5 Unexpected Uses of Weather Forecasts

When you hear “weather forecasting”, what first comes to your mind? Sure, knowing whether it rains on a particular day proves helpful if you’re planning a hangout with friends. We bet you also know that weather forecasting is instrumental in delivery and shipping, aviation, public transit, and construction.

All of these industries involve constant exposure of equipment and staff to the outdoors. However, these barely touch the tip of the iceberg. To find out what lies beneath the surface, let’s look at five more areas where accurate weather forecasting plays a substantial role.

Filming

The film industry presents a distinct set of challenges, and the weather has an impact on nearly all of them. Here are some examples of risks with outdoor movie sets:

• Many movies involve stunts with inherent risks: strong winds can be especially risky when a film involves balloons, helicopters, or planes. Controlled fires or explosions are required in some productions, and controlling them becomes more difficult with unfavorable weather.
• Film directors have a very specific vision towards lighting, time of day, and weather. When the desired effect can’t be achieved with SFX or post-editing, the only way to ensure a trouble-free shooting is to follow a weather forecast.
• Filming always follows rather strict deadlines, and actors may be extremely expensive to hire for a long time. Bad weather can easily ruin a full day’s worth of filming and require reshoots, thus increasing expenses.
• The film industry uses expensive equipment, such as scaffolding, tall ladders, and video camera cranes that must be safeguarded from harsh weather.

Strong gusts, extreme temperatures, and heavy rain can drive up expenses and even cause physical harm to on-set staff. AI-driven weather forecasting platforms capable of providing hyperlocal nowcasts are the best way to keep costs down and stick to the schedule. But where to find such a solution? Here’s a hint: Meteum is exactly this kind of platform.

Cellular Data

Generally speaking, any water in the atmosphere that comes between your device and the cell tower is not a good thing. Water drops impede radio waves on the frequencies used by cellular networks. That means rain, snow, fog, clouds, or high humidity can cause cell reception to drop off. This happens because water conducts electricity quite well: this phenomenon is known to engineers as the propagation delay effect.

This effect can seriously disrupt communications for airline pilots, the police, or anyone who actively uses radio in their work. But for you and me it means the cell signal is:

• Diluted by noise.
• Takes longer to get where it’s supposed to go (either to your phone or the tower) which we experience as reduced reception.
• The negative impact on your cell reception can vary with specific weather conditions.

The main takeaway is, if you’re using mobile data or satellite internet, it might be wise to check the short-term forecast before a day packed with important Zoom calls.

Retail

The retail industry is reliant on seasonal outlooks, much like construction companies. If meteorologists expect a cold and snowy winter, stores want to stock up on shovels and coats. Conversely, if spring comes earlier than anticipated, stores will get swimwear and garden supplies to the shelves even though it still snows outside.

Short-term, the benefits to the business can be more noticeable to customers. A forecast of a significant snowstorm can help with the decision to close a store early, keeping the employees safe. Accurate forecasts can help with staffing and hour of operation decisions, maximizing profit and keeping staff safe. In rare cases, advance weather alerts can provide a crucial window to get both employees and shoppers into a safe location.

Sports

Rain and thunderstorms can cause potential delays for sports teams trying to get their games in, but weather forecasts before the game are also important. Fieldwork during the season begins the moment the game ends, and accurate forecasts can be the difference between grass being scorched under a tarp or a flooded infield.

Chemical sprays and sodding similarly depend on the weather allowing the work to be done safely and efficiently. When it’s the offseason, the stadium may host other events, such as concerts and festivals. Rainfall can slow down the setup of a stage, or worse — damage the field itself. In a similar vein, car sports can also directly benefit from accurate weather forecasts since rain can reduce visibility and cause the tires to slip.

Meteum is your perfect weather forecasting platform no matter the industry. We provide both long-term forecasts and hyperlocal nowcasts accurate to the individual neighborhood. Our technology combines traditional weather forecasting models with state-of-the-art AI algorithms to deliver some of the most accurate forecasts on the market.

Your business will benefit from Meteum, and we have all the numbers to back it up. Find out more at meteum.io and grab your free API key to try out our diverse set of features.