“Why would I ever waste my money paying for weather???? There are so many FREE ways to get weather- the local news, National Weather Service (NWS), and of course my phone apps. Why would I ever pay for weather? Meteorologists never get it right anyways.”
“Why would I ever pay for weather?” A question we’re asked way too often that is hard to answer because no matter what we say, folks have it set in their minds that the free info is the best. The best answer to that question- “You get what you pay for”. Free apps can be great tools to get an idea of the high temp, if there’s a 10% or 90% chance of rain today, when the sun rises and sets…etc. But if you are someone who runs/ is part of an operation that’s influenced by weather (a farmer, event organizer, school district, landscape company, sports team, concrete pourer…etc.), why is limited information good enough?
Yes, our service costs money. Why? Because our service provides value you cannot get from free weather sources. Your app will not send you texts at 4 AM letting you know the timing of a cold front that will bring strong storms that day. You cannot call your local news station to see when the back edge of a snow system will reach you. The NWS does not provide your event updates without you having to ask. These are all things we do to give you the most accurate, detailed, up-to-date information so you know what’s coming. We take the guesswork out of weather so you are not left wondering what is going to happen next!! Below is an image from a free app that we received from an event leader in Indy- they were asking for details about the rain and if it would end in 20 mins like the app says it would:
There was no rain within hundreds of miles of this location. The free app was detecting ground clutter (not precip) and displaying it as rain. Had this event leader not contacted us, they would have more than likely altered their plans based on the “rain” on radar (an event that had zero tolerance for precip)
Here is another image from Columbus, OH that “shows” some light precipitation. Once again, there was no rain on radar. Apps are a tool to get an idea about what could happen, but decisions of any kind (landscape jobs, school closings…etc )should not be made from this!!!
Another example of why you should take the weather worry out of your hands and place it in the hands of professionals that are constantly monitoring events- a nice pocket of rain was on radar and if you saw this and had no clue what it was doing and the timing of it, you would think the Indy Metro area is going to get hit with a pocket of some moderate to at times heavy rain soon and you’d probably change plans/ prepare for this:
These two texts were sent to an event in downtown Indy regarding that precip in the image above:
This is what radar looked like as the precip passed downtown Indy- dry air ate at those heavier showers turning them into a light rain/sprinkles and went just north of this event:
Your free app cannot tell you this! It would say something like “1 PM- 60% chance of scattered showers and storms”. Will this precip be more of a shower or a heavy downpour? Is there lightning associated? What are wind gusts looking like as the cell moves through? Will this last for 10 mins or 60 mins? What has the storm produced accumulation wise? When is the leading edge looking to hit? These are all questions that BAMWX WILL answer for you! As an event producer/ groundskeeper/ school district, why would you wait for weather to happen and then react to it when you can know what is going to happen before it does?! Be proactive, not reactive when it comes to making weather related decisions!
Here is another example where it pays to have a weather provider! We gave an event in Indy a 3-hour lead time on light rain:
It’s easy to say “yeah whatever, this was sprinkles”, but that’s not the point. This could be hail, a damaging wind gust, a cell with lightning…etc. An app simply cannot tell you all of the conditions that will affect you, especially if you are an event that has certain severe weather thresholds.
Another example of why someone would pay for our services- this was a text sent to an event in Iowa:
Had this event organizer looked at her favorite free (or even paid) app, she would have probably seen something like “7, 8, 9 PM – 70% chance of showers and storms”. Your app just does not give the details necessary when you are in charge of keeping thousands of people safe!
Our service is not just for events! We are available 24/7 call/text/email so that we can provide you with the best information possible. Our goal is to explain the conditions we are seeing so that you can make the best decisions for your operation.
Concrete pourers call asking if they can pour between X AM and X PM and when we say it looks like the bulk of the storms will go south of them, they are surprised and say “Oh, my app said 60% chance of rain so I wasn’t going to pour today” This simple text allowed this pourer to make money on a day he was going to hold off, and the profit from that one pour job he wasn’t going to do just paid for our yearly subscription!!
We’ve had similar situations happen with snow removal companies. We tell them snow is expected to move in 2 hours later than what their app says. When it does move in 2 hours later, they just saved 2 hours’ worth of payroll that just paid for our yearly service.
As we work later into fall/winter, freezing fog morning become more likely. Here is a text that was sent out to clients discussing location and possible duration of fog- all information clients received without having to roll out of bed. This may not have an impact to some, but to others (like a school district), this could have impacts on the morning commute that district leaders should know about before walking out the door:
To the event organizer’s– Let us watch radar so that you have one less task to worry about. Let us be the ones reaching out so you don’t have to be constantly hoping that your app or some other free source of weather is right. Hoping that the worst won’t hit your event is the worst kind of planning. Don’t be the next news story about a stage collapsing or someone getting struck by lightning.
To the school district’s– Let us be the ones telling you that the big band of snow on radar will dissipate before it reaches you. The safety of students starts with having the most detailed information on the current conditions and apps just can’t provide that detail. Apps/ TV stations can’t text you custom alerts as you are out inspecting the roads or watching the rest of a sporting event.
To the concrete pourer’s– Let us help you make decisions on pouring. You should not have to try and average out what 3 TV stations and 4 apps are saying when you hear “40% chance of rain”. Weather information can be a lot more detailed than just “scattered showers and storms today”.
To the landscapers/ snow removal companies– Let us be the ones to give you the heads up on the timing of a line of storms/ band of snow so that you stop wasting payroll. Apps can’t provide verified snowfall totals or rainfall accumulations.
To the farmers– Let us be the ones that give you over a week+ notice on warm/cool spells. You should not have to hope that your free app is right 10+days out when it can’t even tell you what is going to happen tomorrow. A simple email/call/text can help you make your decision if today is a good day to spray/plow/plant…etc.
Why try and play meteorologist when you have a team of professionals that are monitoring things 24/7?
After all, you get what you pay for.
To help your business/operation run more effectively, reach out- [email protected] so we can SHOW you why we are different instead of just telling you!