When Mother Nature is in a bad mood (which is more likely than ever these days thanks to climate change), it helps to keep an eye on what's happening in the sky. One of the most important tools for that is a mobile weather app. A good weather app helps you decide if you'll need to bring an umbrella to work, or prepare for more serious conditions. With wild weather across the country, particularly hurricanes threatening coastal states, it's a good idea to check the forecast or radar for upcoming conditions. A weather app lets you do that wherever you are, whenever you like.
When testing weather apps, we spent most of our time evaluating the effectiveness of their design. An ideal weather app is visually pleasing and easy to use. If you have to dig through several screens to find out when it's going to rain, the app is off to a bad start.
What we didn't look for is whether or not the predicted weather came to pass. Our reasons are twofold: First, most weather apps get the bulk of their data from the National Weather Service. Some also pull their predictions from AccuWeather, or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Weather Channel and a few other companies have their own predictive models, but many apps are just shells into which data flows.
Second, and more importantly, to really determine the accuracy of the service's model, we'd have to perform exhaustive tests across the globe. We're simply not set up to tackle that kind of challenge. As it stands, we'll assume that if a company has invested the time and effort to create its own predictive models for something as complex as weather, then it probably knows more about meteorology than we do.
For what it's worth, the apps were all quite accurate during testing. Despite earlier conspiracies, the rollout of the 5G wireless network shouldn’t ruin these weather forecasts. Besides, right now you should be staying inside anyway to help curb the ongoing pandemic, even on the nicest of days. If you're really concerned about accuracy, consider getting a weather station of your own. Though weather stations are more about recording your local data than about getting forecasts, setting up and maintaining a weather station is a fun science project—just maybe not right before a hurricane hits.
You may notice that Dark Sky, one of our favorite weather apps, is no longer on this list. After being acquired by Apple several years ago, Dark Sky will shut down at the end of 2022. Expect its features to get rolled into future iOS weather functionality.
At first, we did not fully appreciate the sheer number of weather apps available for Android and iOS devices. In the end, we picked those we thought offered something unique, along with the most popular apps. The vast majority of these apps are free, so try them out until you find the sunniest one for you.
Plume Labs: Air Quality App
Air quality is a piece of weather data that greatly impacts personal health. Even if you aren't directly caught in a wildfire, smoke-filled air can still make it dangerous to go outside. This air quality app from Plume Labs offers real-time, local pollution information, a sadly vital service in our current climate.
Platforms: Android, iOS
Weather Hi-Def Radar
From severe weather overlays to air quality monitoring to tracking fires and lightning strikes, Weather Hi-Def Radar gives you big-picture information on fascinating weather phenomena all over the world. GPS tracking and detailed data also teach you about what’s going on in your backyard.
Platforms: Android, iOS
AccuWeather
AccuWeather has comprehensive planning features that use weather data to help you manage allergies, safely drive, or boost productivity. We like that it includes a news section for watching videos about upcoming weather events.
Platforms: Android, iOS
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel's app is slick and capable. It provides hourly and daily forecasts and the information you need to stay safe from raging hurricanes and deadly viruses. The robust video section makes this app particularly useful.
Platforms: Android, iOS
Weather Underground
Weather Underground (for Android)
Weather Underground may no longer be the darling among weather geeks, but the app has plenty to offer. Weather Underground has smart forecasts, detailed storm tracking, air quality and temperature readings, quick links to more content on the Wunderground website, and a respectful privacy policy.
Platforms: Android, iOS
What The Forecast
What the Forecast is a little app with a big personality, which is why there's a helpful option to modify the weather app's profanity settings. Get a dose of snark with your daily weather forecast! As a bonus, if you ever lose your internet connection, the app tells you the weather in hell, which, in the long run, is probably the most useful information for most of us anyway.
Platforms: Android, iOS
Yahoo Weather
Plume Labs: Air Quality App
Yahoo Weather is a beautifully designed app that leverages other weather apps' best features—and improves on them. Responsive background images reflect the time of day and weather in your area. If you don't like Weather Underground, give this app a try.
Platforms: Android, iOS
Carrot Weather
CARROT Weather
Carrot Weather used to be a nice substitute for the excellent Dark Sky, which was swallowed up by Apple in 2022. Currently, the app's best features are locked behind a paid subscription. Notable features include data tracking to determine the optimal weather for specific medical conditions, such as allergies, arthritis, migraines, and other ailments.
Platforms: Android, iOS
WeatherBug
WeatherBug tends to send a lot of notifications by default, and the free version is fairly ad-heavy, so we recommend the paid version. The app's lightning-detection feature is uncommon and useful.
Platforms: Android, iOS
FlowX
Flowx: Weather Map Forecast
Once an Android-only app, Flowx now also offers an iOS version. The app pulls from a variety of local and global sources to give users the most accurate forecasts possible. If you pay for a premium tier, you can customize graphs, maps, and widgets however you like.
Platforms: Android, iOS
MyRadar Weather Radar
MyRadar Weather Radar
Whether it's on your phone or beamed straight to your Apple Watch, MyRadar Weather Radar quickly and accurately keeps you informed about local forecasts. Dive deeper into the app to watch video content, learn aviation data, and follow wind patterns.
Platforms: Android, iOS
NOAA Live Weather Radar
Many weather apps draw data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. So, just cut to the chase with the NOAA Live Weather Radar app. With it, you can check local forecasts and track weather patterns using interactive satellite maps.
Platforms: Android, iOS