How We Got Addicted To Weather Apps (theguardian.com) 51
As unprecedented weather leads to increasing climate anxiety, there's a raft of different apps catering for every kind of forecast. From a report: Preoccupation with weather apps is commonplace in our current unsettled atmosphere. On social media there is almost as much chat about weather apps as there is about the weather: much of it is ire about inaccurate forecasts; some of it is from users who admit checking weather apps more than seems logical. There is still palpable grief, in the wake of the closure of the short-term weather prediction app Dark Sky, late last year, after its acquisition by Apple. In April, when Apple's weather app went down, there was such outrage that the temporary glitch became an international news story.
Fifty per cent of US smartphone users regularly use weather apps; according to Statista, weather apps will make approximately $1.5bn in revenue in 2023, a leap from $530m in 2017. Jeremiah Lasquety-Reyes, a senior analyst for Statista, says this new weather app ecosystem is only going to grow, owing to the climate crisis, as well as a general trend towards "digitizing one's life and schedule." There are certainly plenty out there, catering to a variety of needs: more than 10,000 apps have the word "weather" in the title in Android and iPhone app stores.
Fifty per cent of US smartphone users regularly use weather apps; according to Statista, weather apps will make approximately $1.5bn in revenue in 2023, a leap from $530m in 2017. Jeremiah Lasquety-Reyes, a senior analyst for Statista, says this new weather app ecosystem is only going to grow, owing to the climate crisis, as well as a general trend towards "digitizing one's life and schedule." There are certainly plenty out there, catering to a variety of needs: more than 10,000 apps have the word "weather" in the title in Android and iPhone app stores.
I'd post here, but... (Score:5, Informative)
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is 116F supposed to mean something?
At Furnace Creek in July? I think it means it's still morning.
Re:I'd post here, but... (Score:5, Funny)
is 116F supposed to mean something?
The hexadecimal number "116F" represents a value in the base-16 numbering system. When converted to the decimal system, "116F" is equal to 4735.
Of course, If "116F is referring to a temperature, it could indicate a measurement in degrees Fahrenheit. In this case, a temperature of 116 degrees Fahrenheit would be implied. 116 degrees Fahrenheit is approximately equal to 46.67 degrees Celsius (or 46C). This is a relatively warm temperature. But if 46C was an hexadecimal notation, it would equal 1132 in the decimal system.
But if we are indeed talking about temperature, a temperature of 46 degrees Celsius (46C) would be considered quite hot for Furnace Creek (Death Valley, California). Furnace Creek is known for its extreme heat, and temperatures above 40C (104F) are relatively common during the summer months. A temperature of 46C would indicate exceptionally hot conditions even for Furnace Creek, where residents and visitors would experience intense heat and the need for precautions to stay cool and hydrated.
My pleasure to provide those useless facts.
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No more coffee for you. :-)
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Scareface, but with Adderall.
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Somebody is addicted... (Score:2)
... to average July temperature maps?
116F does mean something (Score:2)
is 116F supposed to mean something?
116 Fahrenheit = 1.1708034363 Triple point of water
They are nice come spring... (Score:3)
Where I live, having real time weather radar is nice come spring, especially when seeing how bad the storm overhead is going to get. Most likely it winds up splitting around where I am, so all the "fun" stuff goes to either side of where I am.
You got addicted to weather apps? (Score:5, Insightful)
Journalists decide they're addicted to the dullest things...
Re: You got addicted to weather apps? (Score:2)
What? Really? (Score:3)
I look outside. I dress appropriately.
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I go on daily 20-40 mile bike rides. On days of iffy weather, I look at the weather app's hourly forecast and the animated radar map. Based on the forecasted hourly chances of precipitation and the movement of the rain clouds on the radar, I estimate my own hourly chances of getting soaked based on where I'll be at what time.
I usually avoid getting soaked thanks to the weather app. That and maps/navigation are the only reasons I have a smartphone.
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I like getting drenched on my 7 miles hikes.
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You're far too rational for /. Please find another forum.
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I use for road biking similar distances too (not daily). Weather Underground 10-day on the web page has a simple but useful 10 day chart graphing temp, precipitation, wind speed + direction. Right now weather is predictable in my world: hot as hell, low wind. When seasons start changing in September, it's quite useful. For today and now, the updated iOS weather is good for the same immediate data points and UV too.
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The genius of Les Nessman's Eye-Witness Weather.
That was actually one of his better ideas.
Here in Eastern Washington it's boring weather season. "Yesterday, it was hot and dry. Today, it's hot and dry, Tomorrow it will be hot and dry." Really the only variable is the wind.
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I look on Windy to see if there is any weather coming in, or at my destination.
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Jeez, that strategy only works + or - 10 degrees latitude and within a few hundred miles of a western sea coast.
For the REST of us, where temp swings comfy-danger (in winter, danger-almost livable) it's very handy having something offer even a rough prediction. Can't believe how much gear I carry to handle deviations.
By the way, I'd love to live someplace like that someday.
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I do live within 50 miles of the western sea coast (closer if you count the bay), and in a proper band. Why would anyone live anywhere else?
But seriously, I still don't get why people pay a premium for a weather forecast. Do I need more detail on Windy? No. The regular version has all the cool arrows to ooh and ah over.
Blame solar panels (Score:3)
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Has nothing to do with any of that ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Nothing to do with "climate anxiety" or social media or whatever ...
I've been looking at weather data since my first computer a gazillion years ago.
First time I saw a GIF file was downloading weather maps from Compu$serve. Why do you think they supported animation? Radar maps....
I'm still mourning rainmaker.wunderground.com ...
So this article can stuff it - has nothing to do with "weather apps" and all about weather DATA. Has been since the 80s. Want to take a good guess what it's going to be doing outside over the next 3-5 days. That's it ... I'm not anxious about climate change or whatever media-sensation crap this article wants to drum up. Just wanna know if I need an umbrella on Wednesday.
(ps - CARROT weather is the top of the heap present-day for me.)
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I've had links to two "10 day" wunderground locations for I don't know how many years. I look at them a couple times a week.
Apparently I'm "addicted" or something.
Also, can we have more bee-pocalypse stories. And I need to see the "sweeteners cause cancer" stories at least daily. Thanks.
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IBM Destroys everything they touch
RIP Wunderground's features
I didn't get addicted. (Score:2)
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It's nice... (Score:1)
to have a accurate weather prediction to the hour so you can plan things as time is the greatest asset (yes, I know, I'm on here) now.
Truly lamented Dark Sky going away as no contenders have the mix of accurate prediction with at a glance data presentation.
And with extreme weather events becoming more common, it's another variable to add into an uncertain future.
Because they usually barely work? (Score:3)
As with most "apps" the various weather apps are either unusably slow, broken or just plain worse than the corresponding web page that provides the same information.
The NWS recently switched their radar maps to use some kind of a "web app" that is almost unusable on mobile devices and older computers, and even on a fast connection and beefy hardware, leaves a lot to be desired: slow, clunky, shifting content, bandwidth hogging, poorly-designed interface. Thankfully, they actually listened to the voluminous outcry and made their animated gif maps available again:
https://radar.weather.gov/ridg... [weather.gov]
wunderground.com went downhill after TWC bought them, but they seem (to me) to have the least-sucky website and best local forecast data. Their "app" (at least on android) is almost completely useless, so I just use their website. The same URL works on my desktop browser and my android browser.
But addicted? People are addicted to looking at the weather forecast? I mean, I look at it almost every morning and evening, but it's hardly like I need a fix. I just want to know what clothes I should wear if I'm leaving the house, or (in the winter) whether I need to make sure I have snowblower gas. Maybe people who are "addicted" to their weather app (or any app for that matter) need to spend more time outside. And maybe journalists might want to think about doing some actual journalism if this is what passes these days.
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MyRadar and NOAA Weather Free/Unofficial (Pro) are both excellent mobile weather apps.
I still use WU's graphical chart on desktop for trend visualization.
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Good to know, thanks! I might could check those out, though the WU 10-day forecast page works great on my phone and desktop.
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At one point (it no longer works), I had simply embedded the animated GIF layer onto Google maps at partial transparency. Their own loop is fairly useless for seeing up close to the neighborhood level and lately there have been waves of tiny cells hitting only one side of town. This is not what they did for their own "modern" version. It is painfully slow beyond reason. I still find myself using that more than the old one because I still need the detail.
A common privacy invasion tool (Score:2)
Weather apps always need to know your location and are perfect targets for privacy invasion tools. Do not use any free weather app if you care about your privacy, data from these tools fuels apps like placer.ai.
I subscribe (Score:2)
I pull data from Environment Canada all the time to my smart home system, and from there I can pick it up on my phone.
You know what I like to do? Know if it's better to open windows or close them to manage my home's temperature rather than use the AC.
I like to know if I'm likely going to need a sweater or a jacket to keep the rain off before the day's out.
Weather apps are great! (Score:1)
You can see the predicted rain clouds and dodge rain clouds as they approach. Itâ(TM)s not just climate change.
Realllllly missing darksky... (Score:1)
Apple bought and killed a tool that would have helped the public understand climate change in the long term and help provide physical safety from extreme weather in the short term.
This article seems like an effort to position Carrot Weather as the spiritual successor to DarkSky
Heh. (Score:1)
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Easy. Ignorance and vendor lock-in. (Score:2)
First, ignorance that Weather.gov is better, free at point-of-use, and already paid for by taxes. Next, vendor lock-in is probably at work--while I haven't actually tested Weather.gov on a "smart" phone, I'm thinking it probably doesn't look as good--by design. Neither Google nor Apple will even bother to implement things like push notifications in a web browser, because it goes against their core business model, with is locking you in to the app mentality, so that you think you need their devices... to g
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They finally revamped weather.gov for mobile and did a decent job of it.
So tired of this (Score:3)
How does people using weather apps automatically imply that it's because of concerns about climate change?
I check my weather app somewhat regularly, and I know exactly why I do it. My reasons for this are as follows, in rough order of importance:
1) I want to know if I'll need an umbrella when I go to / come home from work
2) I want to know if I need a coat
3) I want to know if I'll be chilly if I wear shorts
4) I want to know what the weather is likely to be when I take a trip in a few days
5) I'm vaguely curious how hot (or cold) it is outside my climate-controlled, air-conditioned office
6) ???
7) Profit!!
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Better than being addicted to the evening news (Score:3)
I have family members, and you probably do too, who suffer through endless local news stories about the latest convenience store robbery or home invasion in some downtrodden part of the city, just to get to the weather forecast at the end. And they continually tease the coming weather forecast, and brag about how accurate their weather predictions are--almost as much as they actually talk about...the weather.
With an app, at least you can just bring it up, check the radar (if conditions warrant), and you're done. And everything is centered on where you live, not where the TV station is.
I think weather apps (at least the good ones like Weather Underground) are great. I don't really get the "addicted" angle though. Sounds a bit like hype.
Me! (Score:2)
I have several web sites and apps because none of them are accurate. :)