twitch

In the summer, I check the weather several times a day. Two main reasons: first, I hate watering my lawn (no sprinkler system) and I really hate watering my lawn a few hours before it rains. Second, and more importantly, I hate riding in the rain because it makes a mess of the bike. So, if there's more than a 30 per cent chance of rain, I don't ride.

So, every time I have watered my lawn this summer because weather.com said it wasn't going to rain, it has rained. Every time! Last weekend, I rode down to my buddy's house to play cards. Weather.com said 20% chance of rain. Riding home at 2:00 AM, I ran right into a monsoon! I got drenched. My boots were filled up to the ankles by the time I got home. Later in the week, I took my car to work one day when weather.com called for a 60% chance. Might even have been 80%. Not a drop, of course.

But tonight takes the cake. I have been watching the forecast very closely because I want to ride tomorrow morning. All day long, the forecast has called for a 40% chance in the morning, nothing at all for tonight. So, early in the evening, I was sitting in my home office, going through mail next to an open window when the tornado siren went off. I thought, "WHAT?! It's a beautiful summer evening and the forecast didn't say anything about any storms!" So I checked the radar and immediately headed for the lower level.

So now I'm sitting here at my laptop on battery power with a 3G card and no lights. The power is out from the MASSIVE storm that blew through tonight. It's the same storm that made the national news for blowing out windows in office buildings in Chicago. Detroit almost always gets Chicago's weather. And yet, weather.com never called for rain. And yes...I DID water my lawn tonight!

__________________
2008 Rebel 250 - 11,500 miles

People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs. -- Alexei Sayle

cagie

Are you sure you have the right zip code in there? LOL

__________________
Comments contained in my posts are not intended to cause physical or psychological stress and are mearly my two cents worth, and in this economy, that's cheap!
87 CMX250C 'the Pygmy Pony'
87 CMX450C 'Black Lithium'

flitecontrol

Have you ever considered there might be a cause and effect sort of thing going on? The way I see it, you have a choice. Water the lawn and expect precipitation, whether predicted or not, or let your lawn dry up and have great riding weather!

BTW, I use http://www.wunderground.com/

__________________
I'm keepin' all the left over parts. I'm gonna use 'em to build another bike!

2001 Rebel 250, 1989 Vulcan 750
Putting your bike info in your signature helps others help you!

Guba

I purpously water my garden when I want it to rain. If I wash my truck or bike (rarely happens) I know it'll rain within the next 24 hours while I'm driving it!

Two years ago I watched a local news station religiously becouse the weatherman was the oldest most experienced that NE Ohio had. I continually got caught in down pour after down pour. I can relate to the "take boot off and pour out water" thing.

Last year I started watching FOX weather. They have what they call future cast. I got caught in one down pour and a spritz (just enough to mess the bike, and yes it was just washed). So far this year the times that I've been caught were becouse I haven't watched!

__________________
Some days beer tastes good...other days beer tastes better!

'07 Rebel 250 26,000 miles

Fridgitator

I use wunderground, too. They are always more accurate than the local TV guys. If anything, they are more likely to predict rain that doesn't happen. I drove my cage to work for a week when they were calling it 30% and I never saw a drop.

__________________

mad hatter

have a channel on my cable service called accue weather, seems pretty good. really like NOAA.

__________________
2001 Honda Rebel
jardine pipes
Twist the throttle, light the pipes and rip some rubber!

Fridgitator

Thing of it is, no matter how many fancy gadgets and high-tech computer models they use, weather prediction is still an educated guess at best. I can look out my front door and see rain across the street and predict that my yard will be wet soon. Most of the time, that would be a safe bet, but it isn't guaranteed. The farther into the future you try to guess, the worse the odds are.

__________________