Photographers, especially those who shoot outdoors, need reliable weather information. There are lots of weather apps out there. Actually, there is a pretty good one that comes preloaded on your device. But sometimes you need a little more data than the default application provides. Now I have been a Wunderground fan for a long time. That is my go-to weather website when I am sitting in front of a computer. But I missed having the same level of service on my iPhone.
My wish came true in December 2011. That is when Weather Underground (Wunderground) launched their iPhone and iPad app.
The application, which is free from Weather Underground, is easy to navigate and provides a wealth of information. The “Home” button provides a snapshot of the weather at your location. Available data includes the current temperature, “feels like” temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, a 6-day forecast, and a radar map.
More information can be located when you click on the “Hourly” tab. Here you can find sunrise and sunset data as well as hourly temperatures, conditions, windspeed, and precipitation.
The “Map” tab gives you a weather map complete with radar, satellite, and severe weather overlays; icons for temperature, wind and precipitation, and access to personal weather stations and webcams in your area.
The “Twitter” tab shows the Wunderground Twitter feed. The “More” tab allows you to change your settings (from F to C, miles to kilometers, select a home city if your device doesn’t have GPS, and play WunderRadio in the background. Additional features include the option to view a blog, or check out snow reports and tropical storm advisories.
It’s a full service weather app for the low, low price of FREE! That’s right. It is ad supported, so you can have all these great features for free!
So the next time you wonder if the weather will be okay to do that outdoor shoot, check out the Weather Underground app. I use it all the time.
All the best… Mike
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A college administrator by profession, Mike Kennamer enjoys the opportunity to take photos and improve his skills by shooting events at work, church, and for friends. He enjoys landscape photography, portraiture and is starting to dabble in HDR. His current photography project involves learning to control flash manually. “My goal”, according to Kennamer, “is to be the best photographer I can be.”
Kennamer is also the President of Kennamer Media Group, Inc., a provider of traditional and online media, specializing in the healthcare industry. On CurrentPhotographer.com he writes about iPhone and iPad applications for photographers.