FAQs: updated June 2026

Why should I pay $5 a month? I have a free weather app.

As a friend once told me, because free has a cost.

Many weather apps are bloated with extra information — making it hard for you to find what you need. And they contain flashy, intrusive ads you proabably do not want to deal with.

Premium subscribers ($5/month) get a Richmond area weather briefing directly to their email on weekday mornings. No flashing ads. No AI. No autoplays. No insidious social media algorithms. I’m not tracking your location from your phone.

My goal for the weekday morning update is to give you the most important weather information for the next week or so to help you plan and be prepared. They are short and to the point — to help you navigate the massive amount of weather information bogging down modern weather apps.

Premium subscribers also get exclusive access to the weekly weather chat where you can ask questions to help plan your weekend outdoor activities, your travel, or just answer that weather or climate question that has been nagging at you.

The $5 subscription weeds out AI spam and other fake accounts in the chat that are more interested in posting rage bait — a common problem on other social media sites (cough, cough Facebook).

What is that photo?

I took that photo in June 2024 on Libby Hill in Richmond, looking down the James River with Rocketts Landing on the left. In the 1730s, the founder of Richmond, William Byrd II, said the view of the river from there reminded him of the view of the River Thames from Richmond Hill in England (just southwest of London). It is since been known as The View That Named Richmond.