Thunderstorms question

[SwanVT2]

Thursday is our MK day. 85 percent chance of thunderstorms all day. What rides could this affect? Also will they close tom Sawyers island? Thanks.

 

[yulilin3]

Way to early to fully rely on the forecast 6 days out, wait until the day before to have a better idea, but, if it does thunder everything outside will close, If it's only rain almost everything stays open
Tom Sawyer wil close because of thunder

 

[kwdw]

Disney has these tight rules about lightning/thunder and the distance those actions are away from them. If x is true - outdoor things will close. And until CM's get the all clear updates - they stay closed. Sometimes it can seem annoying based on your very local weather experience - but I try to remember its all about safety when I feel that way!

However, if you can cope with dodging the rain/getting wet all day - you can have a great day at a park as those "pouring rain" days do really send lots of folks running from the parks and hiding at their resorts. It also means it sends them streaming into the parks as soon as it looks like its going to clear up.

I used to be a raining day parks person - but as I have been able to go to Disney more and gotten older these past few years - I am now one of those that makes the most of the down time staying dry!

 

[yulilin3]

Thursday is our MK day. 85 percent chance of thunderstorms all day. What rides could this affect? Also will they close tom Sawyers island? Thanks.

I just checked my local forecast (wftv) and it has Wednesday at 90% and Thursday at 20% again too early to tell. Also the percentage is not 90% of the day it will rain, it's 90% of the area will see rain at some point in the day

 

[Alesia]

When it comes to Central Florida, you absolutely cannot trust a forecast that is more than a day out, and even that isn't particularly accurate.

I recommend downloading the Dark Sky app. It is the most accurate weather app I have ever seen and is well worth the $4. It will tell you when rain is coming and how heavy it will be.

The chances of it storming all day are very small. An 85% chance of thunderstorms means that there's an 85% chance that there will be a thunderstorm somewhere in the area. It could be storming in Epcot but not even raining in MK

 

[tileman]

Yea living here in Florida all my life the weather will change from day to day
Friday I was going to mow my field
On Wednesday was calling in the 80s with sun
Well Friday I had light rain and low 40s
Crazy stuff

 

[cgattis]

I’m assuming with thunder, they stop running the rafts to the island. Does that mean you’re stuck there until the all-clear? Not many places to stay dry over there, best I recall. That’s something I never considered. Glad we never ran into that!

 

[unrequited23]

The Dark Sky app is very useful at WDW. We managed to time out indoor attractions and shows with the afternoon storms last July.

 

[yulilin3]

I’m assuming with thunder, they stop running the rafts to the island. Does that mean you’re stuck there until the all-clear? Not many places to stay dry over there, best I recall. That’s something I never considered. Glad we never ran into that!

they will clear the island if they see thunderstorms in a 10 mile radius. Same with skyliner. They actually have meteorologist on staff

 

[Betty Rohrer]

they will clear the island if they see thunderstorms in a 10 mile radius. Same with skyliner. They actually have meteorologist on staff

I know the small park I work at gets lots of complaints because most everything closes if thunder is heard and remains closed until 30 minutes without hearing thunder. and this includes when it is sunny but you can hear thunder. out small island area is one of first things to close because of getting people off

 

[joelkfla]

An 85% chance of thunderstorms means that there's an 85% chance that there will be a thunderstorm somewhere in the area.

As used by NOAA, Probability of Precipitation is the chance that measurable precipitation will occur at any specific point, not anywhere within the area. In other words, if PoP is 85%, and you are anywhere within the forecast area, there's an 85% chance that you will get rained on. If it rains for 5 minutes where you are, but that accumulates enough to be measured in the rain gauge, that counts the same as raining for 12 hours. PoP says nothing about how long it will rain, nor is it a direct indication of how much of the forecast area will see rain.

It's explained here.

I like to use wunderground.com, because they have a 10-day graph that shows predicted PoP and other weather factors by the hour. It can be expanded to a single day, in graphic form on the mobile site and in text on the desktop site.

 

[SwanVT2]

As used by NOAA, Probability of Precipitation is the chance that measurable precipitation will occur at any specific point, not anywhere within the area. In other words, if PoP is 85%, and you are anywhere within the forecast area, there's an 85% chance that you will get rained on. If it rains for 5 minutes where you are, but that accumulates enough to be measured in the rain gauge, that counts the same as raining for 12 hours. PoP says nothing about how long it will rain, nor is it a direct indication of how much of the forecast area will see rain.

It's explained here.

I like to use wunderground.com, because they have a 10-day graph that shows predicted PoP and other weather factors by the hour. It can be expanded to a single day, in graphic form on the mobile site and in text on the desktop site.

Yes I use weather underground. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[kiford]

An 85% chance of thunderstorms means that there's an 85% chance that there will be a thunderstorm somewhere in the area. It could be storming in Epcot but not even raining in MK

When we were there in early September, we were meeting friends at Epcot. We were coming in at the IG and they were entering through the front. They texted us that it was raining heavily and they were waiting inside Mouse Gear until it stopped. It was not raining at all in World Showcase. By the time we made it out of World Showcase, it had stopped and then headed to meet us in the middle of the park. Storms can be short, intense and extremely localized. Same trip, different day - we parted with our friends at Spaceship Earth. We headed to the IG, got caught in a storm that hit just as we got out of Epcot. They headed to the parking lot and saw no rain.

 

[MouseMamaToMany]

I really like the My Radar weather app. It’ll use your location and notify you when storms are approaching. Because WDW is so massive, the weather you experience at MK will be very different from anywhere else on property. My Radar will actually show you a real-time radar map so you can see the storm, it’s intensity, and the speed at which it is traveling. Super handy!

 

[OKW Lover]

Thursday is our MK day. 85 percent chance of thunderstorms all day. What rides could this affect? Also will they close tom Sawyers island? Thanks.

Not sure where you are getting your weather info, but the likelihood of thunderstorms on Thursday 2/27 is virtually nil. Of course its far too early for anybody (including me) to count on an accurate forecast this far out.

 

[randumb0]

There will not be any thunder or lightning in February. That only happens over the summer so you only need to worry about rain

 

[cgattis]

There can be thunderstorms any time of year. We had some intense lightning here in TN last week associated with a front that was spinning off a few smallish tornadoes.

 

[Alesia]

There will not be any thunder or lightning in February. That only happens over the summer so you only need to worry about rain

Thunderstorms are possible any time of year

 

[randumb0]

Thunderstorms are possible any time of year

Thunderstorms in Central Florida in the winter are rare

 

[Redarrow5150]

I believe the person who started this thread was asking for the procedures of when Thunderstorms or lightening approaches what happens to the parks. Read more on here about not trusting the weather forecasts cause they can change or what weather apps to use. Just curious what the procedures are when they give the go ahead once weather clears? What becomes of FP that were missed because of weather?