How does the weather forecast work?

WxAdvisory takes your precise longitude and latitude coordinates, and retrieves a forecast for that location. The name of that location is resolved against a database of locations, so it should reflect an area that you're nearby.

What locations are supported?

If you're asking about a specific location, WxAdvisory can use almost any address in the world as the basis of a weather forecast. Locations can be cities, towns, street addresses, landmarks, geographic features, or even entire countries.

For best results, you should specify something reasonably small in size, such as a small city, suburb or street - a large city or country may have different weather patterns across its breadth, and it may not be accurate for where you actually are.

Why does it say my location wasn't found?

WxAdvisory uses a very large database of locations, including names in local languages. However, if you're living in a new subdivision for instance, it may not have made it into the records yet. In these cases, you'll need to nominate a nearby area.

There are also instances where the local name may not be officially recognised either, so you'll need to supply an official or well-known name.

Any location that appears in the search results will have an associated weather forecast.

What questions are supported?

A wide range of questions can be asked. You can ask about rain, snow, maximum, minimum and average temperatures, wind strength and direction, or just the general forecast.

You can specifiy a location (anywhere in the world), or you can use your current location. Your current location is determined by your phone's GPS signal, or if you're using a desktop browser, your IP address.

If you have a business version of WxAdvisory, industry-specific questions can also be supported.

There are endless variations of questions you can ask - WxAdvisory should understand what you want!

What are the green and orange ribbons?

You will see green ribbons on weather forecasts and questions. Clicking on these ribbons will add them to the homepage so you can see all your favourite locations at once.

Locations and questions you've bookmarked will have an orange ribbon - click it again to remove it from your list.

How do I set up alerts?

You can send a tweet to @WxAdvisory with the question you have in mind, or your location. Within a few minutes, you'll receive an answer or forecast. For a full list of the available options, click here.

Why is the forecast different to the alert I received?

The forecast is updated on a regular basis. If you received an alert at 3am in the morning, and the forecast at midday is now different, then that is because the forecast has been updated and the predicted weather may now be different.

What do the messages 'no weather data available' and 'nearby weather unavailable' mean?

If your phone cannot get a GPS location, or the weather forecast service is unavailable, then you may see this message. Try moving to another location and trying again.

You should also make sure that location services have been enabled for your phone.