Get Free Weather Information on Your Cell Phone
Use These Mobile Weather Services to Stay Informed on the Road
Dec 10, 2008
With mobile Internet access increasing in popularity, the rise of mobile weather services seems to only be logical. After all, it has been said that weather is the top searched for topic via the mobile phone according to a 2007 survey by M:Metrics.
Several Mobile Weather Applications are Available for iPhones
A search of the iTunes App Store for weather brings up quite a few results. For skiers and snowboarders, there is applications such as The North Face's The Snow Report, OnTheSnow.com's SnowReports, and SnowCountry. Surfers will enjoy Oakley's Surf Report, while pilots have several options too: AirWX Aviation Weather, Aero Weather, and Foreflight Mobile.
These applications serve a specific subset of users searching for weather information. Beyond this are several solid general weather information applications from a variety of publishers. These include The Weather Channel Mobile, WeatherBug, and WeatherEye, among others.
The Weather Channel Mobile offers users current conditions and forecasts as well as several innovative features. A map overlay allows users to view radar data, weather conditions, and other information by switching layers, while a video option actually produces a product similar to the weather forecasts see on TV.
WeatherBug allows access to its vast network of weather stations through its own app, as well as providing forecast, radar data, videos, and web cams. However, the amount of data available is not as extensive as The Weather Channel's application.
Finally, WeatherEye is an application provided in association with The Weather Network, Canada's 24-hour cable weather channel. It provides current conditions and forecasts. While it is intended for Canadian audiences, the application is still useful in the US.
You Don't Need an iPhone for Mobile Weather Information
A fancy smart phone isn't needed to access weather data: the basic web browser included on most modern phones will be sufficient, and most weather services have begun to offer their users a version of their websites designed for the cellular phone.
Two notable examples are AccuWeather and The Weather Channel. AccuWeather's page, accessible by using the service's main URL accuweather.com, provides a good deal of information to users. Included for US users is a 15-day forecast, map data, weather nws, and flight information.
The Weather Channels mobile site, also accessible by the network's main URL (weather.com) offers similar functionality. However, this site also offers regional video services, similar to what is available in its iPhone application. Weather information is also group into different subsets of activities, such as golfing, travel, and so forth.
Other Ways to Access Weather Data via the Mobile Phone
While mobile web sites are probably the most common way to stay connected to weather data, other providers offer services such as SMS texting to keep their users informed. One of these such websites is weatherusa.net, which offers SMS severe weather alerts.
The service is free, and after registration users will be able to receive weather alerts for their specific location by text message.
All in all, while there are some for-pay services that access weather information for the mobile phone, there are plenty of options these days that will do similar functions free of charge.
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