DIY forecasting using clearweather.ca

The steps:

1. Look at real data to see what is happening right now and in the recent past:

While you display the data available here try to guess at why conditions change the way they do. This can be a simple thing like rising morning temperatures as the sun works it's summertime magic. But cloud, ocean water, wind direction and speed might mess with that simple trend at some stations so look for that. Use satellite and radar to see the larger scale picture. This can take some time initially but with practice patterns will repeat, you'll start to see what data is most useful

"Real data", as opposed to weather model data, includes radar, satellite, station observations, lightning charts and what you see out your window.

Display a map of your area using the Move menu. Look at recent station observations. Select "Plot Stations/All weather stations" to access more stations. Adjust the satellite visibility to 100% to see the effect.

Use the radar, satellite and the observations together to form a picture of what is happening now. If the radar shows precipitation, see how well the station reports of precipitation (p10m or p1hr) match the radar pattern.

Start from the Standard View and use the Move menu for large sector radar and satellite for the general weather and cloud patterns. Check out how low cloud and fog "burn off" on summer mornings or along a coastline. The "Links" tab also has links to satellite and lightning images on the EC website.

2. Check the official forecast:

In the View menu of the Standard or Station Centered views select "EC Public forecast regions- clickable" and choose a region on the map.
The current Environment Canada forecast will appear along with links to the 3-7 day forecasts. Does the forecast match what you're seeing on the radar? Can you be more precise about the next hour or two in your neighbourhood then the official forecast? Check out nearby forecast regions, particularly if your location straddles two regions.

3. Use a weather model forecast to add detail to the official forecast:

Select "Observations" and pick a station. In the observations box Select "3 day Model". The graphs provide a 2-3 day forecast for the selected point using an MSC forecast model that covers North America. The first three graphs are the ones to watch. As an example, if the official forecast has rain beginning tomorrow "in the afternoon" and you really wish it wouldn't, it might then be useful to see if the model rain comes in with a bang at 2 pm or if it starts slowly at 5 pm and builds into the evening.

Select "10 Day model" (next to the "3 day model" link) to see the long range model graphs.

Model accuracy deteriorates quickly beyond a few days so the question becomes: Can I trust the current forecast that's for 4, 5, 7 days into the future? To partly answer that question follow the "10 day models how to" link on the Links menu.

4. Practice

This takes a bit of practice but a couple of minutes a day and a little more on "interesting" days will do the trick. Pay attention to local effects tied to hills or mountains, valleys and larger lakes or the ocean and the time of day. As for background knowledge, there are plenty of online resources that explain cold and warm fronts, low pressure systems, thunderstorms, etc. That's not necessary for DIY forecasting but it can make things more interesting when looking at real world data and model forecasts.

Eventually, you'll be just like a professional forecaster, getting it wrong on a regular basis too!

5. Learn more

Common sense will get you a long way with the weather but for those that want more...

Start here at skepticalscience.com. It is a dense page on how weather works and includes many of the terms and concepts used by meteorologists.

UBC offers a course called "Weather for sailing, flying and snow sports" at https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/courses/atsc113/. It gets technical quickly but there's lots of good stuff there if you can navigate around the hard bits. Select the four links under "Learning Goals and Associated Content":
Flying Weather
Snow-sports Weather
Sailing Weather
Applied Weather

There are endless resources waiting for you on the web once you know the language.