I know that lots of people listen to the news and get weather updates on the hour. I think that you have to remember what your minute is...every hour at 8 minutes past the hour or something like that. I use WeatherBug. It's a program that you can download and use for free. In return, the company asks that you pick out a couple of advertisers and allow them to send you promotional offers once in awhile. That's a fair trade-off in my mind. In return, I have the current temperature displaying on my computer screen and I get severe weather alerts instantly when a little weather bug icon replaces the temperature icon and starts beeping unrelentlessly. WeatherBug also provides 7-day forecasts and just about everything else that your weatherman predicts on the nightly news.
Now the BIG question is, "What makes WeatherBug so great?" The company was originally developed as sort of a school project. They placed live cameras and weather tracking devices at schools across the country in order to aid the teachers and students in science classes. It grew from there and developed into a national weather service that is now used by our own Homeland Security as well as by over 100 television broadcast stations. They are now the world's largest proprietary weather network with over 8,000 weather tracking stations across the U.S. and 1,000 live cameras. I live on the ocean and my area has 10 tracking stations that I can choose from in order to get the most up-to-date weather. My feed is coming from the local high school which is .45 miles away and it also has a live camera. At a glance, I can tell exactly what the temperature is and just how strong the wind is blowing. If a severe storm is coming, my little bug friend starts chirping like crazy, warning me to clear the deck and batten down the hatches! You can also go into WeatherBug and view live pictures from the cameras. I just went in and looked at a live camera shot from Philadelphia, PA and another one from Wildwood, NJ. It's a calm night in the northeast! WeatherBug is also available for mobile phone users and there is lots more information for boaters. Check it out! http://weatherbug.com/
