Back to Vibe Temp

How Dogs mode works

Dogs mode is an optional layer on Vibe Temp for people walking a golden retriever. It is off until you turn it on, and your browser remembers the choice. When it is on, the chart gets a paw for the best time to get a golden out on the grass, a walk rating for every hour, and six cards for heat, sunny pavement, storms, air quality, salt and cold.

Most of it is ported from DC Goldens' Dog Weather. This page is every rule behind it: the number that sets off each line, whose number it is, how much weight its source can bear, and what was left out on purpose. The short version: there is no heat index or pavement temperature for dogs with evidence behind it, and the one air quality scale for pets is the EPA's, adapted. Where a scale exists for people, Dogs mode uses it and says so. Where a line is someone's own choice, it is marked Ours.

Sun and shade

The two lines on the chart, In the sun and In the shade, show how warm it is likely to feel to a person standing in full sun, and to the same person in shade. They are Bryan Casler's own estimate for Vibe Temp, not a published formula. He set its numbers by hand until they matched how it actually feels outside. They are there with Dogs mode on or off.

In the shade starts with the air temperature, adds 1°F for every 15 points of humidity above 40% (and takes 1°F off for every 15 points below it), and takes 0.7°F off for every mile an hour of wind. In the sun adds up to 8°F on top of that, depending on how much sun gets through, plus 1.2°F for heat bouncing back off the ground whenever any does. How much sun gets through comes from the forecast: the UV index against what it would be under a clear sky, dimmed by how much of the sky counts as cloud. At night, and under a sky that lets no sun through, the two lines are the same.

In the shade = T + (RH - 40) / 15 - 0.7 × W In the sun = In the shade + 8 × S + 4 × R, when S is above 0 S = (UV / clear-sky UV) × (1 - (C / 100)^0.7), kept between 0 and 1, and 0 at night C = 100 × (1 - (direct sunlight / all sunlight) / 0.85), kept between 0 and 100

T is the air temperature in °F, RH the relative humidity in %, W the wind speed in mph, R the ground's reflectivity (0.3 for concrete, so 4 × 0.3 = 1.2°F), and C the share of the sky that counts as cloud. Night is each hour's own is_day flag from the forecast. Without a clear-sky UV reading, S uses the UV index over 10. These are the default settings; Vibe Temp's calibration settings can change them, and the lines follow.

C comes from how much of the sunlight arrives as a direct beam, rather than the forecast's cloud percentage. So thin high cloud with the sun plainly out still counts as sun, and the low sun just after sunrise and before sunset counts for less. A daylight hour that reads no sunlight at all counts as full cloud, so the two lines meet. Only when the forecast has no sunlight reading does C go back to the forecast's cloud cover. The 0.85 is a first guess from DC's clear middays in 2025.

It describes a person, not a dog: nobody has measured how a golden's coat changes what the sun feels like, so Dogs mode doesn't turn it into a dog's number. The paw-to-grass time applies a range chosen for a golden to the sun line, and says so. It is not a pavement temperature, and it is not the wind chill. And it does not decide the walk ratings: those come from the National Weather Service's heat index, the air quality, storms, rain, sunny pavement, the air temperature and DC's Extreme Cold Alert level, as described below. On a hot, humid afternoon the heat index can read higher than even the sun line; they are different scales. The National Weather Service says full sun can add up to 15°F to the heat index; the sun line sits at most 9.2°F above the shade line at these settings.

The chart opens on the next 24 hours, or on the next 6 hours when they are changeable: rain, snow or storms start or stop in them, or the shade line moves 8°F or more within two hours. Rain all day doesn't count, since nothing changes. A view you pick, or one a link asks for, stays put. This is our rule, the same one DC Goldens uses.

The numbers in the sun and shade estimate
LineWhere it fallsWhose
Humidity+1°F for every 15 points above 40% (and 1°F off for every 15 below)Ours
Wind0.7°F off for every mile an hourOurs
Full sunup to +8°F, by how much sun gets throughOurs
Off the ground+1.2°F whenever any sun gets through (4 × 0.3, concrete)Ours
A clear sky's direct beam85% of all sunlightOurs, a first guess
The walk ratingsnever use these two linesthe heat index, AQI, storms, rain, pavement, air temperature and DC's Extreme Cold Alert level decide them
The paw-to-grass timereads the sun line, only between hours rated Good for a walkDC Goldens' pick
The touch-grass timereads the sun line by Vibe Temp's rule for peopleVibe Temp's

Two best times

The chart shows two kinds of good time to get out on the grass, because they are different for a person and for a golden: the lines turn green for people, always, and a paw marks the time for Goldens, when Dogs mode is on.

Touch grass: Vibe Temp's rule for people

Each line turns green wherever its own reading is touch grass weather for a person, by the rule Bryan wrote for Vibe Temp: daylight, from 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C when the page shows Celsius). The sun line and the shade line are judged apart, so on a warm afternoon the shade can be green while the sun is too hot. Hover over a green stretch and the card says until when it lasts.

The summary under the chart also names the day's single best time. For that, the rule reads the In the sun line at points 15 minutes apart, and looks only at daylight points from 65 to 75°F. Daylight goes by each hour's is_day flag from the forecast. Each point scores 100, less 10 for every degree it sits from the middle of the range (70°F, or 21°C), and a point from 10am to 4:45pm scores 20 more. The best score on each day wins, and a tie keeps the earlier time.

Where the sun line sits within 5% of the shade line, the rule reads the shade value, as it always has, so its picks stay where they were. No walk rule applies to it, with Dogs mode on or off: it is for people.

The touch-grass rule
LineWhere it fallsWhose
Where it can sita point every 15 minutes, in daylight by each hour's is_day flagOurs (Vibe Temp's)
The line it readsIn the sun, or the shade value where the two are within 5%Ours (Vibe Temp's)
The range65 to 75°F, or 18 to 24°C in Celsius, both ends includedOurs (Vibe Temp's)
The score100, less 10 for every degree from 70°F (21°C), plus 20 from 10am to 4:45pmOurs (Vibe Temp's)
How manythe best on each day; a tie keeps the earlier timeOurs (Vibe Temp's)
The walk rulesplay no part: it is for peopleOurs (Vibe Temp's)

Paw to grass: DC Goldens' pick for a golden

The paw marks one time: the best time for a golden to get out on the grass. It sits on the chart's In the sun line, at the minute the line comes closest to 57°F (14°C), in daylight (from that day's sunrise to its sunset), from now on, and where the walk ratings call the hours on either side of it Good for a walk. The forecast gives one reading an hour, so a minute between two of them is read off the curve the chart draws through them: an estimate from the curve, no more exact than the two hours it joins. Anything from 45 to 64°F (7 to 18°C) can hold it, judged in whole degrees Fahrenheit whichever units the page shows, and a tie goes to the earlier minute. The 24-hour view has one paw, in the next 24 hours; the week view puts one on each day that has a time that fits. When nothing fits, there is no paw.

The range is DC Goldens' choice, from dcgoldens.org. No study sets one, and the researchers closest to the question say advice on safe temperatures for exercising dogs is missing. What the evidence does say points cooler than a person. A resting dog holds its temperature without effort from about 68 to 86°F (20 to 30°C), and a walk adds heat it mostly has to pant away. At UK canicross races where the air averaged 48°F (9°C), at least one running dog per race finished with an ear temperature above 105°F (40.6°C). And goldens had 2.67 times the odds of heat-related illness of Labradors. So DC Goldens aimed 13°F below the 70°F that Vibe Temp aims for a person, stopped the range at 64°F, and let it reach further on the cool side than the warm side, because the evidence of harm for goldens is on the warm side.

It scores the In the sun line, the warmer of the two, because a golden on open grass is usually in the sun. The UK study of dogs seen for heat-related illness read each day's weather at shaded weather stations, which its authors say likely understate what a dog meets; the canicross temperature above was measured on the course, out of the shade. Both lines estimate how it feels to a person; nobody has measured how a golden's coat takes the sun. The paw is a pleasant time for a walk, not a safe temperature and not a veterinary threshold: dogs in these studies overheated on mild days too.

The paw-to-grass rule
LineWhere it fallsWhose
Where it can sitany minute from now on in daylight, sunrise to sunset, between two hours rated Good for a walkOurs (DC Goldens')
The line it readsIn the sun, to the minute, as the chart draws it between the hourly forecasts; in whole °F, whichever units the page showsOurs (DC Goldens')
The range45°F (7°C) to 64°F (18°C)Ours (DC Goldens')
The aim57°F (14°C); a tie goes to the earlier minuteOurs (DC Goldens')
How manyone in the next 24 hours; in the week view, one on each day that has a time that fits; or noneOurs (DC Goldens')

Walk ratings

With Dogs mode on, a strip under the chart rates every hour, day and night, for a walk. The weather decides, not the clock. Each hour gets one of seven names, in three levels. Skips beat cautions, and cautions beat good; within the skips, too hot comes before too cold, then storms or air.

The seven walk ratings and what sets each off
RatingWhenWhose
GoodGood for a walknone of the lines belowOurs (DC Goldens')
CautionGetting warm, be cautiousheat index 80 to 94°F, or sunny pavement: daylight, UV index 3 or more, and air 80°F or warmerNWS Caution and Extreme Caution bands; the pavement line is Ours
CautionGetting cold, be cautiousair below 32°FD.C. Code § 8-1801(13)
CautionRain, storms or poor air, be cautiousa 50% chance of rain or more, thunderstorms the National Weather Service calls possible, or AQI 101 to 150NWS words and EPA bands; the 50% rain line is Ours
SkipToo hot for Goldensheat index 95°F or moreat DC's Heat Alert level
SkipToo cold for Goldensa wind chill of 15°F or below, or 20°F or below with at least a 50% chance of precipitationat DC's Extreme Cold Alert level
SkipStorms or unhealthy air, keep it shortthunderstorms the National Weather Service calls likely, or AQI 151 or moreNWS words and EPA bands

Every value is judged on the whole number the page prints, so a band always agrees with the number beside it: a heat index of 94.7 prints as 95°F, and 95°F is at DC's Heat Alert level. The best walk times are the two longest stretches of the best level left today.

Walk ratings are DC Goldens' own combination

Every hour is rated by the weather alone, day and night; the clock plays no part. Which lines make a skip, which make a caution, and the 50% rain line are DC Goldens' choices, and so is borrowing DC's heat and cold alert levels, which are set for people, for a golden. The others borrow the sources below. Why not skip when storms are only possible: in DC Goldens' check at Reagan National, 55% of the flagged 3-hour blocks stayed dry a day ahead, and skipping them would blank the afternoon on about one summer day in three. A likely hour is skipped.

The heat index

Dogs mode computes the heat index from the air temperature and humidity exactly as the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center publishes it: first the simple formula; if that comes to 80°F or more, the Rothfusz regression instead, with the Weather Service's adjustments for very dry air (humidity under 13% at 80 to 112°F) and very damp air (over 85% at 80 to 87°F). It is a scale made for people, in shade and light wind; no veterinary body publishes one for dogs. Open-Meteo's own "apparent temperature" is a different formula, so it is not used.

The wind chill, never printed

Dogs mode works out the National Weather Service's 2001 wind chill in one place only: to tell when an hour reaches DC's Extreme Cold Alert level, which the District writes in wind chill for people. It is only defined at 50°F or colder with wind above 3 mph; outside that it is the air temperature. It decides Too cold for Goldens and nothing else, and the page never shows it. Why, under What was left out.

The six dog cards

With Dogs mode on, a card shows only when its line is crossed, and each one names its sources, which link to the list below.

Heat

The heat index, worked out as above, at the day's highest. It is a scale made for people, in shade; full sun can add up to 15°F. The dog evidence comes after it: goldens have 2.67 times the odds of heat-related illness that Labradors do, and most dog heatstroke follows exercise, usually an ordinary walk. On the UK's human heat-health alert days in 2022, emergency vets saw five times as many dogs with heatstroke a day as on other summer days; that is the UK's alert, and DC's Heat Alert level stands in for it here. The early signs are changes in breathing and lethargy, such as not wanting to go on.

Heat card lines
LineWhere it fallsWhose
Showsheat index 80°F or moreOurs, at the NWS Caution line
Names DC's Heat Alert levelheat index 95°F or moreDC Heat Plan
Names DC's Extreme Heat Alert levelheat index 105°F or moreDC Heat Plan
The NWS bandsCaution 80°F, Extreme Caution 90°F, Danger 103°F, Extreme Danger 125°FNational Weather Service

Sunny pavement

Marks the daylight hours when pavement is likely sitting in hot sun, so grass and shade are the cooler way through. Sunlit surfaces have been measured 36 to 56°F hotter than the same material in shade at the same moment. The card never prints a pavement temperature, because nobody has measured what temperature burns a paw. The back-of-hand test is a fine habit; the published advice says 5, 7 or 10 seconds, and none of those counts was tested.

Sunny pavement card lines
LineWhere it fallsWhose
Flags an hourdaylight, UV index 3 or more, and air 80°F or warmerOurs (DC Goldens')

The sunny-pavement hours are DC Goldens' line. No study sets it. It marks the hours when the combination researchers measured, direct sun on a hot day, is plausible, and it never produces a pavement temperature.

Thunderstorms

Lead time, not a forecast of harm. Almost a third of dogs are sensitive to noise, and the things that help (a quiet spot, an earlier walk, a plan from your vet) all need warning. The storm line comes from the National Weather Service's own forecast for your area, looking 48 hours ahead, in the Weather Service's words: possible when it gives a chance of thunderstorms (30 to 50%), likely when it says likely (60% or more). A slight chance never shows. It covers the US only.

Thunderstorm card lines
LineWhere it fallsWhose
Showsa chance of thunderstorms or more in the National Weather Service forecast (30% and up)National Weather Service
Says likelywhen the Weather Service says thunderstorms are likely (60% and up)National Weather Service
How far aheadthe next 48 hoursOurs (DC Goldens')
For a walkbe cautious when storms are possible; keep it short when they're likelyOurs (DC Goldens')

Why storms come from the National Weather Service. The forecast model behind the rest of the chart files DC's storm days under heavy showers: from January 2024 to September 2026 it never forecast an hour of thunder there, while Reagan National Airport recorded thunder on 119 days. So the storm line reads the National Weather Service's own forecast instead. Over May to September of 2025 and 2026, its Baltimore/Washington office gave at least a chance of thunderstorms a day ahead on 63 of the 69 days thunder was heard at the airport. It also gave a chance on about 40 days that stayed quiet there, which is what a 30 to 50% chance looks like, so the card says possible, not coming. The comparison is DC Goldens', and small: one airport, two summers and nothing from the colder months, scored against the Weather Service's archived forecasts for that airport.

Air quality

The EPA's air quality index, labelled as the scale made for people that it is. At Good and Moderate the card shows the reading and nothing more. From Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups up, it adds Colorado State University's advice for pets, paraphrased and credited, and keeps their word: adapted. At Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, that is less time outside for every dog, and bathroom breaks only for sensitive dogs (puppies, seniors, overweight dogs, and dogs with allergies or heart or lung trouble); at Unhealthy, limiting time outside and walking rather than running; above that, keeping dogs inside as much as you can. Mornings are usually better on ozone days.

Air quality card lines
LineWhere it fallsWhose
The bandsGood 0, Moderate 51, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups 101, Unhealthy 151, Very Unhealthy 201, Hazardous 301EPA
Advice for dogs at each bandfrom 101Colorado State University (adapted)
Be cautious, then keep it shortfrom 101, then from 151Ours (DC Goldens'), at the EPA's lines

Winter salt

A condition, not a temperature: salt goes down ahead of forecast snow and ice and stays down after, whatever the thermometer says. When there has been or will be snow or ice, the card says salt is probably down and suggests wiping or rinsing paws after the walk, before your golden licks them. Ice melt irritates paw pads and can poison a dog who eats enough of it.

Winter salt card lines
LineWhere it fallsWhose
Showssnow, snow showers, snow grains, freezing drizzle or freezing rain in the forecast (weather codes 56, 57, 66, 67, 71, 73, 75, 77, 85, 86), or any snowfallthe forecast itself
The windowthe past 48 hours or the next 24Ours (DC Goldens')

Below freezing

DC law, not a vet chart. Below 32°F is "extreme weather" in the D.C. Code, when a dog can't be left outside for more than 15 minutes without a person or proper shelter unless its age, condition and type let it handle the cold. That rule is about dogs left out, not walks. On a walk, salt and ice are the usual winter hazards, and puppies, seniors and sick dogs keep warm less well. When some of its hours reach DC's Extreme Cold Alert level, a line made for people, the card says they are too cold for Goldens, as the walk ratings do.

Below freezing card lines
LineWhere it fallsWhose
Showsair temperature below 32°FD.C. Code § 8-1801(13)
Hours it readsevery hour, day and night, as the walk ratings doOurs (DC Goldens')
Says too cold for Goldenswhen any of those hours reaches DC's Extreme Cold Alert level (a wind chill of 15°F or below, or 20°F or below with at least a 50% chance of rain or snow)DC's Winter Plan

What was left out, and why

Each of these is easy to find elsewhere. None of them holds up for dogs.

No pavement temperature

The pavement tables that circulate trace back to a 1970 report on three people burned on Phoenix asphalt: a study of people, not paws. Nobody has measured what surface temperature burns a dog's paw, so Dogs mode shows where the sun is instead of a number. The back-of-hand test is a fine habit; the published advice says 5, 7 or 10 seconds, and none of those counts was tested.

No ground temperature

Open-Meteo offers a ground-surface temperature. It is a model of a whole patch of the city, grass and trees and roofs as well as roads, not a reading of the asphalt your golden walks on, and no one has set a line for it. A bare number would invite a question nobody can answer, so it is left out.

No pollen count

Open-Meteo only has pollen for Europe, and the one study built to test pollen counts against itching in allergic dogs found no link. A golden walks with its nose in the grass; the count comes from a trap on a roof.

No wind chill for dogs

The wind chill index models wind at the height of an adult's face and is built on a human face. A golden's double coat is exactly what it leaves out, so Dogs mode shows the air temperature and DC's legal line instead. It works the wind chill out in one place only: to tell when the forecast reaches DC's Extreme Cold Alert level, which the District writes in wind chill for people. Too cold for Goldens reads that level, and the number is never printed. Borrowing a line set for people for a golden is DC Goldens' choice, as it is for heat. Wind does take some warmth off the In the shade estimate, which is Vibe Temp's own line, not the wind chill.

No "too hot to walk" temperature

A chart saying to take care above about 20°C and not to walk a dog above 25°C is shared widely. DC Goldens could not trace it to any study. Most dog heatstroke follows exercise, usually an ordinary walk, so what a golden is doing matters alongside the thermometer, and one number can't carry that. Dogs mode shows the heat index, names it as a scale made for people, and puts the dog evidence beside it.

Where you are

Vibe Temp works anywhere Open-Meteo has a forecast, and so does Dogs mode. But the levels it names are Washington, DC's: the Heat Alert at a heat index of 95°F and the Extreme Heat Alert at 105°F, the Extreme Cold Alert, and the D.C. Code's below-32°F line with its 15 minutes. Those are DC's levels, used as a reference wherever you are. Reaching one says the forecast is at that level; only DC can issue an alert, and only in DC. Nothing here means your local law limits a walk, and DC's doesn't either.

Thunderstorms come from the US National Weather Service, which forecasts only for the US. Outside the US there is no storm line, so no storm line there doesn't mean no storms. Inside the US, if the Weather Service's forecast doesn't load, the same holds: weather.gov has it in the meantime.

Sources

Every source a line in Dogs mode rests on, with how much it can bear. The grading is DC Goldens', kept here as they gave it.

Strong
measured data or black-letter law
Moderate
a single site, a news write-up of work not yet peer reviewed, or an extrapolation
Folklore
advice that circulates with no study behind it
Ours
Vibe Temp's or DC Goldens' own work, tuned by hand and not peer reviewed

  1. Strong 2022

    The Heat Index Equation

    NOAA Weather Prediction Center

    The formula we compute the heat index with, from air temperature and humidity. It is a scale for people, in shade.

  2. Strong 2026

    Heat Index

    National Weather Service, Amarillo

    The Caution, Extreme Caution, Danger and Extreme Danger bands for people. An older NWS brochure starts Danger at 105°F instead of 103°F.

  3. Strong 2026

    What is the heat index?

    National Weather Service

    The heat index assumes shade and light wind; full sun can add up to 15°F.

  4. Strong 2026

    2026 District of Columbia Heat Plan

    DC Department of Human Services, HSEMA and the Interagency Council on Homelessness

    DC's Heat Alert starts at a forecast heat index of 95°F and its Extreme Heat Alert at 105°F. We say when a forecast reaches that level; only DC can issue an alert.

  5. Strong 2024

    Epidemiology of heat-related illness in dogs under UK emergency veterinary care in 2022

    Beard, Hall, Bradbury, Carter, Gilbert and O'Neill, Veterinary Record (RVC VetCompass)

    Five times as many dog heatstroke cases a day during the UK's human heat-health alerts. Measured against UK alerts, not DC's.

  6. Strong 2020

    Incidence and risk factors for heat-related illness (heatstroke) in UK dogs under primary veterinary care in 2016

    Hall, Carter and O'Neill, Scientific Reports

    Golden retrievers had 2.67 times the odds of heat-related illness of Labradors (905,543 dogs); the authors suggest the thicker coat may be the tipping factor.

  7. Strong 2020

    Dogs Don't Die Just in Hot Cars: Exertional Heat-Related Illness (Heatstroke) Is a Greater Threat to UK Dogs

    Hall, Carter and O'Neill, Animals

    Exercise was the most common trigger of heat-related illness in UK dogs (74.2% of events), and 67.5% of exercise cases with a known activity followed a walk. Goldens were not a significant breed in its models, so we cite it for walks, not for goldens.

  8. Strong 2021

    Recognising early signs of heatstroke in dogs can save lives

    Royal Veterinary College VetCompass, reporting Hall et al., Scientific Reports

    The early signs are breathing changes and lethargy, such as not wanting to exercise; 98% of dogs seen at that stage survived.

  9. Strong 2022

    Temperature Profiles of Sunlight-Exposed Surfaces in a Desert Climate: Determining the Risk for Pavement Burns

    Chestovich, Saroukhanoff, Moujaes, Flores, Carroll and Saquib, Journal of Burn Care & Research

    Sunlit surfaces ran 36 to 56°F hotter than the same material in shade, measured at the same moment on a 120°F day, and sun plus heat, not air temperature alone, is what makes a surface dangerous. Measured in Las Vegas; the absolute numbers do not transfer to DC.

  10. Folklore 2017

    Protect your pet's feet from heat, burns

    Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine

    The back-of-hand test at seven seconds. No study behind the count.

  11. Folklore 2021

    How to Protect Dog Paws From Hot Pavement

    American Kennel Club

    The same test at ten seconds. No study behind the count.

  12. Folklore 2026

    Caring for your dog during hot weather

    Dogs Trust

    The same test at five seconds. No study behind the count.

  13. Strong 1970

    Thermal contact burns from streets and highways

    Berens, JAMA

    Where the popular pavement tables trace back to: a report on three people burned on Phoenix asphalt, about people rather than paws. Abstract and metadata verified; the full text is paywalled, so we do not claim what its inner pages hold.

  14. Strong 2022

    Risk Factors for Severe and Fatal Heat-Related Illness in UK Dogs: A VetCompass Study

    Hall, Carter, Chico, Bradbury, Gentle, Barfield and O'Neill, Veterinary Sciences

    On the days UK dogs were seen for heat-related illness, the day's highest wet bulb globe temperature ranged from 3.3 to 23.1°C, a median of 16.9°C: dogs overheat on mild days. That is a heat-stress index read at shaded weather stations, which the authors say likely understate what a dog meets, not an air temperature. Read 2026-09-24.

  15. Strong 2018

    Investigating factors affecting the body temperature of dogs competing in cross country (canicross) races in the UK

    Carter and Hall, Journal of Thermal Biology

    108 dogs over 10 winter race days: at every race at least one dog finished with an ear temperature above 40.6°C (105°F). Hard running in harness, not a walk. Read 2026-09-24.

  16. Strong 2024

    Hot Dogs: Advancing the Epidemiology and Clinical Definition of Heat-Related Illness in UK Dogs

    Emily J. Hall, PhD thesis, Nottingham Trent University

    Says advice on safe temperatures for exercising with dogs is lacking (p. 100), and puts the air at those canicross races at 8.8°C (48°F) on average. Coat colour and length made no significant difference once each dog was counted once. Read 2026-09-24.

  17. Strong 2020

    Prevalence, comorbidity, and breed differences in canine anxiety in 13,700 Finnish pet dogs

    Salonen et al., Scientific Reports

    Noise sensitivity affects 32% of dogs and grows with age, fear of thunder especially.

  18. Strong 2026

    API Web Service

    National Weather Service

    Where the thunderstorm forecast comes from: the gridded forecast each Weather Service office keeps for its area, Baltimore/Washington for DC. Free and public domain. Read 2026-09-24.

  19. Strong 2020

    Point Forecast Matrices Product Specifications

    National Weather Service

    What the Weather Service's forecast words mean: slight chance 20% or less, chance 30 to 50%, likely 60 to 70%, and 80 to 100% with no qualifier (Table 4). Read 2026-09-24.

  20. Strong 2026

    Iowa Environmental Mesonet

    Iowa State University, Department of Agronomy

    Keeps the history DC Goldens' storm comparison used: the Weather Service's archived point forecasts for Reagan National, from its Baltimore/Washington office, and the airport's hourly reports of thunder. The archive is theirs; the comparison is DC Goldens'. Read 2026-09-24.

  21. Strong 2026

    Weather Forecast API documentation

    Open-Meteo

    The forecast's weather codes: 95 and 97 are thunderstorms, and 96 and 99 (with hail) come only from models with a hail forecast, such as DWD ICON or UKMO. Read 2026-09-24.

  22. Strong 2026

    AQI Basics

    US EPA AirNow

    The six AQI categories, from Good to Hazardous. A scale for people.

  23. Moderate 2026

    Do you know how poor air quality affects pets? Learn through this adapted index

    Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

    Dr. Colleen Duncan and colleagues adapted the EPA scale for pets, with advice for each band. A news story, not a peer-reviewed paper; paraphrased here, and their chart is theirs.

  24. Strong 2022

    Salt Toxicosis in Animals

    Merck Veterinary Manual

    In dogs the lethal dose of salt is about 4 g/kg, and signs can appear after 2 to 3 g/kg.

  25. Strong 2000

    Ice melts are health hazards (Toxicology Brief)

    Hautekeete, ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, in Veterinary Medicine

    A dog that walked through ice melt should be bathed and watched for skin irritation; 4 g/kg of sodium chloride can be lethal.

  26. Strong 2026

    D.C. Code § 8-1801, Definitions

    Council of the District of Columbia

    Section (13): extreme weather means below 32°F or above 90°F. Air temperature; no wind chill.

  27. Strong 2026

    D.C. Code § 8-1808, Prohibited conduct

    Council of the District of Columbia

    Section (c)(1): no leaving an animal outdoors without a person or adequate shelter for more than 15 minutes in extreme weather, unless its age, condition and type let it withstand it. It does not limit walks.

  28. Strong 2016

    Temperature Requirements for Dogs (VA-16-W)

    Jordan, Bauer, Stella and Croney, Purdue University Center for Animal Welfare Science

    Cold tolerance varies widely by coat: the lower critical temperature is below 0°C (32°F) for a husky and 15°C (59°F) for some short-haired dogs. It also gives, from the National Research Council, the range where a dog keeps its temperature without spending effort on it: 20 to 30°C (68 to 86°F). Housing numbers for dogs at rest, not on a walk.

  29. Strong 2026

    Wind Chill Chart

    National Weather Service

    The wind chill index works at the height of an adult's face and is based on a human face model.

  30. Strong 2025

    District of Columbia Winter Plan, FY26

    DC Interagency Council on Homelessness, with HSEMA

    DC's Extreme Cold Alert (once the Cold Weather Emergency) is called when the NWS forecasts a wind chill of 15°F or below, or 16 to 20°F with at least a 50% chance of rain, snow, freezing rain or sleet (§2.2). Its Cold Alert starts at a wind chill of 32°F, or 40°F with at least a 50% chance of precipitation (§2.1). Alerts for people; only DC can call one. Read 2026-09-24.

  31. Ours 2025

    Vibe Temp

    Bryan Casler

    Bryan's own model of how warm it feels to a person in the sun and in the shade, tuned by hand against how DC feels, with public code, and the touch-grass rule that picks the best time for a person to be outside. Not a published formula and not peer reviewed. It reads cloud from the direct-beam share of sunlight, a change first made for DC Goldens' Dog Weather.

  32. Strong 2024

    A prospective study evaluating the correlation between local weather conditions, pollen counts and pruritus of dogs with atopic dermatitis

    Widorn, Zabolotski and Mueller, Veterinary Dermatology

    Found no correlation between pollen counts and itch in allergic dogs, and questions whether rooftop pollen traps reflect a dog's exposure at ground level.

  33. Strong 2026

    Air Quality API documentation

    Open-Meteo

    Pollen is only available for Europe; for DC every pollen value comes back empty (checked live).

Credits and data

The forecast is Open-Meteo's. Air quality comes from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service through Open-Meteo. Thunderstorms come from the National Weather Service's own forecast for your area; the Weather Service's data is public domain.

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