Help me fix the FAQ

“What is the weather like in Italy”?
The best weather app to find out is the il Meteo app.

https://www.ilmeteo.it/portale/meteo-oggi

"What will the weather be like during X month?"
https://www.timeanddate.com historical weather

Weather Underground still has a great tool to look at historical weather for a given location:

https://www.wunderground.com/history

Not that past performance is a guarantee of future results, but at least you can get a general sense.

Between that and timeanddate.com (suggested by Mary), I think users have two good tools.

Forget weather.com for Europe.

Although local / regional / national forecasts (e. g. yr.no for Norway) remain the most reliable the forecasts of windy.com are above average reliable in European contexts. They work with European forecast algorithms. They offer map-based animate dynamic forecasts.

For checking weather forecasts in UK
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/

Weatherbase is one I learned about on this forum I think.

weatherbase

Does anyone have one that shows the average "feels like" temperatures?

I think many people, myself included, use Apps on their phone rather than a link to a website. Here are my preferences (Android)

In the US, and even internationally, I use Weatherbug. Easy & quick to add cities to it. Has a nice moving radar map for immediate rain prediction.

For Switzerland, I prefer Swiss Weather

For Germany, I prefer Weather24

I appreciate the fact that you would only want to have one or two websites to link to in a FAQ topic, but if I want to know what the weather in my hometown in the Netherlands will be like, I’ll use a local weather website. I would never use a website like weather.com
Right now we are having what I can only describe as an autumn like summer, with strong winds and scattered rain showers. Before I leave the door, I check www.buienradar.nl and www.buienalarm.nl to prepare myself. These websites show when it will rain, what the feel temperature is like, how strong the wind is and from what direction etc etc.

Also historical temperatures or average temperatures are pretty useless for where I live, because they are, eeh well, historical and average.
Right now the temperature barely comes above 15C and it feels even colder because of the wind. Exactly one year ago, the temperature was twice that at 30 degrees Celsius! The average temperature during the day for June should be well above 20 C. However if I would dress today based on historical temperatures or average temperatures, I would absolutely freeze.

I agree wunderground is still fine, the link Lane provided above is a more direct route to getting history. If you want to include some instructions, I'd say something like "Type in your city of choice and select a date in the past that is similar to your planned visit. You can adjust the search result to show daily, weekly, or monthly weather averages."

Timeanddate.com is also fine. Perhaps you could link to both.

So where does RSE get the data it uses to update the historical graphs it shows on each tour under "When to Go and Weather"?

It seems that should be enough, but what people really want is a long range forecast, not historical data.

Of all FAQs I would think weather would be the most ambiguous, changing, and uncertain of any FAQ in the lineup. It would seem to be such a thing that would never even be in an FAQ at all.
This is what an inquirer has to do. They have to go to Rick Steves, find the forum, go to the FAQs, read the answer and then follow the link. Four steps. I have a weather app on my iPad, which I can go straight to and put in a city. One step.
In fact, the answer to this FAQ about what’s the weather going to be in the forum reads quite a lot like many posted answers which have been maligned for being too curt and misinterpreted by an OP in the negative.

You've all certainly given me things to consider... from indicating an array of local sources to not including anything about weather in the FAQ at all. Much appreciated!

Do you all find that - as some of you have already noted - perhaps this isn't a frequently answered question anymore given the prevalence of weather apps on everyone's phone these days? I've just used the iOS weather app for the last 10 years - good enough. However, it didn't predict that time it hailed in Venice. :)

If no one's asking, I'll just eliminate that part. Maybe replace it with something else.

I learned about weatherspark on this forum, and I’ve found it supremely useful in looking at historical weather to figure out the weather that, in the era of climate change, is changing. What is given in guidebooks and blogs may no longer hold true.

I think there are 2 weather questions.

1. I want to go to X. Based on my likes/dislikes/preferences weather-wise, what is the best time of year for me to plan to go?
   
   This is where the sites with historic averages and ranges helps.

2. I'm packing for my trip to X next week. What is the weather forecast?
   
   This is where you rely on the 10-day forecast weather apps and maybe start checking them for several weeks before departure.

I had to search to find the FAQs you are referring to. I wonder at how many people would look under “General Europe” to find them? Perhaps the category as a whole could be more prominent and be included on the Forum splash page.

Andrew, alas I do find that people still ask the question frequently. I can't remember if it is acraven or another poster who almost 100% of the time kindly responds to the poster, pointing them to timeanddate.com, and explains how there they can find the past years' actual conditions.

(This would seem to argue for the utility of a faq. On the other hand, they are obviously not consulting the existing faq !)

I also think it is still a FAQ, and worth having an answer. And the two ways it's asked, as described by Hansen is accurate. I think that there are some people who dont know how to look, or think there is info available here they can't find themselves. Others just want some reassurance they are making a good decision. Not so much the factual answer which is, "who knows?", just wanting support.

I like www.timeanddate.com. In the weather section under “climate” it displays easy-to-read bar graphs of temperatures, rainfall and humidity for each month of the year all on one page. Type in your destination and it quickly shows you what months have the hot/cold extremes along with humidity and rainfall totals.
It still amazes me that some travelers have booked their flights for Seville in August or Norway in April believing the weather will be as it is in California during those months.
They are so in for a surprise!

Isn't there some website called Google or something that aggregates information?

weather.com bought wunderground in 2019, which explains why they have similar content. I haven't looked at it much since Jeff Masters, one of the founders, left for Yale Climate Connections shortly after the purchase. My impression is that wunderground is a shell of its former self.

weatherspark.com is my go-to. Although full of ads, weatherspark is the most comprehensive source I have found, and I always use it when planning a trip.

Alrighty. It sounds like it is still an FAQ, and that we really need to be answering two different weather questions. I think wundergorund is out as it's just not obvious as to how to use it for our intended purpose. I've used weatherspark.com and timeanddate.com as those seem like the easiest to use for the two purposes. I won't claim that my update to the FAQ is a total A+, but I hope you'll find this to be a reasonable update that can help others and (fingers crossed that people read it) cut down on questions. Thanks to everyone for their input!

(Thumbs-up emoji)

I think it looks good. :) And as you said, hopefully newbies (and oldies) will look at the FAQs first before asking. I'm sure some will. :-)