Best Free Weather Apps for the iPhone

Weather is extremely important to sailors, boaters and weekend yacht enthusiast.  Knowing what the conditions are is important before you head out on the water.  I recently counted almost 3000 weather related app in the iTunes App Store. Sorting out which ones are the best depends on the boaters need.

There is a ton of weather data out there for free so don't pay for weather or a weather app for your iPhone or smartphone.  My criteria for a good weather app would have to include forecast for temp and wind, wave and sea state conditions and radar and satellite maps.  Of course you have to have a cell or Internet connection to get the most up to date information. Some of my favorites are listed below.

Weather Channel App (free)

The Weather Channel is hard to beat. They have a great app that has all the data you will need. We have all come to know and love the Weather Channel girls.  The have been on cable TV for as long as most of us can remember.

Featured Data:

Actual temp

Wind

Humidity
Dew Point
UV index
Visibility
Sunrise
Sunset
hourly, 36 hour and 10 day forecasts
Severe warnings
Radar Map
Video forecasts

 

Weather Eye App (free)

Weather Eye is another favorite that presents all the weather data in a similar format as the Weather Channel.  You can also add multiple cities or locations to monitor.

Featured Data:

Actual Temp
Wind
Humidity
Pressure
Sunrise
Sunset
Visibility
Precipitation
Hourly
24 hour forecast
5 Day forecast
Scrolling banner with severe warnings
Radar

Weather+ HD App (free)

Weather+ HD displays all information on one display which makes it more for a desktop display.  The font for the forecast data is kind of small otherwise a nice looking app.

Featured Data:

Current Temp
Current Conditions
Hourly forecast
Five day forecast
Humidity
Precipitation
Wind
Direction
Pressure
Visibility

National Weather Service (free)

This is not an app but these are screen shots from the NWS site (http://forecast.weather.gov/) accessed through the Safari browser.  You can make a home screen icon of your location and add it for easy access by going to the site, selecting the arrow button on the bottom of the screen, instead of adding a bookmark, select add to home screen instead.  This will create a icon shortcut on your home screen of your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The national weather service is my main source for weather.  They provide free weather and are the source for most other weather site on the Internet.

Featured Data:

Weather at a Glance
Temperature
Weather Conditions
Humidity
Wind Speed
Dew point
Visibility
Radar
Satellite
7 Day forecast
Precipitation
Wave heights
Forecast Discussion
Marine Forecast
Hurricanes
Severe Weather

 

Weather Bug App (free)

This app is popular and has most of the data you will need while out boating. It is divided into several different screens for viewing current data, forecast data, weather maps, video forecasts and weather cameras.

Featured Data:

Temperature

Hi/lows

Wind

Wind direction

Humidity

Dew Point

Daily forecasts

7 day forecasts

Map overlays for radar, satellite, temperature, heat index, wind chill, dew point, World satellite