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Yahoo Weather warns you about rain in time to find an umbrella
Weather apps are quite handy, and now Yahoo's mobile software is even more helpful. The app will send you an alert 15 minutes before rain or snow is expected to start so you have enough time to prepare. The new feature offers warnings similar to Dark Sky's weather info. That app takes readings from the barometric sensors in users' iPhones, though. What's more, Yahoo says its Weather software is more accurate too, with the ability to zoom in on small areas should the need arise. Of course, you want to take a slightly different approach to getting your forecast, you could always go the route of an aspiring meteorologist.
NASA satellites to predict hurricane paths by studying their cores
NASA may soon eliminate much of the uncertainty in predicting the paths of hurricanes and other giant storms. The agency is building CYGNSS (Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System), a flock of eight microsatellites that should track hurricanes more effectively than any one full-size craft can manage. They'll be the first satellites to look at the inner core of a storm, giving them a good estimate of the wind speeds and thus the path of those swirling air currents. They'll also get updated images of the tropics within a few hours instead of a few days, so meteorologists shouldn't be caught off-guard if a hurricane quickly gathers momentum or changes direction. When CYGNSS starts helping out during the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season (between June and November), it could do a lot to help coastal residents prepare for natural disasters.
Becoming a rain detective with a backyard weather station
London summers can be the most arduous of times. Since early July, we've had highs of 98 and lows of 48. We've had sun, rain and everything in between. Planning where to go or what to wear more than a few days in advance is an impossibility. I do my best, of course, combining AccuWeather's useful-but-often-inaccurate extended forecasts with the Dark Sky app for up-to-the-minute weather alerts. Over the past week or so, however, I've added a new tool to my arsenal: the BloomSky. It's an all-in-one outdoor weather station that, for currently $169 and up, provides you with hyper-local weather information. Although it hasn't changed my life, becoming a meteorologist has been quite a lot of fun.
Researchers can predict bad weather up to a month in advance
Climate change means that it's no longer certain that the tailgate you've planned for the third weekend in August will have clear skies and sunshine. Fortunately, a group of Chinese researchers think that they've developed a system that'll predict catastrophic weather events from anything up to 30 days in advance. That's a big deal, since the traditional limit for making an educated guess about an impending monsoon was less than half that. The paper, published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, reports that the team has managed to overcome a key principle of chaos theory that's long held-back such research: the Butterfly Effect.
Tiny house uses light to put you in the middle of a thunderstorm
Standing in a greenhouse and listening to the rain thunder against the roof can be strangely relaxing and therapeutic. Now, imagine if the same experience was recreated artificially. For the Triennale Der Photographie exhibition in Hamburg, designer Leigh Sachwitz has constructed a miniature house covered with semi-transparent projection screens. Once you step inside and turn off the hanging bulb, a series of projectors spring to life and batter you with heavy weather, including tornadoes and tropical thunderstorms. The dynamic sounds are recreated with speakers, but it's the projectors -- four on the inside, with another two cutting through a haze machine on the outside -- that really bring the installation to life. Circles quickly appear and disappear to recreate raindrops, while streaks of diagonal light imitate heavier downpours. It's not a particularly accurate art piece, but in terms of capturing atmosphere and mood, "INSIDE OUT" feels pretty spot on.
Dark Sky uses your iPhone's sensors to improve weather forecasts
Your iPhone gives you weather forecasts right from the get-go, but it's now ready to shape those forecasts as well. Dark Sky has given its iOS app a big overhaul that, if you like, uses the barometer on your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus to contribute pressure readings. The hope is that these will dramatically improve short-term forecasts in the future -- you'll know that it's about to rain because iPhones nearby gave you a heads-up. There have been apps that crowdsourced pressure data before, but rarely with the intent to directly improve forecasts -- and not on the scale of Dark Sky, one of iOS' best-known weather tools.
Google delivers news headlines to your Apple Watch
If you were gutsy enough to buy an Apple Watch on launch, you've likely been asking a common question: where are the Watch-savvy Google apps? Well, one of them is finally here... although it's probably not the one you want. The search firm has updated Google News & Weather with support for Apple's wearable, so you now have a quick way to scan major headlines from your wrist. It's definitely convenient, although these tidbits take a while to load and don't include the "weather" part of the iOS app. However, the real question is when the Google apps that you're likely to use will show up. It'd be great to dictate Hangouts messages or triage an overflowing Gmail inbox.
'4D' movies bring rain and snow inside the theater
Most people would consider going to the movies a way to avoid inclement weather, but drop into a 4DX theater and you'll be taking the rain and snow with you. The "4D" cinemas, which only landed on American shores last year, augment the standard big screen and booming sound with smells (like flowers or gunpowder), wind and even fake lightening. At CinemaCon in Las Vegas the company behind 4DX, CJ Group, will be demonstrating new effects, including rainstorm, snow and warm air. Why would you want to be showered with rain, shrouded in fog or buried in snow while you're trying to watch a movie? That's a good question, CJ Group would argue it creates a more immersive experience. Though, it remains to be seen how "immersed" people want to feel in the brutal sand storms of Mad Max.
How much does this game cost? Depends on the temperature
Finally, a game where the pricing structure is as clever as its mechanics. A Good Snowman is Hard to Build is an adorable puzzle game about a monster trying to make snowmen, from established puzzle-game designer Alan Hazelden, co-creator Benjamin Davis and composer Ryan Roth. It's charming, cute and surprisingly complex, and it's available for $8 right now, though that number will probably change tomorrow. You see, the game's price directly reflects the celsius temperature in London, Hazelden's and Davis' home base, from now through March 10. After such a rough winter for many people, A Good Snowman is Hard to Build offers a cool reason to be thankful for chilly temperatures.
The Big Picture: The frozen US as seen from space
Wondering why February has been so mind-numbingly cold? Here's why. NASA's Terra research satellite took a snapshot on February 19th showing that much of the US has been draped in Arctic and Siberian air masses, painting the country white with snow. Even southern cities like Macon, Georgia dipped well below freezing, according to weather reports. While those conditions are (thankfully) going away, they made for a spectacular view from space -- not that you'll likely want to see it again.
Smart, touch-free thermometer gets temperatures for almost anything
There's no shortage of smart thermometers out there, but they tend to have one or more catches: many only work in certain conditions, aren't very pocketable or require some kind of contact. JoyWing's upcoming Wishbone may just tackle all of those problems in one fell swoop. The tiny, Y-shaped gadget plugs into your smartphone's audio jack and uses an infrared sensor to gauge temperatures without contact, regardless of whether you're pointing it at your baby's forehead, a hot drink or the great outdoors. It should be both accurate and fast (just two seconds to get a reading, the company claims), and the matching Android and iOS apps will let you track conditions over time.
Amazon's Prime Now one-hour delivery delayed by winter storms
As a winter storm starts to drop several inches of snow on the northeast United States, Amazon's advising Prime Now customers in New York City not to rely on its one-hour deliveries. The service started dropping off orders around Manhattan in mid-December, and the online retailer is already seeing a rise in demand as weather conditions get worse. "We're watching the storm also, and will be operating on a limited schedule," Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Cheeseman told Bloomberg. "Customers can get updates through the Prime Now app on delivery availability." So if you're looking to restock a few "everyday essentials," you may want to make other arrangements.
Get the weather and a joke thanks to Funny or Die Weather app
And now for something completely different. It's a nicely performing weather app, with weather sourced from Weather Underground, and along with the weather you get a joke or funny anecdote. The app, Funny Or Die Weather (free) has the usual stuff you want from a weather app, like current weather, a 5 day forecast, the UV index, sunset and sunrise times, moon phases and tides, but along with that are some nice animations reflecting the current weather and a joke. Sometimes it's silly, sometime a little profane or sarcastic, and it is sure to at least make you grin. It doesn't matter if the weather is good or horrible, a joke will always be there. If you like the humor, you can share it via text, email or social media. You can add multiple locations to the app by zip code or city name, and each city will have different humor when you access it. Funny or Die Weather is certainly unique, and it's free, with no in-app purchases or ads, neither of which would be truly funny. Funny or Die Weather requires iOS 8, and it is optimized for the new iPhones so you get full screen humor. Recommended.
Gloria Victis adding a second server, weather, and more
Gloria Victis seems to be moving right along, if its latest pre-alpha changelog is any indication. The devs have added a new weather system, the initial stages of a crafting revamp, and various optimization tweaks. The dev team also plans to launch a US server "within a few days," and existing characters will in fact work on both of the title's shards. An NDA lift is coming, too, and with it an item wipe (but not a character or level wipe, so yay for that).
2 new weather apps just in time for your holiday sojourns
Apalon has released two weather apps that could make your holiday travel more predictable. Weather Live (US$1.99) features animated, customizable backgrounds that look great and a widget for quick access to your most important weather info. You can set a number of different cities, and swipe between them. The main screen offers in-depth weather stats, along with sunrise and sunset times, and 7 day forecasts. Tap on the radar icon and you'll get animated weather radar, and you can set up alerts for freezing temperatures, and for when the temperature drops below zero. The app also features sharing options so you can brag or complain about your weather to family and friends. The app looks very striking, and is about as full-featured as a weather app can be. It also gives you an icon badge with the current temperature, something Apple and Yahoo weather have failed to offer for reasons that escape me. The second app in the set, NOAA Radar Pro ($1.99) is more oriented toward radar. You get a rain map that provides rain forecast for the range of next 24 hours right on the terrain map, satellite cloud cover maps shows real-time cloud cover, and detailed Weather info for any location including current conditions, 24-hour and 7-day forecasts, plus active alerts for practically any location in the USA. Both apps are excellent, but have a pretty large overlap of info. Having one pretty much makes the other unnecessary. NOAA Radar Pro does have more radar data, but I think most people will find the radar display just fine in Weather Live. Both apps look great, and are certainly among the top weather apps I've seen for iOS. Weather Live and NOAA Radar Pro are both universal apps, the requires iOS 7 or later and they are optimized for the iPhone 5 and 6 series of phones. Recommended.
Wthr Complete is a weather app with details and a nice desgn
There are so many weather apps out there... As a general rule, I often find that the pretty ones don't have a lot of information, and the ones with more information provided have worse user interfaces. Wthr Complete (US$1.99) breaks that rule by adding a lot of depth and a beautiful interface. It has all the usual information, but adds things I like such as sunrise/sunset times and moon phases. It also adds 150 U.S. NOAA weather stations to give you audio forecasts and alerts. There are also detailed radar maps with animation, earthquake maps and the maps have layers so you can see a basic map or satellite view. Perhaps the most unique feature is a database of the last four years of weather information for any location for any particular day. I find that really useful, as people are always wondering what the weather was on this date last year or the year before. No more guesswork on that subject. The app has notifications of course, for severe weather and flooding. You can add any number of other cities, and when the app launches you can select the city you want. Weather conditions have nice animations, and there is nerdy stuff like ultraviolet intensity and dew point as well. All in all, Wthr Complete is a really nice weather app. Although it is universal, it runs only in portrait mode so many iPad users who spend the day in landscape mode will be unhappy. I'm amazed that developers haven't figured this out. I see new apps almost every week that are locked into the portrait orientation. Dumb. In the wild, almost every iPad I see is in a case or on a stand in landscape mode. Aside from that failing, Wthr Complete is one terrific little app. It requires iOS 7.1 or later, and it's scaled properly for the iPhone 5 and 6 phones. There are nice weather apps for free, including Apple's and the well-designed Yahoo weather app, but Wthr Complete goes deeper and is just as pretty.
Moving wind forecast puts beautiful weather in your browser
It's hard to get excited about weather forecasts unless they promise warm and sunny days, but you might just make an exception for Windyty. The browser-based meteorological tool shows you living, breathing view of the world's wind patterns along with overlays for everything from temperature to humidity. Arguably, it's both beautiful and useful -- those mesmerizing swirls will help you understand why it's going to be unusually blustery or chilly on a given day. The page works on both your phone and desktop, too. There are still some definite holes in Windyty's map (it doesn't show borders or cities right now), but it's worth a look if you're done with old-fashioned weather charts and radar views.
Gloria Victis pre-alpha patch adds weather system
While it's still very much a work in progress, a weather system (with clouds!) has come to Gloria Victis with the advent of pre-alpha patch v.0.1.1. The new patch isn't solely about additions that make Weather Channel fans geek out, of course. The title added an item decay and repair system, updated the world map, included more music, improved mob AI, and further optimized performance. Still, if gorgeous sunsets and foggy days are the sort of eye candy that gets you excited about an MMO, the weather may be the biggest addition yet to Gloria Victis.
Google News and Weather adds search and prettier forecasts
It may have taken Google ages to bring Android's News and Weather app into the modern era, but it's seemingly bent on making up for lost time. The company has posted a new version of News and Weather with some fresh features that you're genuinely likely to use. To start, you can now search the news, including newly curated stories. You'll also get easy-to-understand (not to mention prettier) weather forecast charts, and there's an optional dark theme that should be easier on your eyes at night. The refresh is hitting devices now, so check for an update if Android's official news app is part of your daily routine.
Weather or Not gives you weather forecasts for events on your calendar
What a clever idea for a weather app! Weather or Not (US$2.99) takes two things important in your daily life -- weather and your schedule -- and blends the two. On its own, Weather or Not is a very nice weather app with beautiful animated graphics. You get the temperature, wind and humidity at whatever locations you set, as well the chance of precipitation. As you swipe your finger on the screen, an animated sun or moon moves to show you predictions for future times. The best part is that the app accesses your calendar and gives you a forecast for future events. You'll get weather seven days ahead; In addition, the app provides you with daily weather reports and forecasts for any upcoming events you have on the calendar, and the app provides a Today extension for iOS 8. It's a complete package, with calendar/forecast integration being the really good idea here. The graphics are first rate, and you won't need any help setting this app up. When you run it for the first time, it will ask for access to your calendar. If an event is in another city, and that location is in your calendar, the app picks that up and gets you the right out of town forecast. With holiday travel upon us, the app should be doubly useful as you make plans away from home. Weather or Not requires iOS 7, but you'll need iOS 8 to use the Today extension. Weather or Not is a well thought out app that works well and looks great. The only thing I'd like to see are sunset and sunrise times. Weather or Not is optimized for the iPhone 5 and 6.