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Best Weather App
- Thread starter firestone12
- Start date
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Sorry, let me clarify my terse response. I hate with a passion the fact that so many people think they need an "app" for functions/information that is easily obtainable as a website. Installing apps on either a computer or smartphone should never be done if the same functionality is available from the web.
Huh why not? the app is usually streamlined and faster then opening a webpage. the app gives me more info faster and in a more practical form.
1) An "app" must be installed and therefore can potentially add privacy issues or vulnerabilities to your system
2) Weather apps have had a very bad history of adding necessary, adware, background processes, etc.
3) Adding a shortcut icon to your phone's home screen or computer's desktop is absolutely not slower than loading an application.
4) I have "fixed" or disinfected hundreds of computers (Windows, and even Macs) over my 30+ years of IT experience and have found that "weather" applications are some of the most common initial exposures to adware, malware, or trojans).
5) I work with professionals that relay on accurate weather forecasts daily and can tell you that none of them get their forecasts from an "app".
... In your opinion.
I would agree when it comes to a computer, but strongly disagree with a mobile device like a smartphone.
That is my opinion.
I'll agr
I'll agree with you dwfaust. Whereas I would never download a weather app on any of my computers, I do have a few weather apps on my iPhone. "Wunderground", "SailFlow", and "RadarScope" do excel in what the do on iOS. Those are however the only apps on my iPhone for weather and I would never even consider one on a computer. The rest are simply home screen icons to NOAA/NWS pages.
Guys, I have radarscope on my iPhone.. I love it, but they don't make a OSX Version. I wanted something like that if possible.
RadarScope does actually have a Mac OS version (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/radarscope/id288419283?mt=8#)
I have been using Forecast Bar as a menu item. It also has a Notification Center widget if you prefer that.
Yes, RadarScope is excellent. May seem expensive, but it's worth every penny IMO. It doesn't have forecasts, though. For that, as others have said, I would recommend the National Weather Service at weather.gov.
Please do not use weather apps if you are seeking for a reliable forecast. They are just what the model guidance spits out, and have very little human input.
Please do not use weather apps if you are seeking for a reliable forecast. They are just what the model guidance spits out, and have very little human input.
Use mobile.weather.gov. It'll allow you to set up an app like icon.
And yes, RadarScope is worth every dollar for you weather weenies.
No... I ditched it even though I liked the aesthetics of the app. The weather was always way off for me (Southern California). I've gone back to just using the default Notification Center weather widget and that seems very accurate for me.
https://www.forecastadvisor.com
If you go to this site and enter your zip code it will show you how accurate all the different weather forecast providers have been. Historically forecast.io (used by Forecast Bar) is near the bottom of the pile for my zip code.
I settle for the notification center widget as well, although I use one tiny village's location for summer and a different one (or that of an unincorporated hamlet!) for winter. In the summer it's a nearby river valley's terrain that often determines our weather, and in winter it's more the myriad of high hills that may or may not trap incoming snows.
For NWS forecasts which work out best here,
"1.1% of NWS Digital Forecast's low temperature forecasts for Binghamton were off by more than 10 degrees last month."
So I use their stuff when checking weather details in a browser. The regional forecast center for the area around here is Monticello which is way south of here down in the mid Catskills and way off over half the time, so I often set Oneonta as my location to pick up the Binghamton region instead. I'll settle for 1% off...
Just file all that under "know details of your terrain and how it affects local weather."
The ForecastAdvisor Fact trailer cracks me up sometimes even if at the time of the events in question I may not have been all that amused:
"It rained or snowed 91% of the time in Binghamton last year when The Weather Channel's text forecasts called for precipitation, and 30% of the time when they did not."