Ray's Weather Report Card: August 2026
Published October 10, 2026
We scored 31 days of Boone forecasts in August 2026. Open-Meteo averaged 90.0 and Ray’s Weather 75.3, a 14.7-point gap. Ray’s had two Wrong days, and one of them, a 51.7 on August 12, was the lowest grade any source posted all month.
Key takeaways
- Ray’s Weather averaged 75.3 in August 2026, just over the Right line, but 14.7 points behind free Open-Meteo’s 90.0
- Ray’s went 18-11-2 on the month, and Open-Meteo went 30-1-0
- Both of Ray’s Wrong days came on wet-forecast days, August 12 and August 21, when Open-Meteo scored 100.0 and 92.0
- Ray’s outscored Open-Meteo on 3 of 31 days, each by under 6 points
- Ray’s finished ninth of nine forecasters in Boone; MET Norway led at 95.4
How did Ray’s Weather score in August 2026?
Ray’s Weather averaged 75.3 across 31 scored days in August 2026. That is 0.3 points above the Right line, and the shape underneath it is lopsided. He posted 18 Right days, 11 Meh days, and 2 Wrong days. Open-Meteo averaged 90.0 with 30 Right days and one Meh, a 74.3 on August 27.
Every day around midday we capture each source’s forecast, then score it the next day against verified actuals from the Open-Meteo historical archive. The monthly score is the mean of the daily 0 to 100 grades. August had 31 days to grade for every source except OpenWeather, which has 30 scored days.
August 2026 at a glance
August was damp in Boone. Measurable rain fell on 27 of the 31 days, with an average high of 76.5°F and an average low of 62.4°F. A month where it rains almost every day leaves few easy calls, and Open-Meteo still held a 90.
Which Boone forecast was most accurate in August 2026?
MET Norway led August at 95.4, followed by Google at 95.3 and Visual Crossing at 91.9. Open-Meteo placed fifth at 90.0. Ray’s Weather was last at 75.3, and the next-lowest source, the National Weather Service, finished 5.4 points ahead of him.
How did each forecaster rank in August?
| Source | August avg | R-M-W |
|---|---|---|
| MET Norway | 95.4 | 31-0-0 |
| 95.3 | 31-0-0 | |
| Visual Crossing | 91.9 | 30-1-0 |
| Tomorrow.io | 90.2 | 30-1-0 |
| Open-Meteo (free) | 90.0 | 30-1-0 |
| OpenWeather | 87.0 | 27-3-0 |
| WeatherAPI | 86.6 | 27-3-1 |
| National Weather Service | 80.7 | 24-7-0 |
| Ray’s Weather (paid) | 75.3 | 18-11-2 |
Scores are the mean of each day’s 0 to 100 grade. R-M-W is the count of days graded Right, Meh, and Wrong.
What does the R-M-W column mean?
Right is 75 or above, Meh is 60 to 74, and Wrong is anything under 60. Ray’s 18-11-2 means he was Right on fewer than six days in ten. WeatherAPI also took one Wrong day in August, so a Wrong grade is not unique to Ray’s. The difference is frequency. Across the eight sources above Ray’s in the table, there was one Wrong day in total.
What were Ray’s best and worst days in August?
Ray’s Weather ranged from 51.7 on August 12 to 90.6 on August 26, a 38.9-point swing across the month. It was his only 90-plus day of August, and it came on a day of light drizzle.
What was Ray’s worst August day?
August 12 was Ray’s worst at 51.7. He called for a high of 80°F, a low of 66°F, and wind of 5 to 15 mph. The day came in at 75.5°F, 62.4°F, and wind of 18.3 mph. The wind miss alone cost him all 20 wind points, and the temperatures took another 18.3 off. Open-Meteo scored a perfect 100.0 on August 12.
August 21 was nearly as bad at 53.6. Ray’s forecast a high of 81°F with scattered afternoon storms, and Boone topped out at 71.9°F, a 9.1-degree miss that left him 5.7 of 30 points on the high. Open-Meteo scored 92.0.
What was Ray’s best August day?
August 26 was his best at 90.6, a day of light drizzle with a 74.7°F high against his 77°F call and a 57.5°F low against his 59°F. It was close to the standard the free sources hold most days. The tracker isn’t saying Ray’s can’t forecast. It is saying the good days arrive less often.
Why did the free apps beat the paid one again?
The gap sits in three fields. Ray’s averaged 23.5 of 30 points on the high against Open-Meteo’s 27.8, 13.2 of 20 on wind against 18.8, and 10.2 of 20 on precipitation against 14.4. His average miss on the high was 3.1°F, to Open-Meteo’s 1.5°F. On low temperature the two were nearly level at 28.4 and 29.0.
Wind is where Ray’s August cost the most. A forecast of “5 to 15 mph” is a ten-mile-wide range, so we score the midpoint and then tax the vagueness. A source that commits to a number can earn the full 20 and a source that hedges can’t.
Where the points go
Each forecast is graded out of 100, split across four fields:
- High temp: 30
- Low temp: 30
- Wind: 20
- Precip: 20
What does a 15-point monthly gap actually mean?
A 14.7-point gap is more than a letter grade. Open-Meteo’s August was a solid A- and Ray’s was a C. The gap widened from July’s 13.2 points, though it is still well below June’s 21.2. Through August 31, across the 178 days Ray’s has been scored since March 5, Open-Meteo averages 90.0 and Ray’s 70.3, a 19.8-point difference on the same days.
Week by week, Ray’s trailed Open-Meteo in all five blocks, by margins from 8.3 points (August 29 to 31) to 19.6 points (August 8 to 14). His best block, August 22 to 28, averaged 81.4.
None of this speaks to a ten-day outlook. We grade one-day-out forecasts, so seven- or ten-day lead time is a different question. For the argument behind the tracker, read is Ray’s Weather accurate?, and for the month before this one, the July 2026 report card.
See the live scoreboard
A monthly card is a slice of a record that updates every day. Open the live scoreboard, updated daily for every source graded as of today, or check today’s Dave’s Sweater Index for the sweater verdict. The data is public, CSV and JSON, scored the same way every day, and the whole series lives on the report card page.
Frequently asked questions
Was Ray’s Weather accurate in August 2026?
Ray’s Weather was passable in August 2026, averaging 75.3 out of 100 across 31 scored days. He posted 18 Right days, 11 Meh days, and 2 Wrong days. Open-Meteo scored 90.0 and was Wrong on no days.
What was the most accurate Boone forecast in August 2026?
Of the nine forecasters we track in Boone, MET Norway had the highest August average at 95.4 out of 100, followed by Google at 95.3 and Visual Crossing at 91.9. Open-Meteo was fifth at 90.0, and Ray’s Weather ninth at 75.3.
How does Dave’s Sweater score a forecast?
Each forecast is graded out of 100 points: high temp 30, low temp 30, wind 20, and precipitation 20. We capture the forecast around midday and score it the next day against verified actuals from the Open-Meteo archive. The scoring is snow-aware and documented on the methodology page.
Why did Ray’s Weather score lower than the free apps?
Ray’s gave up the most on the daily high (an average miss of 3.1°F against 1.5°F for Open-Meteo), on wind, where a wide range such as 5 to 15 mph is scored at its midpoint and taxed for vagueness, and on precipitation, where he publishes no numeric total.
What was Ray’s worst forecast day in August 2026?
Ray’s worst forecast day in August 2026 was August 12, scoring 51.7 out of 100, the lowest grade any source posted that month. He forecast winds of 5 to 15 mph and the day averaged 18.3 mph. Open-Meteo scored 100.0 on the same day.
Is Open-Meteo more accurate than Ray’s Weather?
In August 2026, yes. Open-Meteo averaged 90.0 versus Ray’s 75.3 and scored higher on 28 of 31 days. Across the 178 days Ray’s has been scored since March 5, it averages 90.0 against his 70.3. Open-Meteo is free; Ray’s extended forecasts are paid.
How often is a new report card published?
A new report card covers each calendar month, scoring every Boone forecaster against verified actuals. Between editions the scoreboard updates daily, so the current numbers are always a click away.
Want today’s numbers instead of last month’s? Open the live scoreboard, updated daily or read how the 100-point scoring works to check our math.