist traps to avoid.

“There are none,” he said. “If a place wasn’t any good, we wouldn’t go there and they’d go out of business.”

And he was right. I never had a bad meal on the island, and, in fact, I had some unbelievably good grilled octopus, calamari and souvlaki, always for less than 10 euros. It’s a beautiful island for hikers, a terrific spot for seafood lovers and for those with a love of history and beaches. But what I loved about the place is that I never felt like a tourist and was never treated like one.

The best way I can describe Patmos’s laid-back hospitality is to tell you about Andreas Kalatzis, an artist I met who lives in a tiny, 400 year old house in Hora, right near St. John’s Monastery. I’d heard that an artist had a small studio somewhere in Hora, but couldn’t find it. A neighbor pointed me to Andreas’s tiny house, and he answered the door in his bare feet, which were appropriately splattered in paint.

Kalatzis has a small but impressive gallery in the first floor of the house to demonstrate his work, but he has no sign outside, no website, no email address, and like everyplace else in Patmos, there is no number on the door or street name. After seeing some of the religious icons and other paintings he does, I asked him if he had a business card.

“Sure, I do,” he said, before tearing out a large piece of construction paper from a sketchbook.

He then filed off a square of paper with a razor, then dumped a big dollop of gold colored paint onto his left hand, and reached for a fine paintbrush with his right. I had no idea what was going on, but in a matter of minutes, he’d painted a beautiful little image of an angel releasing a bird. He dated it, and wrote his contact info on the back before handing it to me. (see right)

“Here you go,” he said. “There’s my business card.”

If you go: You can fly to Kos or Samos on a variety of discount and charter airlines and then Patmos is a three- to four-hour ferry ride from either place. I spent a week in a lovely two-bedroom apartment at the Hotel Australis in Skala for just 50 euros a night in late May (the price goes up deeper in the season). The family who runs this place would give you the shirts off their back.

My favorite places to eat were Pitta Konne for souvlaki and Trechantiri Taverna for seafood. And Jimmy’s Balcony in Hora has the best view of any restaurant I’ve ever been to, and the food and drinks are quite good as well.

I’d recommend using Skala as a base, but make sure you rent a car or moped for at least a day to check out all of the island’s nooks and crannies. My favorite beaches were Psili Ammos, which requires a 30-minute hike, Agriolivado, and Kambos. If you want to have a great meal right on the beach, check out the taverna on Lambi Beach, in the north of Patmos. Be sure to hike up to the Ancient Acropolis, and for a truly unforgettable experience ask the monks at St. John’s Monastery, built in 1088, about attending one of their prayer services.