Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
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42 | Overdrive | September 2015 HOW'S THE WEATHER? forecast with descriptions of each day's predictions. The app also can alert you when lightning becomes dangerous within a 30-mile radius of your loca- tion. WeatherBug has access to more than 2,000 weather cameras, allowing you to see local conditions along your route. AccuWeather: The unique MinuteCast system gives precipi- tation forecasts for the next two hours for your exact loca- tion, including precipitation type and intensity, as well as start and end times. AccuWeather updates its weather con- ditions every 15 minutes and off ers an extended forecast up to 15 days. The app also allows users to report haz- ards such as damaging winds, slippery roads, fl ooding and reduced visibility. Weather Under- ground: This app integrates diff erent channels of information to enhance its forecasts and existing conditions. If a condition report is incorrect, users in the area can submit eye-witness information, and users can see both what the app says and what the other users have been saying. Weather Underground also allows users to submit hazard reports to update road conditions. The app allows users to switch between its BestForecast or Forecast on Demand and the National Weather Service forecast. The BestForecast is updated more often than the NWS forecast and off ers more information such as the "feels like" temperature and pressure. It also uses radar and satellite data to determine current sky conditions, whereas the NWS uses only government station reports. Users will see a prominent banner when a major event is imminent. Yahoo! Weather: Users can enable notifi - cations that will send a daily forecast at desig- nated times of day for the current location. The app allows users to add up to 20 cities for easy access to each forecast, which can help on dedicated routes. The app off ers a 24-hour hourly forecast and the choice of a fi ve- or 10-day forecast. MyRadar: This app al- lows users to see a classic radar view, a high-defi - nition radar view or a temperature map. All three are customizable to show wind, temperatures, cloud cover, aviation lay- ers and earthquake information. Users also can see a fi ve-day forecast, a 24- hour hourly forecast and details about the day's weather. For $1.99, users can upgrade the app to add NWS warnings and a hurricane tracker. Baron Critical Weather: In addition to basic forecasts, Baron Critical Weather prides itself on specialized alerts: eight for hurricanes and tropical storms, and eight for other severe weather such as tornados, fl ash fl ood- ing and lightning. Users choose which ones to activate. The company behind Baron was expected to launch early this month its ThreatNet Web-based program for the trucking industry at baronthreatnet. com. The subscription-based program will provide real-time road conditions and a 90-hour graphical forecast for wind, precipitation and more. Storm Shield: This app off ers alerts relevant to the user's precise location instead of using county-based forecasts or alerts. In addition to the user's current location, fi ve additional locations can be set for monitoring. In addition to basic forecasts, many types of alerts can be selected. Storm Shield costs $2.99. Dark Sky: This iOS-exclusive app off ers radar forecasts up to seven days that can be changed between temperature and precipitation. Dark Sky provides detailed next-hour fore- casts that show how lighter or heavier precipitation will be in the next hour and where the nearest precipitation is occurring. Users can set the app for down-to-the-minute precipitation alerts within the next hour, designating light, medium or heavy precipitation. A daily summary alert can be scheduled for any time of day, as well as notifi cations for government-issued severe weather alerts. A do-not-disturb feature allows a user to block notifi ca- tions between certain times. Another custom alert feature allows users to be notifi ed of certain weather conditions within a 24-hour period. Dark Sky costs $3.99. 1Weather: This Android-exclusive app allows users to add up to 12 locations to track current conditions and forecasts. The app's map can show radar, clouds, surface temperature, pre- cipitation, dew point, relative humidity, wind speed and UV index with layers that can show tornados, fi re, fl oods, fog, freezing and hurricane/tropical storm tracks. Exclusive to the 1Weather app is a 12-week forecast with 75 percent accuracy, according to the app. Which weather app do you prefer to use on the road? Source: OverdriveOnline.com survey, 450 respondents The Weather Channel 39% 22% Weather Bug Other 20% Weather Underground 12% Yahoo! Weather 4% Storm Shield 2% Dark Sky 1% The popularity of the Weather Channel app could be due in part to sharing name recognition with a cable TV channel, as well as being among a handful of apps that come preloaded on iPhones.