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Where to Go for Great Weather

Life's too short for bad weather

About This Project

Where to Go for Great Weather is an interactive vacation planning tool that helps you find the best destinations based on weather conditions worldwide. Whether you're seeking sunshine, mild temperatures, or dry seasons, this application visualizes global weather patterns to inform your travel decisions.

Data Sources

ERA5 Reanalysis

The temperature and precipitation data in this application comes from ERA5, the fifth generation ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) reanalysis for global climate and weather.

Variables included:

  • Temperature (tmin/tmax): Monthly minimum and maximum temperatures in °C (derived from 2m temperature)
  • Precipitation (prec): Monthly total precipitation in mm

Time Period: 2020-2024 (5 years monthly averages)

Resolution: 0.25 degrees (~28 km)

License: CC-BY 4.0 (free for commercial use with attribution)

Citation: Hersbach et al. (2020): ERA5 monthly averaged data on single levels. Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS). DOI: 10.24381/cds.f17050d7

Attribution: "Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information"

Website: https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/

CRU Sunshine Hours

Sunshine hour data is derived from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) Time-Series dataset v4.09, which provides high-resolution gridded climate data.

Resolution: 10 arc-minutes (~18 km)

License: Open Government Licence v3.0 (free for commercial use with attribution)

Citation: Harris, I., Osborn, T.J., Jones, P. et al. Version 4 of the CRU TS monthly high-resolution gridded multivariate climate dataset. Sci Data 7, 109 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0453-3

Attribution: "Climatic Research Unit (University of East Anglia) and NCAS"

Website: https://crudata.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/hrg/

OpenStreetMap

The interactive map base layer is provided by OpenStreetMap, a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world built by volunteers around the globe.

License: Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL)

Attribution: © OpenStreetMap contributors

Website: https://www.openstreetmap.org/about

OpenStreetMap data is made available under the ODbL by the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF). You are free to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt our data, as long as you credit OpenStreetMap and its contributors. If you alter or build upon our data, you may distribute the result only under the same license.

U.S. State Department Travel Advisories

Travel safety information is provided by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs, which issues travel advisories to help U.S. citizens make informed decisions about international travel.

Advisory Levels:

  • Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions
  • Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
  • Level 3: Reconsider Travel
  • Level 4: Do Not Travel

License: Public Domain (U.S. Government data)

Website: https://travel.state.gov/

The application displays travel advisories on the map as a separate "Safety" layer and integrates them into the overall destination scoring. Countries without specific advisories default to Level 1 (Normal Precautions). Travel advisories Level 3 and above are also shown in location detail popups to alert users of potential risks.

Features

  • Interactive World Map: Explore weather conditions across the globe
  • Monthly Data: View climate data for any month of the year
  • Multiple Variables: Switch between temperature, precipitation, sunshine hours, and safety levels
  • Travel Safety Information: View U.S. State Department travel advisories (Level 1-4) integrated into the map
  • Safety Level Filter: Set your acceptable safety level in Climate Preferences to filter destinations
  • Visual Color Schemes: Intuitive color gradients for easy interpretation
  • Detailed Information: Click anywhere on the map for specific location data including travel advisories

How to Use

  1. Select a month from the dropdown in the top-left corner
  2. Choose a display mode from the layer selector:
    • Overall: Combined score based on all your preferences
    • Temp: Temperature visualization
    • Rain: Rainfall visualization
    • Safety: Travel advisory levels by country
    • Sun: Sunshine hours visualization
  3. Open the Climate Preferences panel to customize:
    • Preferred temperature range
    • Acceptable rainfall levels
    • Desired sunshine hours
    • Acceptable safety level: Set the maximum travel advisory level you're comfortable with (affects the Overall view)
  4. Explore the map by panning and zooming
  5. Click on any location to see detailed weather information and travel advisories (if Level 3 or higher)

Technology

This application is built with:

  • Backend: Python Flask
  • Frontend: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
  • Mapping: Leaflet.js with OpenStreetMap tiles
  • Data Processing: Rasterio, NumPy, Pandas
  • Charting: Chart.js

License & Terms

All data used in this application is freely available under the following terms:

  • ERA5: CC-BY 4.0 license - requires attribution to Copernicus Climate Change Service
  • CRU: Open Government Licence v3.0 - requires attribution to CRU (University of East Anglia) and NCAS
  • OpenStreetMap: ODbL license - requires attribution to © OpenStreetMap contributors
  • U.S. State Department Travel Advisories: Public Domain - U.S. Government data

This application is provided for informational and educational purposes. Weather data should be verified with current forecasts before making travel decisions.

Life's too short for bad weather ☀️