Cold. Snow. Even colder. More snow. That’s basically been the weather for the past month here in Minnesota. To help me keep track of weather conditions throughout the day, I’ve been using Yahoo! Weather.
Yahoo! Weather is a much better app than the one included on an iDevice and other weather apps I’ve used because of its design. When you open the app, the first thing it does is update. The display has a pretty picture in the background representing the current weather conditions. On the bottom left is the temperature, what the high temperature is expected to be and the current weather like fair, rain, snow, etc. The name of the city, the time, a button to quickly access other cities and Yahoo! apps, and a plus sign to add more cities are at the top of the screen.
The best parts are when you swipe up. Scrolling up reveals the forecast for each hour (swipe the times of the day right and left to see the hour by hour) and for the next five days with an option to see ten days. Next are the current details: more information about the forecast for the day, what it feels like outside, the humidity, visibility and UV index. As you keep going down, there is a map of your area. Tap the map to make it larger. The initial map is the one from U.S. Radar, but you can change the map to the satellite view, heat map, and wind.
Below the map are three more sections. The precipitation segment displays the chances for rain, sleet, hail or snow for the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. Next is wind and pressure with the speed and direction of the wind and a barometer reading. Last is the sun and moon with the times of the sunrise and sunset. The section has an arc that shows you where the sun is at that time and the phase of the moon.
The Yahoo! Weather app is easy to understand, loads quickly, and has a lot of information about the current weather conditions and the forecast so you can plan your day. During days with snow, I’ve also used it to determine the best time to shovel my driveway.
Yahoo! Weather, by Yahoo!, is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, requires iOS 6.0 or later and is rated 4+. The app is also available for Android on Google Play.
