Have you ever experienced that the weather symbol on Yr shows sunshine, but outside you can see the rain is pouring down? Predicting local rain showers can be a challenge - it is difficult to define in advance exactly if or when the showers will hit your location.
The live precipitation forecast (also refered to as «nowcast») is our most accurate and updated forecast. It it updated every 5 minutes and gives the user accurate information about rain or snow on their selected place.
Based on radar, it manages to catch the local showers that the model forecast sometimes are not able to predict, especially during the summer.
The forecast will appear at the bottom of the frontpage when rain or snow is expected on your selected place, either found from GPS/based on your current location or places searched for manually.
What is Nowcasting?
On the precipitation map on Yr, you can see how the rainclouds are moving. The Nowcast on Yr is using the same radar images to calculate a precipitation forecast for the next 90 minutes. The forecast is updated every 7.5 minutes, and it is the most updated forecast on Yr.
The forecast is local
The new precipitation forecast is computed for a very small region (1km x 1km!) in order to capture the local showers as accurately as possible. To see the most relevant forecast for your location, use the location search "Nearby" or search for a local place near you.
If you live near a station, church or school, it may be better to use this location name instead of the name of your city. When you search for Oslo, the precipitation forecast on Yr will apply for an area in central Oslo.
For which locations can I see nowcasting?
Nowcasting is computed for most locations in the Nordic countries. Some places are behind mountains or too far away from a radar, and hence the forecast can not be calculated for all locations. If you are viewing the forecast for a location outside the coverage area, you will not see the nowcast, only the normal weather forecast.
In the map below, you can see the the coverage of nowcasting indicated in green.
A new radar opened on Hafjell November 7 2016, and the coverage area for Nowcasting in eastern parts of Norway have been expanded since this summer.
For locations outside the coverage area, nowcasting will not be displayed. Also, if a radar is temporary down for maintenance or technical problems, the precipitation forecast will not be shown for locations in the surrounding areas.
Nowcasting is an independent forecast
You may experience that the weather symbols and Nowcasting display different information. The weather symbols are based on weather models that are updated several times a day, while the nowcast is calculated using radar images updated continuously. These two forecasts are independent and the new precipitation forecast is the most frequently updated forecast.
Where do I find the new forecast?
Nowcasting is currently available on the Yr mobile website and on the Yr app for iOS and Android.