Sabtu, 26 Maret 2011

App'd Up Weather

My wife's Christmas gift to me this past year was an iPad...no, I'm not upset about her not waiting to get the iPad 2 since I'm not inclined to go around and take pictures with a 10" tablet computer.   Since last Christmas, I've been toying around with it finding good weather apps...free ones of course...in the time I haven't been playing Angry Birds.  I thought it would be worth sharing a few of those good apps with you or other iPad users.

First, Wundermap from Wunderground.   Arguably the best weather app I have found in terms of getting temperature, radar, satellite, and weather information in a single interface.   You can set the level of temperature reports to include personalized weather stations...or if you're an "ob snob" like I am simply have it report official observations (from Philadelphia, AC, etc.), just like the wundermap on the web.  It includes a pretty accurate radar and satellite overlay, warning information, and forecast.  Not intrusive, no ads, quick to zoom in and out based on your preference.   Simple but if you just want temp and radar without much fuss, it's probably your best bet in the app world at this point.

The Weather Channel Max for iPad is pretty similar to Wunderground's app in that it will let you move around from place to place to get temps.   It has different overlays by clicking "maps" for everything from how much rain fell the last 24 hours to UV index data at a given time in the day (won't do much good at 6 AM obviously).  It does have ads across the top and does not have the same temperature functionality as wunderground, meaning you have to type in a location to get the specific temperature.   It does, however, include video and "tweets" from TWC meteorologists.   It's not as "hardcore" for weather geeks but does serve a great purpose in filling a niche of information for one specific location...just not quite as "awesome" as Wundermap in my opinion.

Intellicast HD is pretty slick as well.   It has similar layout to TWC but instead of having to click on "local" to get a forecast the information is on the left hand (sideways) or bottom (not sideways) of the map.   Radar is accurate, provides a loop history, and their forecast tab includes graphs for what will happen over the course of a ten day period of time as well as an hourly chart of what will happen.  It is ad-supported (it is free, of course) but I do like having a ton of information in one spot.   You can have multiple cities linked across the top of the app (the default is Boston but you can list Timbuktu if you'd like by clicking the home button and then the "plus" sign) but it will only focus on information for one city at a time.   It doesn't have the other bells and whistles of TWC's app (no video, no twitter) but it does provide a better overall snapshot of information in one spot.

AccuWeather's app contains current weather information (obviously) but also weather headlines, forecast, video, and maps.   It's relatively easy to use, at least in my opinion, but tends to crash more frequently than the other weather apps I have used, especially when ads kick in (it is ad supported).   In fact, I've had to delete and reinstall a couple times...after the third crash, I pretty much gave up using it.

I will be curious to see how iHurricane works during the summer -- I downloaded it and it includes basic information like forecast discussion from the National Hurricane Center, computer model plots, and satellite imagery.   It will also provide a link to show storm tracks with clickable advisory information.   The advisory shows how far the storm is away from your location (that's pretty cool).   Too early to say with certainty if this will become one of my favs or not but it has potential.

There are other apps out there -- some ok, some terrible, and a bunch of apps that cost various amounts of money.   I may splurge on some of the at-cost apps in the future, especially if I purchase an iPhone and want to have access to computer models or in depth radar on the go (there are some impressive pay apps I've seen  demos on).   Until then, if it's free it's for me.  

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