Am I the only one dumb enough to check vacation weather 2 weeks in advance

Nope, I am the same way, I watch it every day leading up to a trip, BTW, I have a friend who is a meteorologist for the US government who told me that weatherbug is the best site for accurate forecasts.

Oh wow! I thought I was the only weather nerd that did this. I, too, always hope for no rain! I go into Plan B just like you and then it changes again. This year for my South Italy tour, the forecast flopped back and forth so much that it wasn't until the night before I left that I exchanged my regular Ecco tennies for the waterproof ones. I figured the worst thing that would happen would be that my feet would be too hot if the weather got hot. But I was certainly glad for the change as we did have downpour rain a few times.

I feel your pain:) Have a great trip!

I just PM'd someone asking about weather in Italy, in advance of our trip nearly eight months from now. Thinking ahead, you know. ;-)

I am also a weather geek. My phone still has the places I've visited--Budapest, Paris, Tallinn and Vienna will all be return trips--and I like to see what their weather is like throughout the year. I try not to get too worked up just prior to a trip because as you say, it's an ever-changing thing.

Interesting thought.

Weather forecasts are pretty good for the next 3 days, indicative for the next 10 days, and worthless beyond that. You should take a look at the climatology for the area in question. That would give you more information than a weather forecast. Particularly when you are picking your dates for travel. You can center in on the best weather for any area by looking at climatology.

Regardless, embrace whatever it is, enjoy the weather. It has to rain sometime and in some cases it adds to the experience. For example, we were on a vaporetto in Venice a couple of years ago in an absolute downpour! It was something to see as I had never seen it rain that hard in Venice. In Bologna it was about 102 degrees, then at night, we witnessed one of the most spectacular lightning storms we had ever seen. We are still talking about both of these events but we hardly ever talk about how great the weather was, only the extremes. I record the daily weather in my travel journal, and there it sits.....

me too. I just keep 6 weather apps on my phone, 3 on my laptop, with about 20 cities programmed in. Until Vista got unsupported I had 5 cities' weather reports running down the sidebar of my desktop computer.

Human nature

I am a weather checker.

That said, we just returned from Italy, and Venice was our last stop. All wether reports said rain-60-80% chance of showers most of the days we would be there. Imagine our surprise when we exited the train and we were greeted by perfectly blue skies and 76 degrees-for all 3 days we were there! Be prepared, but just enjoy! 😊

I'm in Anchorage on business. I checked the weather weeks before heading out. The only thing close to accurate was the temps. Even after I got here, a major storm formed unexpectedly. It brought high winds and rain, but not nearly as much as expected.

I try not to obsess on weather, but it's hard!

I do random checks, mostly for temps.

Rain does not bother me, I get better photos in worse weather. I also shift plans to visit indoor sites rather than archeological zones.

Well I'm going to Cinque Terre and there just isn't that much inside stuff to do. I can only sit in cafes and drink wine for so long (although I can do it pretty long.) If I think we're going to get three or four full days of rain I'll probably just take the train to Florence or Rome and stay there. Even if it means paying twice for hotel rooms. Whatever the weather, we're going to have a great trip in Italy - somewhere.

I was this year, but only for Murren. They were having such bad weather for the two weeks before arriving at the end May - even snow. I didn't have a plan for snow !!

I spent 3 weeks in Italy in May. The weather forecast, even for the same day, was often wrong. Example: We were doing a day trip to Florence from our Agriturismo located 18km east of there. We drove to the nearest train station and took the train into the city. The forecast showed 0% chance of rain. We left our rain coats and umbrellas in the car. Not only did it rain, it poured! And not just for a few minutes. It rained like that for a couple of hours. So much for 0% chance of rain. That was just one day, but I found that many days were inaccurate. My advice is to be prepared for anything.

I never check the weather more than 2 days prior to leaving. There is simply no reason to. The weather cannot be predicted accurately further out than that and even a 2 day prediction can be totally wrong. I do look back at the weather for the past week to see what the trend is but I would never look at a weather forecast for two weeks out. You're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

Donna

I check the weather...I don't change anything because of the predictions. I'm going in early May and I figure it could rain every third day and plan accordingly. Some days I might get a little wet.

We both check the weather a few weeks before. If rainy predictions turn to better weather, it makes us even more excited for the trip! Checking ahead did help a few years ago when Switzerland had a few cold days. I quickly bought a couple of pairs of tights to wear under my pants and packed a long-sleeve micro shirt to stay warm without adding weight & space in my suitcase.

I check the weather for my destinations frequently before my travels. I have been known to check Webcams too. With all of my checking, we still got rained on numerous days, and died from the heat and humidity this past June on our BOE 21 day tour. I am a weather nut!

Venice during the middle of June 2015 was so hot! Until it wasn't, and a wonderful downpour hit us right as we were trying to get to the train station to our next destination. The memories of laughing with my husband and sons, drenched to the bone, wearing sandals and trying to stay dry underneath the slim protection of store awnings is something I will never forget.
Having said that, I check the weather too. It's just natural!

I always check the weather too, but plan for contingencies. Wherever you go, you never know what the weather will be until you look out the window. ;-)

Well I started this thread, and now I'm back from our Cinque Terre trip. When I first started tracking our weather forecasts two weeks in advance, rain was forecast for 5 of the 7 days we'd be there. We had rain the first evening we arrived- followed by six days of blue sky and glorious sunshine.

So I guess the lesson is - don't bother with the forecast and be ready for anything.

I check the weather prior to departing to see what the trend is, mainly for temperatures. It is helpful to know if it may be much warmer or much cooler than normal in the part of the world I am going to. I never expect a weather forecast to be accurate. But I always pack rain gear and a jacket in case things turn stormy no matter what the predictions might be.

Will we be seeing a Trip Report from your time in CT?
Glad the weather worked out. About 3 days before heading to Paris at the end of May this year, it was supposed to be sunny to partly cloudy and in the 70's. A storm came in for the week and it was off and on rain/mist, low 60s and the Seine began to flood. Luckily I made sure we packed our umbrellas and raincoats.

I checked every day for a month out before our 3 week trip this Sept.
Used Accuweather's long range forecast and found it totally unreliable and would literally change daily in big swings.
In the end, Throwing darts at a wall would have been just as accurate.

I will likely do the same thing next trip but fact is until you are about 5 days away there really is no way to tell and even then seems a guess for the 4th and 5th day. 3 days is extremely accurate, anything longer might as well just look at an average of the weather on said day from past 3 years.

Odd man out. We rarely if ever check for the weather in advance. First, there is nothing we can do about it. Second, we are always prepared for a range of weather. But we do check every evening for the local weather for the next couple of days so we can adjust as needed.

But I also maybe the poster child for the attitude - Only worry about things you can control. If I cannot control it, it is not on the radar.

Weather forecast for Scotland - RAIN! Always. You will be right most of the time. So, no other forecast is needed for Scotland.

My time in Italy is very precious to me. I leave again for Italy in 9 months, 10 days and (if the plane is on time) 2 hours and 20 minutes. But who's counting! I already have my schedule with options for extending my time in any one place (I'm in Italy for 6-7 weeks). I have not YET started looking at the weather but I certainly will at least by the 1st of June. Right now I like researching what is happening at my favorite hotels, restaurants, rental apartments, opera houses, theaters, concert halls, special exhibits, and closing notices for restoration work. It won't be long and I'll start looking at train schedules too. Web cams are pretty essential all year round. For me, this is all part of the anticipation, the fun, the emotional connection I have with Italy and the wonderful people I have met there. Isn't it wonderful!!!!

I plan on going to Italy a year from now - exactly this week, and I've been checking the weather every day. So I'm checking it a year in advance LOL