Weather Widget Inaccuracy

My understanding is that the weather data is pulled from wherever the phone gets its data so important to ensure the phone has access to Locations set to Always On.

As an aside, here in NZ I only get the temperature . Garmin have still not been able to sort out access to the full weather information despite telling us they believe they know what the problem is.

Hey, it's happy hour somewhere, right?

The weather app is useless in my opinion, and it's an important cog in the wheel, because the temperature is used for acclimatization to higher temperature runs.  But, when you are running in 60 degree weather, and the app picks up a weather station 20 miles away, not much point if you ask me.

Thanks for the reply, that confirms my thoughts on it.  Couldn't figure out how it could be useful reading weather from miles away, initially wasn't sure if it was even updating.  Here's to hoping they can improve it down the line.

Have you checked that GCM has access to Locations set to always on? Along with that goes the need for GCM to be open so that it can refresh the weather data regularly. It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, if you do not have GCM on your phone on and the watch syncing to your phone, then clearly the weather information will not be updated.

GCM is just android, yeah?  I didn't specify but I am on an iphone, which could have to do with the issue, I know apple is slightly more limited than android in pairing with the watch.

GCM, Garmin Connect Mobile, is on iPhone too. Yes, iOS is definitely more restrictive than Android. When you install GCM to the iPhone access to Locations is initially set to 'Only while using the App' unless you select otherwise. You can either go to Settings and change it manually or wait until prompted to change to 'Always'.

Ah sorry, I work with google cloud messaging (GCM) a lot for work, my mind immediately went there.  Yeah, I do have that set to always on.  I guess it is working and just pulling the data from the airport or something which is like 30 miles away.  I have no idea but I agree with DontGetTheSwiss that the weather data is essentially worthless at the time.  Would be nice if you could see where the data is being pulled from, or better yet, be able to manually edit where it is pulled from.

Another user did some impressive detective work and concluded that Garmin uses the closest WMO weather station:

forums.garmin.com/.../weather-data-is-wrong-on-my-6x

It’s a long thread but look for the 7th and 8th postings from the end

And here’s a map with locations of WMO stations:

www.arcgis.com/.../item.html

Unfortunately for me, the closest one is 25 miles away and 2000+ ft in elevation lower, so unusable. It would be nice if they used a source that is more precise (like Dark Sky)

Wow, that is some impressive detective work and answers all the questions.  Thanks for linking.

My closest is also 20 miles away so not horribly inaccurate most of the time but certainly could be.  I'd guess the problem with being able to use most other sources would be additional drain on the battery or too much data perhaps?  Would certainly be a nice option though.  Even to be able to turn on/off or adjust weather source for battery life just like most the other settings.  Who knows, could be something they update in the future, not the biggest deal.  

So I am brand new to Garmin, having used Polar and recently Apple Watch for my exercises, running mostly, anyway had the Fenix 6 for 2 days after loads of recommendations and regretting the move already. The exercise weather data is wildly inaccurate, and the widget is useless with some temp that makes no sense. Having red through the numerous forums on here, and the internet generally, I am guessing Garmin have no interest in fixing.

If no fix comes, then it’s likely my brief flirtation with Garmin will be over!