- Cold Front Days. These are days when it’s warmer in the morning than in the afternoon. I get outside on my way to work and think “oh, that’s not too bad” but it’s freezing when I am coming home. There should be an alert in the morning with a big 📉 emoji warning that it’s not going to be normal today.
- Low Temperatures. I am checking the temperature at 8pm. I don’t care what the temperature was 14 hours ago. I want to find out if I can leave the windows open overnight. Highlight the upcoming low temperature, not this morning’s.
I haven’t tried all the weather apps, but all the ones I’ve tried get these two things wrong. I’ve been trying to find or come up with a term for the first one, “Cold Front Day” is probably the best I’ve found and it helps to have a name for it.
While we’re on the subject of weather, you should also know about Forecast Advisor, which tracks how accurate different weather apps are in your area. It turns out for 2021 my favored Dark Sky wasn’t terribly accurate compared to other sites:
2 responses to “Two Things All Weather Apps Get Wrong”
@georgehotelling #2 is one of the things I love(d) about Dark Sky's decision to put the 12-hour forecast front and center.
@georgehotelling When I open a weather app, there are two things I want to know immediately: do I need a jacket, and do I need an umbrella, as I go about my day? If I can’t tell those two things as soon as I open the app, it has failed.