Raise your hand if you love to travel! *Raise*
Raise your hand if you love the outdoors! *Raise*
Raise your hand if you love taking a nice stroll and getting caught in a lightning storm! Wait what?!

If you spend a lot of time outdoors, you’ve inevitably experienced a sunny day gone sour. One minute you’re hiking in beautiful weather when suddenly the clouds come in, the temperature drops, and it starts to rain. Maybe you’re planning vacation activities and the morning you hoped to go snorkeling, you wake up to a thunderstorm.

Sure — you could Google the weather before your trip or jaunt outside. Or check the standard weather app that comes on your phone for a general idea on what the skies are doing. But for the absolute best and most accurate forecast, check the weather app called WeatherBug!

WeatherBug won “Best Weather App” by Appy Awards in 2016. It’s powered by the world’s largest network of professional weather stations, reporting weather conditions in real-time. We’re talking right down to the minute, y’all!

The app pulls up weather information for your current location, but you can also search for and save other destinations around the world too. WeatherBug isn’t just a weather app though. It also provides traffic conditions to help you better plan your day. Connecting your wifi thermostat or utility account is also possible, allowing you to monitor how the weather will impact your home energy usage! You can switch screens within the app to show you an overview of current conditions, weather by the hour, a 10 day forecast, or my favorite feature — the details page.

The details page reveals wind conditions, pollen levels, and a UV index. It also tells you what time the sunrise and sunset will be and what type of moon will be out (making it ideal for  photographers, too!).

For The Outdoor Adventurer

This app also provides 18 weather maps, satellite, lightning alerts (and where the closest lightning strike is from you), pressure, humidity, precipitation, local radar, heat index, hurricane tracking, and more! And you can customize the data it gives you based on your type of lifestyle!

For example, if you customize the app for a Fitness lifestyle, it’ll bring up an Outdoor Fitness Index, telling you what days are better than others for outdoor activities. The Snow & Ski lifestyle shows you mountains and ski resorts nearby and what each one’s base snow and new snow depth is, along with the snow condition, number of open lifts, and report status. If you’ve chosen the Beach & Boating lifestyle, it’ll give you average coastal water temperatures. Other lifestyles include forecasts for lawn care, gardening, golf, cold & flu, allergies, etc.

For The Traveler

With WeatherBug’s PulseRad Radar, you can view the radar for almost any destination. Come prepared for your next adventure abroad by researching international weather forecasts! You can get these forecasts in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Customizable settings allow you to switch between temperatures of °F or °C, winds in MPH or KPH, and pressure units in inches or millibars.

My Experience

Since I’ve started using WeatherBug for its weather radar and daily forecasts, it’s now my go-to app for planning day trips or outdoor adventures. The weather here lately in Sacramento, and Northern California in general, has been pretty temperamental. On more than one occasion I’ve headed to the river nearby and have had to walk home in a light rain shower. Or I’ve gone out hoping to photograph a certain landscape only to be met with bustling winds and dark skies.

I can now do a quick search on the app and make sure I’m prepared for the conditions next time! The pollen levels feature has been great in planning for outdoor activities with my boyfriend as he gets bad allergies. And the 10-day forecast clued me into bringing a rain jacket for the road trip I was planning to the Point Reyes National Seashore this weekend. Guess I’ll have to let my visiting family know to pack their rain jackets too!