Why does my login page give the weather for a town 1000 miles from where I live?

Wade Pemberton 20 Reputation points
2025-07-05T11:15:06.5366667+00:00

Why does my login screen chronically temperature and weather for Des Moines, IA when I live over 1000 miles south of there?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Desktop, Start, and personalization | Start Menu
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
LemP 74,995 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2025-07-05T13:55:03.4+00:00

Click the Start button, then Settings > Privacy > Location > Default Location > Set default and chose the correct location.

Generally, location is determined based on the IP address assigned to you by your ISP (as explained in the article linked below, other inputs may be used depending on the hardware available in your computer). This generally is the location where your ISP's server is based, but for various reasons, may be elsewhere.

For a TL;DR explanation, see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-location-service-and-privacy-3a8eee0a-5b0b-dc07-eede-2a5ca1c49088

Was this answer helpful?

3 people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

1 additional answer

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Erland Sommarskog 137.9K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-07-05T12:03:44.72+00:00

    A possible reason is that your Internet provider is located in Des Moines, and looking at your public IP address, it seems that you are in Des Moines.

    I have experienced the same thing. I live in Stockholm, but as far as I see a weather forecast at all(*), it is usually related to Bollnäs, a small town 300 km from here. And indeed, my internet provider is located in Bollnäs.

    (*) I apply various tweaks so that I don't see the weather notifications at all. Not only are they for the wrong place, but the temperatures given are just plain wrong.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.