Travel: Check the weather first.

In all of my trips -- near or far, I always check the weather forecast ahead of time. In most cases, it makes our Itinerary planning easier and our trip more worthwhile. To know when it is more conducive for beach-bumming, sight-seeing, museum-visiting or adventure-seeking factors out a huge percentage of not being able to do what we intend to.

So as asked many times, I'd like to share with you an easy to use application for smart phones (apple or android alike) and website if you're using the computer.

The application name is accuweather and the website is www.accuweather.com

                                 

The interface is simple. You search by area and you have the option to search by country, by province or by area. It can give you a general day and night or an hourly weather forecast. See sample for Hong Kong.

                       

Now this is the app: first, it gives you a 5-forecast from today. It includes Real feel, humidity, wind, and visibility details. Sunrise and sunset time up to minutes.

                       

it also gives you an hourly forecast which is easy to use. You just touch or click on the hour you want to check and instantly, it gives you the temperature, real feel, humidity and the weather condition ( rainy, sunny, windy or cloudy).

                        

Video reporting is also available in some territories and/or countries. As you see, the one above shows videos for for US.

                        

This one's pretty neat-- a satellite view of the whole world. You can zoom in to check a specific location.

                       

An additional feature which I really like is a table showing the activities you can do for the day. Like id it's a good day for running, beach going, kite flying, etc. It somehow gives you a grasp of what to expect for the day. This way, your itinerary can be more efficient and your time, better maximized.

So in your trip, before packing that floppy hat or that big coat, check the weather ahead. it pays to know. and of course, as Mom used to say," an ounce of prevention is better than a ton of cure."

Until then!

Cheers,

M.