National weather service or your local weather service?

Question

I am having trouble deciding which weather outlet is more reliable. Sometimes their forecasts are quite different from each other. Which makes it hard to know what is right and what is not right. Thanks!

Answer 1

Well, there is only ONE National Weather Service, with 120 "local" offices across the country. Your tax dollars hard at work. Media outlets and on line resources get a lot of their information from the NWS, whether it be the forecasts, or the data and models to make their own forecasts. The NWS is really the backbone of weather for the United States, and is the only entity that can issue severe weather watches/warnings/advisories. They also have highly trained staffs, local expertise, and the latest in science and equipment. So, I would definitely start with the NWS.

Answer 2

I'm not sure what you're talking about. Who is your local weather service? Some states have climatological and hydrological offices, but they leave the weather forecasting to the NWS. The weather people on television usually get their forecasts from the NWS also. Accuweather and The Weather Channel make their own forecasts but they are not local. Perhaps you're thinking about the local office of the National Weather Service--those are the ones that I turn to.