Windy.com a neat weather website & app
/www.windy.com was a subscriber suggestions for our review… we are not quite sure why we didn’t already know about this one! A free yet comprehensive website and app - if you have time to browse through windy.com it has so much more to offer than just wind detail.
Features: windy.com has a whopping 47 climate overlays on its maps. Temperatures, precipitation, humidity, air pressure and even paragliding spots (it that’s what you are in to) just to name a few apart from wind speed & direction.
Data is from two of the leading global climate models GFS & ECMWF. You can choose which model you are viewing and easily switch between the two for a simple comparison.
Precipitation forecasts are displayed as an accumulation for various periods; 12 hours, 24 hours, 3, 5 and 10 days.
10 day precipitation ACCUMULATION forecast by ECMWF
A neat radar that presumably uses the BOM radar network, shows rainfall and lightning activity in a modern display.
Pros: Free, detailed and accurate forecast maps from go-to leading global climate models such as ECMWF. The home page on the app gives a fantastic visualisation of what’s going on.
Cons: Due to the immense detail, some of the menu’s are difficult to read on a device. Additionally, there does
not seem to be a way to save user preferences.
1. Windy.com on the App store
2. The home page with a simple forecast for your current location
3. Heat forecast map
Overall: An excellent resource for current and forecast weather conditions. I’d preference the desktop version to take in the
detail, however the app is very useful too.
Cost: FREE
All images for this review are shown for the free version. Upgrading to premium version for USD $20.89 / year gives you higher resolution 1 hour forecast maps (rather than the three hours in the free version). Data that is updated 4 time a day (rather than 2) and technical support. All versions of Windy.com are currently advertisment for free, however during 2021 you’ll start to see targeted advertising.
Not all the overlay options fit on the screen - this is most of them!!