FLX Weather Needs Your Support!

Why Support is Needed Now

For the first time in 5 years, a dedicated, multi-day fund drive is needed to help Finger Lakes Weather continue providing the reliable forecasting you depend on. Your support will ensure our region maintains access to accurate, locally-focused weather services that understand our unique microclimates. Without an increase in steady, reliable revenue through monthly donations, future plans for FLX Weather will be uncertain and services may need to be scaled back or ended.

This urgent need stems from several factors beyond my control

Rising Prices

You don't need me to tell you the cost of most things are going up while the value of the dollar is going down.

Cost of living estimates for my family of six in Tompkins County have gone up 20-25% since my last fund drive in 2020.

Many of the key services I use to access weather and model information, and the tools and resources necessary to share my services with you have also increased.

Replacement Funds & Market Value

After recording peak, but still very modest profits in 2022, Finger Lakes Weather LLC saw a 15% decline in net profit for 2023. Fiscal Year 2024 recovered much of that, but still represented a 2% drop compared to 2022.

This can be attributed to a slow trickle of lost donors who have not updated their credit card information or have left the area, changes in the number of local business sponsors, and timing issues with payments between fiscal years.

Recent changes in client partnerships have created additional financial challenges, meaningfully impacting monthly budgeting and cash flow.

Based on data from Salary.com, the salary I am able to pay myself is below the 10th percentile for a meteorologist with 20 years of experience and a master's degree in upstate New York and less than half of the median salary. If you find my forecasts provide value beyond the bottom tier of meteorological services, I humbly ask you to consider supporting FLX Weather with a monthly donation to help ensure I can continue providing the accurate, reliable forecasts our community depends on.

Local Independence & Resilience

My only sources of revenue are donors like you, local business sponsors, two local media clients, calendar sales (though the 2025 calendar had to be cancelled), and a small bit of monthly pocket change from Meta (Facebook) for my posts to their platforms.

As an independent meteorologist and Limited Liability Company, I receive no government or public funding, or grants.

This means I am able to remain resilient during unique and challenging times. When COVID struck, for example, I was able to continue my services uninterrupted. In fact, I've even had minor cases of COVID twice but did not stop reporting on the weather during quarantine.

Several people have asked me how budget cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service will impact me. Since my forecasts are completely my own and done personally by hand, there is very little to no impact on me.

As long as Finger Lakes Weather remains financially viable (and I remain healthy and physically capable of performing my duties), these services will continue regardless of the outside factors that may threaten other weather providers.

In other words, I'll keep doing my part as long as you are able to continue supporting my work!

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Fund Drive Goal: 50 New Monthly Supporters

To ensure Finger Lakes Weather remains financially sustainable through 2025 and beyond, I am seeking at least 50 new monthly donors to join our weather community by the end of April. Monthly donations provide the stable, predictable funding that allows me to focus on what matters most: delivering accurate, easy to use forecasts when you need them most.

Every contribution matters!

Even a one-time donation helps bridge the gap while we build our monthly supporter base. Your support directly funds the independent weather forecasting service our region depends on.

• Just $5 a month, multiplied by 50 people, would be $250 per month. That would close the current funding gap and bring Fiscal Year 2025 estimates close to 2022 and 2024 level profits, allowing services to continue as they have been for years uninterrupted.
• $10 a month over 50 people would be an increase to $500 per month. This amount would help chip away at the problems inflation has caused over the last 5 years and provide needed financial security.
• If everyone gave $20 per month, the increase would be $1000 every month. Funding at this level would allow me to be less reliant on seeking out new local sponsors or clients, allowing me more time for future development and more frequent updates.

While 50 new donors represents a realistic minimal goal, reaching 75 or even 100 new donors would even further strengthen FLX Weather's resilience and help weather-proof our community's access to reliable, local forecasting for years to come.

I recognize that the financial trials I and my business are undergoing are not unique and that many others are struggling. That is why it is so important to make a contribution if you are able. Together, we can continue to reshape how the Finger Lakes region prepares for the weather. Every small contribution matters!

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Near and Long Term Plans

Not only do I constantly think about and monitor the weather, but I am also frequently thinking of new ideas on how to better communicate weather information to you, especially in times of severe or dangerous weather conditions.

I have a number of projects going on now or planned for the near future, along with some longer term goals that extra funding would help support. Below are just a selection of the ideas bouncing around in my head or currently being worked on:

Short Term

• Over the last month, I have been working on the backend of FLXweather.com with some needed updates and bug fixes. I have upgraded the coding to current standards, replaced outdated plugins with seamless alternatives, and have been in contact with several support teams to fix several long standing problems, some visible, many invisible to you, the users.
• Late last summer, I implemented a new "Weather Updates" feature that allows me to quickly post mini-blog posts that remain visible for a set amount of time. I have used these to address short-term weather hazards on occasion, but there are still some subtle upgrades to be made to make this even easier for me to use.
• Along those lines, I recently had a coding break-through that moves me closer to having urgent severe weather warnings (tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood, and snow squall warnings) automatically posted as weather updates with detailed information about the weather hazard. If all goes well, this should be operational in May 2025.
• I am also looking to upgrade my live-blogging experience for severe weather season. During the record breaking tornado year last year, my live blogs were not only a great source of immediate information, but also great comfort for those wondering where storms were and what areas they would impact next. My current set up is a bit cumbersome behind the scenes and relies on a free service, which could change or be removed at any time. I also have to post every update twice, once for the website and once for the app.

Long Term

• I am planning to explore the costs and benefits of changing the structure of flxweather.com and its looks. My current databases have nearly 12 years of almost daily blog posts and other information stored in them, making for a very large dataset. Restructuring the website utilizing subdomains (i.e. forecast.flxweather.com, shop.flxweather.com, etc.) may be a way to better manage, store, and backup this data. I am only in the idea stage here.
• Likewise, the looks and styles of flxweather.com have not been updated in many, many years. If I am going to change the structure around, it would be a good time to freshen up the look of the site as well.
• I have ideas for some adjustments to the zip-code forecast pages, especially in regards to my temperature and wind forecasts.
• The Weather Alerts (Beta) page has never been fully functional. With upcoming changes to how the National Weather Service issues alerts, and the above idea for automatic weather updates for the most serious warnings, I need to look at this page, see what is worth salvaging, and think of ways to improve it for the future.
• Last, but certainly not least is the App. For over a year, it has been unavailable on Android due to needed coding updates that have not been able to be completed. Other app features, such as push notifications, are not working properly, either. A comprehensive look at the App in terms of bug fixes, coding updates, and feature upgrades needs to happen.

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How FLX Weather is Different

My name is Meteorologist Drew Montreuil (B.S Meteorology, Oswego; M.S. Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell). I have been forecasting the weather for our region daily online since 2006.

Over the past two decades, I have developed several unique and cutting edge forecast communication methodologies and have become well known for my no-hype stance.

I have adopted three core values for my services: Honesty, Accuracy, and Accessibility.

Unlike other independent meteorologists or private weather forecasting companies, none of my work is or will be behind a pay-wall. Everyone should have equitable access to the weather information they need to stay safe.

I am also uniquely available for questions and assistance in planning around the weather. All you need to do is ask!

My forecasts are never inflated with hyperbolic, scary-sounding adjectives. I tell the weather plainly and like it is... or at least what I expect it to be. And if I don't have a strong feeling between competing scenarios, I share the different possibilities and the sources of the uncertainty.

No other weather service is dedicated fully to and only to the Finger Lakes region. By hyper focusing on our region for nearly 20 years, I have become intimately familiar with the microclimates of our region, biases in model projections, and the unique phenomena and weather situations that unfold across our area.

Weather apps on your phone just display a blend of model data — no meteorologist is even looking at the information! That is why they change every couple hours, sometimes dramatically.

Not so with Finger Lakes Weather. Every forecast, whether in text or graphical form, is created by hand, personally by me. My experience and local expertise is baked into every piece of information, every map, and every update.

National media personalities and weather services cannot begin to understand the complexities of our region, and even the National Weather Service splits our region in two, with Buffalo serving the west and Binghamton the east.

Combined, the area these two weather service offices covers stretches from the St. Lawrence River in northern New York, to the shores of Lake Erie in southwest New York, to the Catskills Mountains in southeast New York, and into eastern Pennsylvania bordering New Jersey. Each office's jurisdiction in the Finger Lakes represents only a small, incomplete part of their area of responsibility.

Without Finger Lakes Weather, there would be a significant and serious gap in local weather coverage across the Finger Lakes. The services I provide are vital to our region and need to be supported.

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James-Henry has been donating since 2014!

When I talk with family and friends in other places, I’m stunned to realize they don’t have access to the highly curated weather service that FLX Weather provides us!  Unusually localized forecasts by a sharp meteorologist who lives right here!  He isn’t simply reading off what a computer in Texas tells him:  He knows which towns will be extra windy, which hills will get the snow dump.  He, Drew Montreuil, is a real person— our neighbor—  who answers specific questions, provides extra updates when the weather is being dramatic, and actually cares about our communities.  He deserves our support!

~ James-Henry, FLX Weather's First and Longest Continuous Donor, since 2014

And Nathan has been donating since 2016:

I have been a monthly donor to FLX Weather from the time of Drew’s initial request for support. FLX Weather has been important to me as we make many trips to the FLX region throughout the year, including often during the “off season” of late fall and winter months. As we live in Buffalo, knowing what to expect of the weather in the Tyrone/Wayne area is extremely helpful as the weather often differs significantly from Buffalo’s weather. FLX weather provides the specificity of forecasts not available from other sources and Drew’s forecasts are straightforward and includes an understanding of the rationale behind his forecasts. Please consider becoming a monthly donor; FLX Weather is a resource that reflects the special nature of the FLX region and deserves your support. Thank you.

~ Nathan, Donor Since 2016

Kelly has continued giving even during retirement:

I became a monthly donor originally when I was working for the Tompkins County Public Library, because I knew I could count on Drew to give me the most accurate forecast for the exact location where we would gather on days when I was going to be doing programming outside during the warm weather months.

Now that I am recently retired I continue to give monthly for several reasons. For starters, I believe it's important to support quality, local businesses like Drew's. My experience has been that he is able to give what I call hyper-local forecasts with consistent accuracy and this kind of detail is not something you can get from the big name forecasters. Drew will answer travel questions personally whenever he is able to do so accurately - another great service you won't find at just any "weather.com" site. I also really enjoy his daily detailed forecasts as I find weather fascinating and he explains the what, why, where, when, and how of everything weather related so well!

If you have a tight budget like I do - especially now that I'm retired - you don't have to give a lot to make a difference in this great local resource. Of course if you can give a lot - go for it! If you're a weather nerd like me, I'm confident whatever your donation is, it will be worth every penny. Remember, making even small donations on a monthly basis makes a huge difference for small business owners like Drew because they know they can count on the funds coming in to be able to continue their great work.

~ Kelly, Donor since 2019

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