10 iPhone Apps to Help You Weather Winter

by Nathan Eddy

Designed with simplicity in mind to provide a clean and simple way to check the weather forecast, this free app offers interactive visualizations of temperatures and precipitations. Automatic forecast updates, multiple units for each indicator and the ability to track the forecast in up to five cities (in the paid version) round out the package.

Want to put a new spin on the standard practice of checking the weather? Then check out Weathercube, a gestural weather app created for the iPhone, which allows users to swipe, pinch and tap their way through the weather. The app is available in multiple languages, serves 1.3 million cities and allows for color customization. What’s not to love?

Another streamlined design for checking the weather outside your window—or anywhere—the Places and Forecasts paid package adds three hourly forecasts for wind, precipitation and temperature and a 14-day daily forecast. You can also check for sunrise and sunset times, cloudiness, air pressure and humidity, all while basking in that slick iOS7 inspired interface.

There’s just something about AccuWeather—from the detailed and eye-catching graphics that replicate the weather conditions outside, to amazingly accurate radar service, or even the laconic fitness indicator (during blizzard conditions, the app will advise you, “Today is a poor day for outdoor fitness”)—that makes this one of the snazziest and best of the bunch. You can also share info with family and friends through social media.

Speaking of eye-catching graphics, the Living Earth clock and weather app boasts a stunning 3D simulation of the planet with global weather, forecasts and a clock for cities around the world. View live global cloud patterns, hurricanes and tropical storms, or simply explore the weird and wonderful weather our planet experiences every day.

Yahoo’s weather app is undeniably slick, and the winner of a 2013 Apple Design Award. Stunning photos match your location and the immersive experience makes checking the weather a more social and enjoyable task, come rain, sleet or shine.

With a database of several thousand coastal cities throughout Europe, Mexico and the United States, this cost-effective app tells you when it’s great to hit the sand and surf, or whether it’s better to have a boardwalk day instead. You get wind speed indicators, a three-day forecast, UV index and high and low tides, so you don’t get washed away while looking at your, uh, phone.

This app uses thousands of tiny particles to materialize the flow of air around the world in real time, color-coded by temperature. Discover new relationships, and gain a global understanding of weather in the process. Just tap and hold the map to activate, and configure settings to change the opacity of the satellite imagery, or to alter speed and temperature measurement units.

Who doesn’t love to offer their own opinion on the weather, anyway? And who appointed weathermen the sole authority? Join the world’s largest weather community and weigh in with your own views on the weather where you are, reporting with personal photos, skins that overlay your photos with report location, weather and mood, and create channels that only cover the weather you care about.

If you’re an avid skier or snowboarder, it’s nice to have an app on hand that will give you an idea of whether to hit the slopes or the hot tub. The NOAA will even provide warning boxes on the map to indicate severe weather, and the whole interface is tied together with pleasant, interactive graphics that remind you why you’re spending $500 for lift tickets as it is.