Best iPad Weather Apps

Squall building behind Reedville fishing boat
by Christine Kling
I admit it. I am a weather wuss. These summer thunderstorms bug the heck out of me.
A couple of days ago while anchored in Deltaville, we had a squall come through with 38 knots of wind. A Swiss double-ender dragged down on a big French catamaran and hooked his anchor on the cat's chain. As the gusts roared through the anchorage, the two boat owners were running around in the driving rain trying to get fenders between the two boats that were suddenly inextricably linked. They'd made an impromptu trimaran.
I live in fear of my boat dragging and everyone in the anchorage saying, "Oh, that stupid woman can't even set her anchor."
The iPad has turned into this worry wart's best friend this summer. I take it with me wherever I go as my weather-station-on-the-go. I admit to even taking it into the shoreside shower house. I set it up on the chair just outside the splash zone and pulled aside the curtain between my shampoo and conditioner to check the radar.
When I am underway using iNavX as my chart plotter at the helm, I often just touch the home button and shift over to check the radar for squalls anywhere in the vicinity (truth be told, I sometimes make a quick check of my email, too). When entering Reedville a couple of days ago, I was watching the sky and the screen to determine where those dark clouds were headed. And tonight, I am anchored in Solomons, but checking the radar as I write this blog.
Because I love the weather capabilities of the iPad so much, I have collected a fair number of weather apps. Tonight, when I searched the App Store specifically for for weather iPad apps, I got seven pages with about 160 apps per page. I certainly can't claim to have sampled them all, but then I really don't think I would have much use for Italy Weather XXL or Weather South Korea with Voice HD.
So here are the weather apps I have on my iPad. I should note that I have the 3G iPad with a real GPS chip in it and I can use that to ask most apps to find the weather for my location.
NOAA Buoy and Tida Data $1.99
This app gives information from the NOAA sea buoys. You can enter your lat and long, or simply ask the GPS to find the buoys nearest you. The split screen shows Wind speed and direction, air temp and pressure and water temp. It also shows a satellite photo of the buoy location. Tapping the forecast button takes you to NOAA's page for a forecast of that buoy area.
Weather+ $.99
This app is good for using as a weather clock sitting on your desk. It has beautiful graphics and really shows off the screen on the iPad, but it doesn't do much in the way of forecasting for the mariner.
Weatherbug Free
This app is good for a quick look at what's going on. I like the weather web cam shots at the top of the screen and the Doppler radar is very easy to see — and to scare oneself with. Tap the forecast list in the upper right of the screen and the forecast opens up with a more detailed week-long forecast. I use this app daily.
WunderMap Free
This has been my every day go to weather app for over a year. It might now be as showy in terms of graphics, but it has the best quick forecast of any of the apps here. The forecasts are updated frequently, so that when you leave in the morning and it tells you that you will have 5-10 knots of wind on your beam and two hours later when you have 18 knots on the nose, and you check to see if you read it right, it then forecasts 15-20 on the nose. Accuracy, like on all weather apps is best closest to the present moment.
What I like best is the Doppler weather that can be animated so you can tell the direction the squalls are headed. Also, weather alerts are visible via the tab at the bottom of the screen and the pop up screen gives you up to a four-day forecast.
eWeather Pro HD $1.99
This app may very well become my new favorite. I just downloaded it tonight and it has beautiful graphics and 10-day forecasts, alerts and information, as well as the ability to change between two different forecast sources. The Nexrad radar is animated and you can zoom out and still get excellent radar. It's nice to have two apps that use different radar sources. Locations can be input by GPS, zip code or browsing the location list.
Marine Weatherfax Viewer HD $4.99
This app shows weather fax information from 5 different locations with Boston being the one for the North Atlantic. Like all these apps, this one will only work when I am in range of the AT&T cellular network, but since I intend to be along the eastern seabird for the next several months, I decided it was worth the higher price. I am just learning how to interpret these wind wave and surface charts, but maybe once I learn, I'll be able to do a little more of my own weather forecasting.
Do any readers out there have favorite iOS weather apps? I'm always looking to add more to my list. Let me know about your fans in the comments.
Fair winds!
Christine
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