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If you’ve ever found yourself trying to pull up camp at the onset of an unexpected storm or hopped on the road expecting sunny skies and gotten snow instead you know the importance of knowing what the weather is going to do. Knowing the forecast and what Mother Nature is going to throw at you can help you prepare for certain conditions or avoid cruddy weather altogether and head to greener pastures.
One of the most useful tools an RVer can have is their smartphone and the apps that come with it, especially for watching the weather. Here are three of the best apps.
AccuWeather
Cost: Free for Both Android and iOS
Like the name reflects, AccuWeather gives you an accurate and detailed forecast for either the location you are currently at or where you plan on heading. Download the app and let it find your location or input a specific city of the zip code.
Features:
- Detailed descriptions of upcoming weather for several hours ahead. You can view temperatures by hour along with precipitation by the hour including what type of precipitation, the likelihood of precipitation as well as how long the precipitation is likely to go on.
- Get an idea of what’s in store for the next few days including temperature highs and lows as well as chances of precipitation.
- “Hyper-localization” can pinpoint your exact area and give you a detailed forecast for it. Can store locations for quick look up. Forecast automatically updates itself every 15 minutes so you always have the most current forecast. Severe weather alerts. Can view forecasts in both Fahrenheit or Celsius and 12 or 24-hour increments.
The Weather Channel
Cost: Free for both Android and iOS
Those who follow the Weather Channel at home can get the next best thing on the road with the Weather Channel App. This app comes fully loaded and brings you the best the service has to offer.
Features:
- Loads of forecasts for any amount of time including detailed 36-hour forecasts, 10-day forecasts and weekend forecasts for the weekend warriors.
- Detailed current condition information including temperature, humidity, sunrise and sunset, UV index, “Feels Like” feature which factors in wind chill or humidity to give you more accurate weather info.
- Even includes fishing forecasts and pollen indexes. Radar maps can give you detailed information of what’s coming your way. Severe weather alerts can let you know when to seek shelter.
WeatherBug
Cost: Free for both Android and iOS
An old standby when it comes to accurate forecasts, WeatherBug was one of the more popular and earliest weather apps available for smartphones and still leads RVers to sunny skies and pleasant weather to this day.
Features:
- Detailed forecasts for exactly where you plan on heading down to localized areas. You can get current weather reports, hourly and the next ten days. The pinpoint forecast can give you the forecast for something as detailed as a certain campground including chances of precipitation and more.
- Interactive maps can show you Doppler radar, humidity, air pressure and even traffic information so you can know exactly what you’re up against.
- WeatherBug has thousands of live cameras set up at locations across North America so you can see exactly what’s going on at any area at any given time.
These are three of the best weather apps for RVing in our book. Play around with these apps and try others to get an idea of what kind of information you need and what app best provides it. Utilizing weather apps can have you avoiding storms and finding fun and the sun wherever you may go.
