What's the Weather Forecast, Tacoma?

So what’s the weather in Tacoma like? Part of the beauty (and danger) of the web is that I can treat my weather questions like my doctor visits. If I don’t like what I’m being told, I can go get a second opinion.

I am going to be heading to Long Beach with the family and my wife told me the weather forecast was awful. Well, sure, if you looked at the weather report she was referring to. I had to dig around, but found a weather forecast for the days we planned on being there that was a bit more to my liking. That may defeat the planning purposes for these reports, but I like to look at the sunny side of life, literally. You may be thinking that these reports are all alike, but nope, not the case.

So where do I look. First stop of course is our good friends at the News Tribune. No doubt where many turn when looking for immediate forecast gratification.



Nice, but I'm not sure I like the partly cloudy business.

How about Weather.com?



Now that's more like it. Not only do I get another day in the low 80's, but Sunday is Sunny (Yay!) instead of Cloudy (Boo!).

What I really love about weather.com is they give you the forecast HOUR BY HOUR. This is particularly helpful in the winter when you want to know exactly when the snow is going to fall. "I'm setting the alarm for 3:00am to watch the snow start falling."

But let's check Accuweather. These guys also do the hourly, but in a not as precise 3 hour increment.



Given the temperatures listed are in line with the Tribs, I am thinking this may be the newspapers source of information. However, the bonus of going out to Accuweather is the "RealFeel" temperature. Hey, it's not what the temperature is, it's what the temperature feeels like that counts.

What I didn't like was Sunday's forecast for drizzle. Yuck. I therefore chose not to even show it and ignore the idea entirely.

Now Google gives the quick fix. Just type in Weather Forecast Tacoma and there you are. (As an aside, do you get the impression that Google wants to be the omnipresent solution?)



Following the Google information was a long list of forecasts to choose from. I am certain if I looked through them all, and treated my weather forecasts like a chinese menu, I could prepare the exact week I am looking for. "Let's see, for Friday I'll take the sunny and clear, but I really like the Sunday weather over on this one."

I don't know about you, but the week ahead looks like smooth sailing weatherwise to me.

FYI, If you are looking for accuracy in your weather forecast disregard the above advice and stick with the source that works for you.