Plitsch

Will it rain soon? Plitsch tells you for the next hour, minute by minute: whether it will rain, when it starts, how heavy it gets and how long it lasts. In Germany, Plitsch works from the German Weather Service’s rain radar. A new radar image comes in every five minutes, on a one-kilometer grid. NOW The answer comes first, in large type: “Yes.”, “No.”, or “Barely.” when only a few drops are expected. Below it you see when, like “In about 25 minutes.”, and a chart of the rain over the hour. Yellow and orange show how much time you have left. Once it’s raining, the screen turns blue. If it’s snow rather than rain, Plitsch asks about snow. WHEN PLITSCH ISN’T SURE If the latest forecast is too old, Plitsch says so. If data is missing for a stretch, the chart leaves that stretch empty. In Germany, Plitsch checks its forecasts against what the radar measured afterward. The forecast accuracy…