Get this app if you want to know if it’s going to rain in the next hour. There’s an extended forecast, but it’s pretty basic. Our Takeĭark Sky focuses on the here and now, so most of the data you get focuses on the next hour of weather in your area. The forecasts still rely on the NOAA radars, but the user reports add another layer of on-the-ground data. The app also uses your phone’s pressure sensors to generate more local forecasts through a “report” feature allowing you to contribute data straight from your phone. Their theory: while weather in a broad sense can be chaotic, you can see and predict patterns on a smaller, local level.
but then uses some fancy math to forecast hyper-local weather. Plenty of apps tell you when the sun will rise and set, but WU tells you what you really need to know-when it will actually get dark, which is key if you’re out on a ride and wondering if you have time for a few extra miles.ĭark Sky ($3.99, iOS and Android) (Courtesy Dark Sky) How It Worksĭark Sky pulls data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s network of 140 radar stations spread across the U.S. Our Favorite Featureįirst light/last light. If you add Storm, a separate app from WU, you can get their FutureCast radar, which shows you the projected path of the storm over the next five hours.
You get radar imaging, but also a layer that shows the projected path of each storm around you so you can tell if that red and yellow blob is coming your way. It gives you a super-detailed hourly forecast as well as a look at the week ahead. WU is the most comprehensive app we tested. So you get trustworthy radar imaging and real time reports from the station closest to your location. Each of those stations has a suite of weather-measuring instruments that gauge temperature, humidity, pressure, rain fall, and wind speed, and direction. But the app also uses a network of personal weather stations that are 200,000 strong worldwide. Most weather apps worth your data plan use NEXRAD’s radar data, (a network of next-generation radar stations operated by the National Weather Service), and WU follows that model too. So remember in the backcountry, red sky at night… 4 Best Weather Apps Worth Your Time Weather Underground (Free, iOS and Android) (Courtesy Weather Underground) How It Works The best apps are updated constantly with new radar images and forecasts, so if you don’t have a solid connection, they’re not going to do you any good. You can’t cache weather data because weather data is constantly changing. This info helps you forecast your local conditions beyond the next hour or two. It’s helpful, but the best apps also give you a broader sense of the weather in the region so you know how your hyper-local forecast fits into the big picture. Most weather apps focus on hyper local forecasting-what’s happening where you are right now. There’s something satisfying about being able to report the conditions near you, but this user-generated info isn’t terribly useful, particularly in under-populated areas. More apps are allowing users to input the weather around them to help dial in the immediate forecast in your area. User-Created Input Is Fun, but Not Reliable A couple will give you a “future-cast” that predicts the track of the storm over the next 30 minutes to an hour. The best apps give you radar imaging that’s current within the last five minutes. Radar is Everythingįorecasts are fine and dandy, but I don’t trust any forecast, especially in the mountains, without also being able to see up-to-date radar. Here are four things to keep in mind when you’re picking your next weather app, followed by our favorite WApps (that’s weather+apps) at the moment. And I learned a few things in the process. I used them to plan hikes and bike rides in the mountains and surf sessions on the coast in an attempt to separate the good from the bad. We spent a month testing dozens of weather apps on our smartphones in a variety of scenarios. Weather kittens.īut if you’re using your smartphone to plan an adventure, survive extreme weather, or even just figure out when you should walk the dog, you’re going to need more than just cute kittens.
Search “weather” in the App Store and you’ll be bombarded with an endless scroll of options-from radar imagery good enough for meteorologists to an app that shows you a different picture of a kitten every time you check the weather.
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