Best Weather Apps of 2024

AccuWeather offers users what it calls MinuteCast, which breaks down weather forecasts by the minute. This weather forecast shows you a detailed weather forecast for the next four hours, including when rain will start and stop and what the temperature will be at that specific time. This is helpful if you are about to leave a building and want to wait out the rain. No more sprinting through the pouring rain, only for it to stop as soon as it comes in.

The app also provides you with standard weather information such as daily temperatures, weather conditions and future coasts. There's also a section dedicated to allergies on the homepage, and the app displays severe weather alerts at the top of the homepage for easy access.

The free version of the app offers many features, and the paid version offers even more, such as expert analysis of weather events. But AccuWeather also hides arguably important messages behind the paid version, such as insights into what you should do if you find yourself facing dangerous weather. I know you have to differentiate between the free and paid versions of the app, but hiding potentially life-saving information behind a paywall feels disgusting.

AccuWeather writes in its privacy policy that it may collect personally identifiable information, cookies, and even information about other devices near your device. AccuWeather may also share your information with other companies, such as Amazon Publishing Services, Facebook and Microsoft Azure.

You can download a free version of the AccuWeather app from the App Store and Google Play store. You can also subscribe to the ad-free version of the app for $1 per month ($9 per year if prepaid) or the premium version for $2 per month ($20 per year).

Carrot Weather gives you weather with a little personality. Here's what's changed: You can choose what kind of personality you want the app to have, from professional (no jokes) to overkill – expect some serious profanity. You can even choose the politics the app represents, from apolitical to anarchist.

The app allows you to access standard weather information such as daily temperatures, weather conditions and future forecasts. Compared to some other weather apps, other environmental information, such as the current moon phase and UV index, are also easily found on the app's home page.

While this app is fun and gives you detailed information about the weather, its free version doesn't offer radar.

On the surface, Carrot Weather’s privacy policy seems simple. It said the app only collects information “strictly necessary” for the service to function. Later it said your information may be shared with other services, such as AccuWeather, which may share your information with companies like Facebook.

You can download the free version of Carrot Weather from the App Store and Google Play Store. You can also subscribe to the premium version of the app for $20 per year.

The WeatherBug App is a great weather app for those who spend a lot of time outdoors hiking, biking, or just enjoying the great outdoors. A section on the app's home page is called the Outdoor Sports Index. This section shows you, on a scale of 1 to 10, how favorable the weather will be for outdoor activities throughout the day. If the day scores 1 to 2, you can have a great day outdoors, but if the day scores 9 or 10, the app recommends canceling outdoor plans.

The app provides you with standard weather information such as daily temperature, weather conditions and humidity. It also shows you information such as the location of lightning strikes closest to your location in the past 30 minutes.

The ads in the free version of WeatherBug can be overwhelming at times. In addition to any ads you may see when scrolling down any given page, there is always an advertising banner at the bottom of the screen. To make matters even more confusing, the entire homepage of the app has videos and articles, but the stories are placed near ads, making it easy to accidentally click on them.

WeatherBug's privacy policy says it collects personal information, such as your name and address, and may ask you to provide other information, such as your gender and even your interests, which raises some concerns. I find it hard to imagine a scenario where a weather app would need to know my personal interests. You can request that your data be deleted, and WeatherBug said it complied with all of those requests to some extent in 2022.

You can download a free version of WeatherBug in the App Store and Google Play Store. You can also subscribe to the app for $1 per month or $10 per year.

Weather Underground's privacy policy differs from other weather apps and from many mobile apps. The app lets you know up front that it will use your data to serve targeted ads. Through the app, you can easily choose not to share your information and delete the data the app has about you. It also shows you how to manage iPhone and Android app permissions. You can even request a copy of the data an app holds about you from the Data Rights menu in Settings.

Weather Underground provides you with standard weather information such as current temperature, weather conditions and live radar. If you're a weather buff, you can also view temperatures and conditions for the past 24 hours. The app also provides you with a glossary if you come across unfamiliar weather terms.

What's the gain? Some Reddit users said the app has been in decline for several years. These users say the app is getting slower and slower, and some features have been dropped entirely. For example, Weather Underground announced the termination of its API service in 2018. While new users may not notice slower apps or a lack of features, it's a good idea to keep in mind in case other features start to disappear. Weather Underground did not respond to a request for comment on these issues.

You can download a free version of Weather Underground in the App Store and Google Play Store. You can also subscribe to the app for $4 per month or $20 per year.

With a paid subscription to Clime, you get one of the most comprehensive weather radars of any weather app on this list. While other radars might show temperature, rain or snow, Clime's radar shows cloud cover, snow depth, and even active fires and hot spots.

The app provides you with standard weather information such as current temperature, chance of rain and feeling temperature. The app focuses on its radar; it's the first thing you see when you open the app.

The app's focus on its radar may confuse some people. Many other weather apps display current weather information at the top of the homepage, but this information is relegated to the bottom of Clime's homepage.

Clime's privacy policy says it collects personal information such as your real name, nickname and how you interact with certain sites. You can also ask the service to delete your information. The policy also states that if you stop using the service, it may retain your information for three years or more, but the service doesn't always know if you no longer use its services. So if you stop using the app, be sure to email the service to let them know you no longer use the app so they don't keep your information longer than necessary.

You can download the free version of Clime from the App Store and Google Play Store. You can also subscribe to the app for $10 per month or $30 per year.