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My favorite weather-related smartphone apps
Published: 2/21/2012 3:34 PM
Last Modified: 2/21/2012 3:34 PM

The easiest way to know the current conditions exactly where you are is to go outside. Are you wet? It's probably raining. Is your hair acting a fool? It's probably windy.

When you're inside, however, it's a little more difficult to tell. Enter: The Internet. There are multiple resources that can give you sometimes too much information. And in the age where smartphones are nearly ubiquitous, weather resources have followed to your pocket.

Here are the essential weather-related smartphone apps that help me get the best idea of what's happening right now, what happened recently and what is about to happen. These resources are informative and some could even save your life. And just for a disclaimer: These are my opinions. There are tons of fine weather resources out there, so shop around. But, here is a good place to start.

Mesonet
Free (iPhone)
Finally! All of the maps you can handle from this wonderful resource for Oklahomans in the palm of your hand. We all know and love the Oklahoma Mesonet and it’s wealth of information. Any kind of weather statistic you could dream of, there’s a map for that. Of course, that’s my favorite part because I reek of weather geek. But, it also provides all the current conditions and forecasts in a sleek and easy-to-use format. There is also live statewide radar and a list of the current advisories.
The app was released on Jan. 28 and is still in its first version, so I’m sure they have some kinks that will surface and be worked out in future updates. But right now, it’s pretty perfect.
Of course, the information is only relative to Oklahoma’s Mesonet network. Also, the radar map is from the individual radar in the state, not combined into one map of the state.

This is the Mesonet home screen. Tapping the "i" in top right lets you select the Mesonet site closest to you.

Here is an example of one of the maps, this one the 24 hour rainfall totals from noon Monday to noon Tuesday. The map is much easier to read in landscape.

Weather Underground
Free (iPhone and Android)
In the browser of my smartphone, I always kept the Weather Underground mobile website open. The mobile site was informative, easy to use and had a great interactive, full screen radar. Now, Wunderground has its on proper app. The app is pretty sleek, with all the current conditions, forecast and mini-radar you want all in one glance on the home screen. The conditions are determined by your location, but you can select from one of the more than 20,000 personal Weather Underground stations across the country. That’s a lot of weather data. Included in the scroll is a 10-day forecast and 6-day forecast with hourly predictions.
The biggest problem with the app is the radar map. It’s not as large as the mobile website’s map, though it has more data, such as temperature, wind and rainfall. But with a smaller map (and ads…) it gets busy on that little screen.

On the left is the home screen. All pertinent info is right there, and slide across to get more details. The right shows the map, which as you can see can get kinda busy. Also, ads.

iMap Weather Radio
$9.99 (iPhone and possibly coming soon to Android)
The price is steep, but it’s cheaper than an actual weather radio and works just about as well. This app will send loud push notifications when there is any alert issued for your area. It even has a voice that tells you what the warning is, handy for being safe while driving. As the name suggests, it also has forecasts from NOAA Weather Radio with that robotic voice that we all know and love (and used to scare the crap out of me when I was a kid) and live, interactive weather radar.
But probably the coolest feature is it will follow you. Wherever you are, it will send you a push notification for any weather advisories issued for your current location. That is invaluable on road trips, especially in the upcoming spring season.
All that is great, but only when it works… The app is a little buggy, which is not something you want from your weather radio. But the site says they are working those things out and plan an update soon.

On the left is what you see when you are listening to the weather radio. Alerts also show up there, with audio of those alerts. On the right is the map, which is big and clear and interactive.

--Jerry Wofford

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Almanac

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

	Temperature		Precipitation
Date	High Temp	Low Temp	Total	Month to date	Historical average
1	44°	16°	0	0.00	0.05
2	59°	24°	0	0.00	0.11
3	57°	33°	0	0.00	0.16
4	68°	37°	Trace	0.00	0.21
5	69°	29°	0	0.00	0.26
6	66°	33°	0	0.00	0.32
7	59°	38°	0.05	0.05	0.38
8	51°	34°	0	0.05	0.44
9	44°	36°	0.01	0.06	0.51
10	62°	37°	0.07	0.13	0.57
11	54°	28°	0	0.13	0.64
12	44°	30°	0.25	0.38	0.70
13	55°	40°	0.01	0.39	0.76
14	°	°			0.83
15	°	°			0.89
16	°	°			0.95
17	°	°			1.02
18	°	°			1.09
19	°	°			1.16
20	°	°			1.23
21	°	°			1.31
22	°	°			1.38
23	°	°			1.46
24	°	°			1.53
25	°	°			1.61
26	°	°			1.69
27	°	°			1.77
28	°	°			1.85

TEMPERATURE

RAINFALL

SNOWFALL

Weather World

Follow Jerry Wofford on Twitter for updates during severe weather conditions.

Tulsa weather milestones of 2013 (as of Feb. 12)

Highest temperature: 70 on Jan. 11 (Record: 115 on Aug. 15, 1936)
Lowest temperature: 15 on Jan. 16 (Record: Minus-16 on Jan. 22, 1930)
Hottest month (average): 40.5 degrees in January (Record: 91.7 degrees on July 1980)
Coldest month (average): 40. 5 degrees in January (Record: 21.7 in January 1918)
Most snowfall (day): 0.1 of an inch on Feb. 12(Record: 13.2 inches on Feb. 1, 2011)
Most snowfall (month): 0.1 of an inch in February(Record: 22.5 inches in February 2011)
Most rainfall (day): 0.91 of an inch on Jan. 29 (Record: 9.27 inches on May 26-27, 1984)
Most rainfall (month): 1.54 of an inch in January (Record: 18.18 inches on September 1971)
Highest wind speed: 30 mph on Jan. 30
Previous day with any rain: Feb. 12
Previous day with 1 inch or more of rain: Oct. 17, 2012
Previous day with any snow: Feb. 12
Previous day with freezing temperatures: Feb. 12
Read regular updates on Oklahoma's unpredictable weather and learn more about meteorology from the Tulsa office of the National Weather Service.

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Contributors
Staff Writer Althea Peterson started writing for the Tulsa World in March 2007 after previous stops at the Norman Transcript in 2006 and the Oklahoma Gazette in 2005. She followed her older brother from rural Wisconsin (with a public school that never seemed to call snow days) to the University of Oklahoma, but did not follow his pursuit to study meteorology. However, she tries to find as many opportunities to report on the weather as possible.

Staff Writer Jerry Wofford came to the Tulsa World in 2010 from The Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Originally from western Arkansas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Jerry has lived in Tornado Alley his entire life and is one of those people who goes outside when the sirens go off.

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