ROAD TRIP<\/p>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t Updated 4\/27\/21<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t Dear H+A:\u00a0<\/i><\/strong><\/p> My husband and I are planning on taking a road trip as soon as conditions permit, and I\u2019m always in charge of finding alternate routes when we run into a big storm.\u00a0 Other than checking local weather conditions before our drive, can you tell me to how to track the weather before and during our trip?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/strong><\/p> Specifically, can you recommend a website or app that I could add to my cell phone before our trip that would give me a weather forecast and real-time radar to storm track?\u00a0<\/i><\/strong><\/p> Many thanks in advance,<\/i><\/strong><\/p> Ren\u00e9e<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t Dear Ren\u00e9e:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> That\u2019s a great question!\u00a0 You\u2019re not alone in wanting to hit the road again.\u00a0 Apparently, <\/span>a lot of people<\/span><\/a> are going to be taking road trips once conditions improve in their regions.\u00a0 Given that <\/span>approximately 21% of all vehicle crashes<\/span><\/a> in the United States are weather-related, however, bad weather can adversely affect not only your highway speed but your safety on road trips.\u00a0 After a few days of test-driving some websites and apps, we do have some suggestions for tracking the weather before and during your road trip.<\/span><\/p> Because there are hundreds of weather, radar, and road trip planning websites and apps, we decided to focus on free resources that would be compatible with both Android and iOS devices and specifically addressed the problems of (1) how to factor the weather forecast into a road trip plan, and (2) how to track the weather during a road trip.\u00a0 If you don’t want to download an app, note that you can use your smartphone or tablet\u2019s internet browser to access similar information on various websites.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t You can stay safer and save time by factoring the weather forecast into your route selection before leaving your home or hotel.\u00a0 One of the more helpful free trip-planning apps available is <\/span>Morecast\u2019s Weather Forecast, Radar & Widget<\/a><\/span> app.\u00a0 If you select the \u201cNavigate\u201d option, you can enter your final destination and multiple stops along the way:<\/span><\/p> If you are trying to decide between going to the beach or the mountains, use the \u201cCompare\u201d option to get a side-by-side display of the forecast at both locations for 24 hours, 3 days, 7 days, or 14 days:<\/span><\/p> The <\/span>National Weather Service<\/span><\/a> also has an <\/span>experimental website<\/span><\/a> that provides even more detailed route forecasts.\u00a0 Right-click anywhere on the map to set the start and end points, and use the blue location icon to add any anticipated stops along the route: <\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t The NWS Enhanced Data Display shows bad weather icons along the route that, when clicked, reveal snow\/ice levels, the probability of precipitation and amounts as well as the temperature, wind chill, dew point, relative humidity, and wind speed\/maximum gusts\/direction.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p> You should also make sure that your cellphone is set to receive <\/span>Wireless Emergency Alerts<\/span><\/a> (WEA).\u00a0 The WEA system is \u201ca public safety system that allows customers who own compatible mobile devices to receive geographically targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area\u201d regarding:<\/span><\/p> The WEA system does not track your location.\u00a0 Instead, they push a message out to the cell towers in a particular geographic area, which will include your cellphone if it is WEA-capable, switched on, and in the vicinity of and receiving service from a cell tower of a wireless carrier that participates in WEA.\u00a0 Because the alerts include imminent threats, you can receive timely and <\/span>life-saving warnings<\/span><\/a> about tornados, flash floods, hurricanes, dust storms, extreme wind, and tsunami at home and on your road trip.\u00a0 If you generally keep those WEA notifications off, a road trip might be a good time to switch them back on temporarily.<\/span><\/p> Have you ever heard of the weather proverb:\u00a0 \u201cThe higher the clouds, the finer the weather\u201d?\u00a0 Sometimes reading the sky will give us a very clear weather forecast, and sometimes weather just happens.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p> For example, let\u2019s assume that you are four hours into your trip and, out of nowhere, it starts to rain.\u00a0 If you want to determine the size, direction, and anticipated severity of the storm, it would help to have an interactive radar that will allow you to move the screen and adjust for the opacity of the clouds to see your vehicle\u2019s location with respect to street names and highway numbers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p> Depending on the size of the storm, you also might need a few hours of future radar predictions to see where the storm is headed.\u00a0 For example, on our last road trip to North Carolina, we ran into torrential rain coming and going on our trips east and west and had to decide whether to (1) choose a different route and avoid the storm, or (2) time our meals strategically so that we were eating while the worst of the storm passed overhead.\u00a0 An interactive radar app that displays at least a few hours of future radar predictions is more likely to show you exactly when the highway will be free from cloud cover.<\/span><\/p>How Should I Track the Weather Before and During a Road Trip?<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
A.\u00a0 How to Factor the Weather Forecast Into a Road Trip Plan<\/b><\/h2>
1.\u00a0 The Morecast Weather Forecast, Radar & Widget App<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>
![\"list](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/HA-Morecast-Navigate-with-Stops.png?resize=516%2C375&ssl=1\")
Morecast will then calculate the amount of time it will take you to complete the trip from start to finish and display the weather forecast along your route, including the temperature, cloud cover, inches of precipitation, and wind speed\/direction:<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/HA-Morecast-Navigate-with-Forecast-Buttons.png?resize=500%2C667&ssl=1\")
<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/HA-Morecast-Comparison.png?resize=500%2C667&ssl=1\")
<\/p>2.\u00a0 The National Weather Service’s Experimental Website<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/HA-NWS-Experimental-Route-Forecast.jpg?fit=1024%2C464&ssl=1\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/HA-NWS-Experimental-Route-Forecast-Popup.jpg?fit=1024%2C657&ssl=1\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t3.\u00a0 Enable Wireless Emergency Alerts<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>
B.\u00a0 How to Track the Weather During a Road Trip<\/b><\/h2>
1.\u00a0 The Weather Channel App<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/The-Weather-Channel-Settings-Follow-Me-1.png?resize=358%2C333&ssl=1\")
<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/HA-The-Weather-Channel-Layers.png?resize=500%2C667&ssl=1\")
<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/The-Weather-Channel-Severe-Alerts-1.png?resize=500%2C485&ssl=1\")
<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/HA-The-Weather-Channel-Icons.png?resize=500%2C613&ssl=1\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>![\"second](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/HA-The-Weather-Channel-Hail-Page-2.png?fit=1503%2C1270&ssl=1\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t![\"an](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/HA-The-Weather-Channel-Hail.png?fit=1493%2C1084&ssl=1\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/HA-The-Weather-Channel-Roads-Above-Weather.png?resize=500%2C539&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t![\"weather](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/The-Weather-Channel-Weather-Below-Road.png?fit=1520%2C1832&ssl=1\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t![\"weather](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/handaathomeandaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/HA-The-Weather-Channel-Edge-of-Storm.png?fit=1526%2C1828&ssl=1\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t