Opening this story with a weather-related adage or aphorism would have been great, if Mother Nature’s approval ratings weren’t currently quite so low. Things have gotten so bad for the topic of weather in general that Game of Thrones has even stopped warning its fans that “winter is coming.”
But guess what — it’s here, and we’re all white walkers. So don’t bother making chit-chat by talking about the weather, tap about it instead. No matter the conditions, these ten apps will keep you covered, because believe it or not, it can actually get worse than this.
Ideal for runners, dog walkers, and anyone who’s looking to dodge the raindrops (or snowflakes), this app uses GPS and local radar to forecast precipitation with down-to-the-minute accuracy. Arm this one up with its push notifications, and you’ll always be aware when a storm is passing through.
In addition, the $3.99 app has a widget that allows it to sit in your iPhone’s notification screen, giving you the next hour’s weather without having to dive into Dark Sky’s full interface.
This app has outlasted many weather reporters, having helped users stay out of the eye of the storm since 2009. Pulling official maps from the National Hurricane Center and providing push alerts, the $2.99 app is a favorite of users from South Texas to the Northeast because it provides audio and video updates, long range models, and allows you to share information with friends and family easily through email, text messaging, and Facebook.
Currently on sale for $1.99, this iPhone and iPad app puts pro-level maps in your hands, giving you overlays of rain, snow, and cloud cover, as well as detailed 24-hour forecasts and 7-day outlooks. Great for storm-watchers, it not only tells you the air pressure, humidity, and wind direction, but shows you how the clouds progress with animated maps. In addition, the ability to pin multiple favorite locations makes this app a favorite for frequent travelers.
Sure, it seems almost comical to wonder if it will snow again, but this iPhone and iPad app will help you track the inches before they pile up. For $1.99, you get a great bar graph visual of hourly snowfall, worth its weight in the wet stuff when it comes to planning out your shoveling strategy. Lauded for its accuracy, it will even give you lightning strike information. But the question is, do you think you’ll enjoy thundersnow as much as this guy?
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When the big one hits, you’ll know it. But in the meantime, you may want to also keep track of the little and medium ones, too. This free and ad-forsaking earthquake app will notify you of rumblings worldwide, sending alerts as well as earthquake-related news from all over the world.
Pulling its its information from U.S. Geological Survey data, it plots incidents on a color-coded, worldwide map complete with fault lines. And with social media and email integration, you can keep your loved ones in the know about seismic events that may impact them.
Lots of apps are all flash and no substance, but this free iPhone and iPad app by Weather Underground dazzles while keeping you warm and dry. Its maps comes with various data layers and overlays, from radar and satellite to showing weather advisory areas and storm fronts. It even displays animations of both the jet stream and surface air movement — crucial details for knowing how the weather is churning around you.
Toss in some gorgeous single-site sweeping radar animations and hyperlocal information sourced from more than 100,000 personal weather stations, and Storm practically gives you a meteorologist in your pocket.
Using location-based technology to make sure weather alerts reach you no matter where you go, this $2.99 app can keep you appraised of everything from severe thunderstorms to flash flooding, while providing severe weather forecasts, showing live video feeds, and displaying current radar and mapping info. When electricity or television goes out, this kind of information can be a life-saver, as many of its loyal users have already attested.
No one knows natural disasters like the American Red Cross, and its free twister-focused app is all about being prepared and ready when the next one touches down. With settings able to alert you in the event that storm clouds are forming, the app provides step-by-step instructions on what to do next. The app also has the ability to monitor multiple locations, and by providing information direct from NOAA, you’ll be sure to have the most up-to-date details. It also has siren and strobe functionalities to help people find you in case you get lost during the storm.
A longtime favorite of weather-watchers, this free app harnesses the power of more than 100,000 personal weather stations scattered around the country, which allows it to provide hyperlocal current conditions that could even come from your own street. Paired with a trove of historical weather data, it can pump out 10-day forecasts that include snow and rain information.
But if things are off, crowd-based reporting lets people provide corrections to the conditions — or lets them report things like hazardous road conditions — making this the most user-friendly and user-based weather service out there.
If you’re a visual person, and you don’t waste that skill looking for animals in the clouds, Weathertron’s chart-and-graph oriented presentation of the weather is the perfect thing for you. With bold graphics and an easy to understand presentation, the $1.99 app can do everything from provide current conditions to seven-day forecasts at a glance. Currently running in 15,000 cities worldwide, the app pares down weather data to its essential information, making it perfect for people who are on-the-go but need to keep an eye out for puddles, too.
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