Getting stuck in a lurch when it comes to the weather is really nobody’s fault but your own. Okay, well, not that meteorologists are always right, but more often than not, you have resources at your fingertips to at least have an idea of what the weather is going to be like. Yes, it can be unpredictable, but you have to be prepared for that unpredictability.
I’ve used plenty of weather apps in my day and have enjoyed The Weather Channel’s smooth jazz sounds while reading my local weather and watching the TV. Many weather apps are simplistic and only provide you with the bare minimum information. Others will give you more details, but you have to pay to get it. That’s why I switched to Windy.com’s app, which is free and gives me all the weather facts I need to know.
I was blown away by the number of features
Windy.com’s app is free and available on Android and iOS. It goes above and beyond what you might expect from a weather app, as it gives you all kinds of information that you may not have even thought about before. Not only will it give you the weather in your area (after you share your location, or you type in a zip code), but you can see what the weather will be like in the next few hours to a few days.
This is something any weather app can do, but Windy.com provides you with not just your local weather. You can get so much more granular with the data. Want to know the wave sizes in your area if you live near the ocean like me? Windy’s got you. Want to know what the waves are doing near Russia? Windy’s still got you.
When you open up the app and click on the hamburger menu (three lines on the bottom right), you can look at the weather in different ways. You can look at all 57 features, or break them down into categories to make sorting easier.
|
Category |
How many features are in the category |
|---|---|
|
Wind |
5 |
|
Temperature |
9 |
|
Rain, snow |
9 |
|
Clouds, aviation |
13 |
|
Waves, sea |
8 |
|
Air quality |
9 |
|
Drought |
3 |
|
Warnings |
5 |
Some of the features overlap in categories.
Become an amateur meteorologist
Keep an eye on all facets of the weather
People naturally want to know about different weather at different times of the year. You want to know how much snow you might get in the winter or how hot it’s going to be in the dead of summer. But during the killer heat wave, some people might also want to know about drought conditions. Windy gives you extensive maps that highlight just how severe a drought situation is.
This feels like something Al Roker would have on The Today Show, but instead, it’s right in your pocket. To go along with that drought information, you can also see how much of a fire risk your area might be at. For those who have been pelted by rain, there’s a map that’s just for rain accumulation and another for thunderstorms specifically. You might have a better idea of when to put the kids to bed once that thunderstorm has passed.
For the true weather fanatics or the ones who might live in tropical climates that are affected by hurricane season, the hurricane tracker feature is well worth your time. This shows if there’s a tropical storm brewing somewhere in the world and, if so, when it might hit land and what its path might be. You can watch a hurricane unfold on the app.
It’s not just the number of features that’s impressive
It’s the layout too
What really impressed me with Windy.com’s app is how interactive the maps are. You can move your finger from one place to another, dragging the cursor to change the location quickly. You can also click on the magnifying glass (search) icon and type in a location, a town, a zip code, or coordinates to have it come up.
This feels like something Al Roker would have on The Today Show, but instead, it’s right in your pocket.
Want to see how bumpy your flight from LAX to JFK might be? Type in “LAX JFK” and it will bring up your flight path and the weather that you might experience during it. This has been a game changer for me when I’m flying. You can personalize your app as well by creating alerts. Tapping on a location and then tapping “Alert for this spot” will give you push notifications and alerts for any weather in that area.
You can also favorite locations that you might want to look up more than once. Dropping a pin on a location will let you see that location with a specific feature that you like. For example, if you want to know the snow at your favorite ski resort, the new snow feature can give you a look at what might be coming and how fresh the powder might be.
There is a paid version of Windy.com’s app, which runs $25 a year. You’ll get more up-to-date forecasts, a farther out forecast, and a 12-hour loop for radar and satellite, as well as radar and satellite archives for up to a year. I haven’t yet upgraded to the paid version, but the more I use Windy, the more likely I am to cave.
Windy has everything a weather app should
For anyone who is a weather junkie or just wants to be as informed as possible, the Windy.com app is a smart one to download. There are so many features that you can lose yourself in the app for hours. But, if you just want a quick glance at your location and what the five-day forecast might be, you can easily get that as well. For in-depth weather data, Windy.com has many other weather apps that I’ve tried beat. I don’t want to go back to not using it any time soon.