Reasoning Behind The Methodology


Why use 3 Hour Time Increments?
3 hour increments cover the requested time period thoroughly, because rain is unlikely to materialize and disappear within 3 hours.

Why is a 30% 'Chance of Precipitation' the cutoff for the test?
Meteorologists consider less than 30% 'Chance of Precipitation' to be a 'Low' likelihood of rain.

Why use both 'Chance of Precipitation' and 'Rainfall Volume' in the test, instead of only 'Chance of Precipitation'?
'Chance of Precipitation' predicts if at least 0.01 inches of rain will occur. 0.01 inches is a very small amount of rain. So to solve the problem of potentially excluding locations with a high 'Chance of Precipitation' but very little actual rainfall, the program tests for 'Rainfall Volume' in addition to 'Chance of Precipitation'.

Why is 1.5mm of 'Rainfall Volume' the cutoff for the test?
Openweathermap.org considers 'Rainfall Volume' greater than 3mm during a 3 hr period to be 'moderate rain' anything less is considered 'light rain'. So I halved the 3mm and allow locations with less than 1.5mm of rain to be considered 'no rain' locations because if the 'Rainfall Volume' is nearing 'moderate' level, than a user may still get significantly wet if they travel there, while the 'lighter' half of the 'light rain' range means it should be dry enough to enjoy a day outside.

*This program provides results based on weather forecasts and actual results will vary.
**Weather data is obtained from openweathermap.org

Rain Escape v1.0 Developed by Brian Stamile 2022"

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