After a week of tumultuous weather, where a widespread storm caused havoc across the South with tornado warnings and high winds disrupting lives in Florida, and another storm covered the Midwest in over six inches of snow, it’s clear that staying informed about the weather is more crucial than ever.
As winter’s icy grip tightens its hold across parts of the country, affecting everything from daily commutes to political campaigns, finding reliable weather apps becomes very important. Let’s take a look at the 5 weather apps we recommend for being accurate, reliable, and easy to use.
1. Weather
The weather app is a built-in application that comes with every iPhone. It provides you with current and forecaster weather info for various locations around the world. You can add, delete, or rearrange the cities you want to see on the app. The app also shows the temperature, humidity, wind speed, UV index, and air quality for each location. You can tap on a city to see more details, such as hourly and daily forecasts, sunrise and sunset times, and precipitation chances. The app also integrates with Siri, So you can ask questions like “What’s the weather going to be like today?” or “Do I need an umbrella today?”
You can also customize notifications which enable notifications for severe weather and next-hour precipitation. You must allow the app to track your location at all times to get the most accurate notifications. However, your information is always kept private. Here’s how to enable notifications on the iOS Weather app:
- Go to your Settings app
- Scroll down and select Weather
- Tap location – it’s underneath where it says ALLOW WEATHER TO ACCESS
- Tap Always
- Then tap <Weather in the left corner of your phone
- Tap Notifications
- Toggle on Enable Notifications or Allow Notifications on newer phones
MORE: BAD WEATHER? HOW TO GET SURVIVAL READY IN ANY STORM
2. CARROT Weather
CARROT Weather is a great app for those wishing to add a little spice to their weather updates daily. The highly customizable and free-to-download app allows you to choose how you want the app to communicate with you, whether you want something generic or a bit more snarky. You can even choose a personality for your weather assistant. And with over 63,000 reviews and a 4.7-star rating, we can assume that people are loving the added fun to their weather report.
Once you’re in the app, it gives you accurate weather forecasts for the hours ahead and even for the rest of the week. It also includes information on the phase that the moon will be in that night and what time the sun will rise and set
What’s cool is you can subscribe to their premium plan for $19.99 per year and get even more features, such as choosing where your weather forecasts are sourced from and receiving weather alerts, hurricane trackers, and more.
MORE: STORM SURVIVAL ESSENTIALS: YOUR ULTIMATE GADGET GUIDE
3. FOX Weather
FOX Weather is an excellent free app that is very user-friendly. It has a 4.8-star rating with over 204,000 reviews, so this very well could be the perfect app for you. When you first download the app, it will ask you automatically if you would like to receive notifications, critical alerts, and personalized ads so that you’re already starting your experience closest to how you want it. It also asks you if it’s okay for the app to track your location so that it can get the most accurate results.
Once you’re in the app, you can watch a video tour of how to use it led by FOX Weather reporters Janice Dean and Jason Frazer. If you’d rather not watch the tour, tap Skip for now
You’re then led to the homepage of the app, which has tons of features, including an hourly, 14-day, and historical forecast. The historical forecast tab will tell you how today’s weather compares to the weather on the same day in previous years.
If you glance at the bottom of the screen, there’s a bar with different options for you to view the weather. You can press the Watch icon if you wish to watch FOX’s live weather coverage for your area or the Radar icon to view a 3D map radar of the weather in your area or another part of the country.
There’s also an Events icon, which allows you to type in any planned trips you have and will give you the predicted weather for your destination. You can opt to receive notifications for this trip in case the weather changes at any time. All you have to do is create an event. To do this, enter the destination of your trip and the days you’re going, and the app will give you its most accurate results.
MORE: 5 WAYS TO KEEP DOGS SAFE AND COOL IN HOT WEATHER
4. Windy
For all you lovers of nature and outdoor activities, Windy is the perfect app for you. This app gives you regular weather reports like any other weather app would, but it also specifically focuses on the wind. It has over 65,000 reviews and a 4.7-star rating, so it’s safe to say that others are loving it too.
When you first download the app, it asks you to select which activities you’re most interested in to give you a more personalized approach.
You also get to choose what you need most out of the app and whether or not you want to receive push notifications. You can then opt for their premium plan for just $6 per month, or continue to use their free version. Once you have all the logistics sorted out, you can choose your location.
When your location is put in, the app will give you a full report of the weather in that area with specifics to the wind forecast, such as the wind direction and knots.
On the map, you’ll also notice a chat icon where other people who use this app can discuss the wind in that area, so you can get the most accurate and real-life take. There’s also a map icon that gives you real-time information on the weather over a map of the area.
5. (Not Boring) Weather
Although the weather can be boring for some, the (Not Boring) Weather app is determined to make your weather updates fun and exciting every day. The app is free to download, but you can also subscribe to their premium plan for $29.99 per year, and this would unlock a membership to all other (Not Boring) apps as well, including Habits, Calculator, and Timer. It has over 1,000 downloads and a 4.6-star rating.
If you opt for the free version, the app will ask you to put in your location and whether you’d like the app to track your location at all times. You’ll then be taken to the main page, which is designed much differently than other weather apps. It shows the current temperature in huge text, with the predictions for the next hour.
And if you want more accurate results, tap your screen once and it will give you all the statistics you’ll ever need.
If you tap the icon in the top right-hand corner, you can customize the app to how you like it by choosing the background color, the units you want your weather in, and more.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Knowing the weather is a major step in helping us plan out our days, whether it be knowing how to dress properly or figuring out when you can reschedule an outdoor activity. Although many will miss the Dark Sky app, all hope is not yet lost, as these other 5 apps can give you the information you need. Try them out and see which one works best for you.
How upset are you about the Dark Sky app being discontinued? Do you think Apple should bring it back?
FOR MORE OF MY TECH TIPS AND SECURITY ALERTS, SUBSCRIBE TO MY FREE CYBERGUY REPORT NEWSLETTER HERE
Related: