The weather forecast for Caerphilly is displayed on my Echo device, despite the fact that I live in Cwmbran. I haven’t been to Caerphilly in more than three years when I ask for “the weather today.” Why?!
As an example, the weather forecast I receive from Alexa, who uses AccuWeather, differs from the weather forecast I receive from BBC weather (who get their source of information from MeteoGroup). How can I instruct my Alexa to use a more trustworthy data source, given that neither AccuWeather nor MeteoGroup are the most accurate weather forecasters in the United Kingdom?
Weather predictions from Alexa may be inaccurate if your Echo device’s location is incorrectly configured separately from your Amazon address or if Alexa is using a weather supplier that is less reliable than the one you are used to. Fortunately, each of these concerns can be resolved quickly and easily with minimal effort.
This topic is provided in written form below, but if you prefer video, please view my YouTube video on the subject, which can be found here:
When it came to the weather, Alexa’s inaccurate town location was corrected.
If you’ve just relocated, you’ve probably noticed that your Echo devices are still providing you with weather information for your previous location. This means you’ve most likely double-checked the address on your Amazon account, yet the weather forecast continues to be incorrect despite your efforts.
Perhaps as a result of this, you went to Settings -> Your Locations in the Alexa app and double-checked that the location for your home was likewise up to date:
The general location of the Alexa application (which is separated from the state of an Echo)
And, guess what? There’s more! The prediction for the town is still wildly wrong. As it turns out, you’ll have to move Alexa to a third location in order for her to accurately predict the weather in your town!
It is necessary to alter the settings on each Echo device you possess in order to use this feature, which is a time-consuming and tedious process. Afterward, select “Echo & Alexa” from the drop-down menu in the bottom right corner and select your first Echo to begin using her services. If you scroll down to “Device Location,” you’ll see the zip code – or the full address – of your most recent place of residence: This is the position of an Amazon Echo device for a certain device on a specific network.
By changing this and saving it, Echo will be able to precisely anticipate the weather for your current location. The weather in [town] today, Alexa, how’s it looking? No longer will you have to do this. To obtain the desired response, simply ask Alexa the following question: “Alexa, how is the weather today?”
After updating the device’s location, the corresponding Echo may revert to its previous position for a day or two. This has already been brought to our attention. Don’t be concerned; you’ve already made the necessary modifications to the addresses and zip codes associated with your device, and the weather information for your location will be updated as soon as possible.
Who knows what’s going on with Alexa being in different locations on each Echo device
In my opinion, this is unique and inconvenient because each Echo device can be configured to a different address, which means that you will continue to receive weather information from your previous location even if you move. Even though this conduct appears to be out of the ordinary at first look, it is actually rather understandable.
A lot of people buy an Echo for a relative and register it to one of their own Amazon accounts, either because the relative does not have an Amazon account or because they are doubtful of their abilities to configure it themselves.
Aside from that, people may own a number of residences, such as a spring log cabin, a summer vacation home, or a winter retreat.
The option to establish an address for each Echo makes logical sense because the weather forecasts for those other households would be inaccurate if this option were not available.
I hope Amazon will implement one feature that I have requested: the ability to identify when you have relocated and to alter the addresses and zip codes of any Echos that have the same address and zip code as your previous residence.
At the very least, you are interrogated as to whether or not this is something you desire to happen. Your Amazon account and the Alexa app both show the proper overall address, so you’ll be baffled as to why your Echo keeps displaying weather for the wrong town.
It is possible to change Amazon’s weather source in order to obtain more dependable weather information.
In particular, there is one problem with my Alexa weather forecasts that irks me: when I look at the BBC Weather news, it states that today will be sunny/cloudy with a 0% probability of rain:
According to a screenshot taken from the BBC weather website, the weather forecast for Cwmbran is bright but cloudy today and tomorrow.
Afterwards, I query about the weather forecast for the day, and Alexa responds by informing me that there is a chance of rain. So, what precisely is going on in this situation? So, what precisely is going on in this situation? Why is it that there are no rain clouds in the sky, and various weather forecasts indicate that the day will be dry – what is going on?
After opening the Alexa app, you will most likely see the current weather conditions for your location, along with the term “AccuWeather.com,” as well as the phrase “AccuWeather.com.” The AccuWeather weather source, which is used by Alexa and the default Echo, will not be changed, unfortunately.
So, when you ask Alexa, “Alexa, what’s the weather?” she will always refer you to AccuWeather as a result. While AccuWeather is generally regarded as trustworthy, it does have some restrictions. Fortunately, the skill-based capabilities of your Echo device can assist you in receiving more accurate weather forecasts in the future.
Although needing to remember to say “Alexa, open [skill name]” in order to get your weather prediction is inconvenient, having a skill means that the skill can deliver significantly more variety weather forecasts than the default behavior of Amazon’s assistant. To activate the Big Sky talent, say “Alexa, ask Big Sky if it will rain in three hours,” and the Big Sky talent will use its own artificial intelligence to comprehend your request and determine whether or not it is likely that rain will fall in three hours.
You can activate this skill by saying either “Alexa, enable Big Sky,” which will activate the skill and use the address of your device to provide weather forecasts for Big Sky, or “Alexa, enable Big Sky,” which will activate the skill and provide weather forecasts for Big Sky based on the address of your device.
You can also use the Alexa application to accomplish this: “Skills & Games” can be found in the Settings menu under “Skills & Games.” To find “Big Sky Weather,” type “Big” into the search bar at the top right of the screen and click “Search.”
Moreover, it has one of the highest ratings among weather skills, garnering nearly 5/5, as opposed to 4/5 for the default Alexa weather skill and more than some region-specific weather forecasters, such as the Met Office, which is the official forecaster for the entire United Kingdom and has a rating of nearly 5/5.
By navigating to and within the Big Sky app, we can see some examples of the types of queries you may ask Alexa to obtain a weather forecast, such as:
- “Alexa, open Big Sky” – this is how you initiate a facility in Alexa and, by doing so, you can receive a weather forecast for your current location. It will provide you with an extremely detailed weather reading; more information may be found in the section below.
- If you ask Big Sky, Alexa will tell you whether or not it will rain in three hours. – Having this information is quite beneficial since it will tell you whether or not it will rain on the day you plan to go out, allowing you to make the necessary preparations in advance.
- “Alexa, ask Big Sky how much rain will fall tomorrow,” I said to Alexa, who responded positively. “Do you have anything interesting planned for tomorrow in the sun?” he inquires. To put it another way, understanding whether or not something is likely to derail your plans is always beneficial to have knowledge about.
By selecting “Enable Skill,” you will be requested to choose the permissions you want the skill to have when it is completed. Due to the fact that I did not need to provide notification or GPS/location access, I only selected Device Address and nothing else:
The following table lists the permissions that the Big Sky skill has requested.
By clicking “Finish,” you’ll be able to get the weather forecast from any of your Echo devices by asking “Alexa, open Big Sky.” Among the information you’ll receive is a very complete – and valuable – weather forecast that contains the following information:
- On the screen, you can see what the current temperature is.
- The current weather conditions are as follows.
- The temperature and meteorological conditions for the next hour are forecasted.
- Forecasts for the full day are provided (e.g. rain).
- The temperature is really high right now.
- Its actual temperature (i.e., how hot (or cold) it is forecast to be).
- The temperature has dropped to dangerously low levels today.
- The weather forecast for this evening’s conditions.
- The following is the weather forecast for the next 24 hours.
For me, the one disadvantage of using a skill when there are any national weather warnings or alerts, such as heavy rain or severe snow, is that it takes approximately 2-3 seconds longer for your weather forecast to appear when you open the skill rather than when you use the default Alexa weather source.
As a result, the ability to alter the default provider would have been beneficial; but, this is not currently an option — and there is no indication that it will become one in the near future.
What is the reason that Alexa does not allow you to change your default service provider?
To tell you the truth, no one has a definitive answer. It’s unlikely that Amazon, as one of the world’s largest corporations, will connect with Echo consumers on a regular basis in the same way that SmartThings and other smart businesses’ message boards do, given the company’s size.
Due to the fact that you can already tailor your experience with abilities, I believe Amazon does not see the need to provide an extensive set of customization options in addition to the default behavior.
Alternatively, Amazon can develop a fancy feature that automatically adjusts the default weather provider – which will cost money and increase Amazon’s own operational costs because weather providers can change and shut down… or Amazon can develop a fancy feature that allows you to change the default weather provider – which will cost money and increase Amazon’s own maintenance fees because weather providers can modify and shut down… or Amazon can develop a fancy feature that automatically adjusts the default weather provider – which will cost money and increase Amazon’s own operational costs because of weather.
Alternatively, Amazon can provide you with access to third-party talents and allow its consumers to select the most appropriate third-party weather forecaster for their purposes – all at no expense to the company in the process.
In that sense, the decision to partner with Amazon is a no-brainer. In addition, third-party abilities are useful to the company’s customers because those skills can supply substantially more features than conventional behavior.
The Big Sky talent, after all is said and done, is significantly more adjustable – and useful – than Alexa’s typical weather reports.
