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10 best weather radar apps to track the next big storm
Most people are perfectly fine with normal weather apps. You get your forecast, current weather conditions, and a functional but otherwise unimpressive weather radar. As it turns out, you can really upgrade the weather radar functionality with a secondary app. These apps focus primarily on the radar side of weather rather than the basic features like forecasts. Most let you do things like add layers, track storms, and see things in a much higher resolution than a standard weather app. Here are the best weather radar apps to really see what the weather is like.
This list is primarily for apps with powerful weather radars. Most weather apps have radars, but this is an entirely different genre. Those looking for an all-in-one weather app can check out our best weather apps and weather widget list here.
The best weather radar apps for Android
MyRadar Weather Radar
Price: Free /In-app purchases ($2.99 – $24.99 per item)
MyRadar is one of the better and more popular weather radar apps. The app features smooth animations, multiple layers, and a slew of other features. On top of its radar, it also uses a patent-pending technology to show you hyper-local precipitation. Additionally, it has support for Wear OS, a bit of forecasting, and some other stuff as well. You can remove ads for $2.99, add on some extras for additional fees, and there is an aviation weather feature available for $24.99 per year. However, the free version works just as well.
RadarNow
Price: Free /In-app purchases ($6.99 per item)
RadarNow is a radar app for people who need a lot of weather information. This app provides radar information from the NWS NOAA WSR-88D NEXRAD radar sites. That’s a lot, but it’s a reliable source of weather data. You can see storms and systems moving through the area and also see stuff like temperature, wind speed, and other data. The app worked fine in our testing, and it does what it says. You get a 5-day free trial on download, and the premium version runs for $6.99.
RadarScope
Price: $9.99
RadarScope is one of the best weather radar apps available. It has a ton of data and is trusted among people who care about weather radars. It doesn’t use level 2 data like some believe, but it’s still better than most others. The app also has support for AllisonHouse subscribers, if you want to go that route. Otherwise, there isn’t much else to talk about. You can change some settings to make things look different and find more information. The app runs for $9.99.
Rainy Days Rain Radar
Price: Free /In-app purchases ($3.49 per item)
Raindy Days Rain Radar is one of the simpler weather radar apps on the list. It shows you radar from multiple sources for about half of the world. That makes this a good option for our international readers. It sources doppler radars first and then uses satellite feeds if doppler is not available. It could probably use a few more layers and options, such as a longer weather loop, but otherwise, it’s a good, cheap solution for a radar.
Ventusky
Price: Free /In-app purchases ($2.99 – $9.99 per item)
Ventusky is an excellent weather radar app and one of our picks for the best Darky Sky alternatives. The app includes global weather and reasonably accurate radars, and it shows alternative stuff like wind, temperature, and more. In addition, you can choose different weather models to give you a slightly different look at the radar results as they come in. Thus, you can choose exactly the kind of weather radar experience you want. This one is as good as RadarScope or MyRadar, but it has a steeper learning curve. The premium version is also relatively cheap.
Weather Radar App
Price: Free /In-app purchases ($0.99 – $19.99 per item)
Weather Radar App is a pretty boring name, but the app is actually pretty good. It features a high-definition radar and several good options. You can view things like changes in wind speed, cloud cover, temperature, and, of course, precipitation. It also includes a widget, some good basic weather app functions, and it works in multiple countries. It’s easy to use, and it’s also free, as long as you don’t mind the occasional video ad.
Weather Underground
Price: Free /In-app purchases ($1.99 – $19.99 per item)
Weather Underground is technically your standard weather app with a radar, rather than a dedicated radar app. However, it still has a really good radar. The radar includes things like cloud cover, precipitation, temperature, wind, and low and high pressure front lines. It also uses over a quarter of a million PWS points to report local weather on a scale most other apps can’t compete with.
Weawow
Price: Free /In-app purchases ($2.00 – $10.00 per item)
Weawow is an excellent weather app with some good radar capabilities. It does global radar, so you can use it anywhere in the world. In addition, it has a healthy selection of widgets, accurate weather, and a ton of adjustments you can make to customize the experience. In fact, there is very little that this app does wrong, and that makes it an easy recommendation for us. Maybe the radar could load and play a little more smoothly? Anything negative we say is nitpicking. This one is excellent, although you do need to give a donation to the developer to unlock everything.
Windy.com
Price: Free /In-app purchase ($1.99 – $114.99 per item)
Windy.com is a popular option for weather radar apps, especially in countries outside the US. It sources information from a ton of sources, including the global ECMWF, GFS, NEMS, AROME, ICON, and NAM. There are 40 radar layers, along with both satellite and doppler imaging. You can also save map setups to the menu for quick access later. It doesn’t seem to have the most advanced technology, like Level 2 data, but it’s definitely among the best in its class otherwise. The subscription is a bit pricey, but you can use most of the features for free anyway.
wX
Price: Free
Wx is a bit of a wildcard on this list. It’s the only entirely free weather radar app on the list. It’s also open source, with no advertising. As it turns out, the app is also really good. It features both Level 3 and Level 2 data from NEXRAD in single, dual, or quad pane configurations. It also does some basic stuff like the 7-day forecast and current conditions. It’s not the best-looking of the weather radar apps on the list, but it’s one of the best-performing ones.
If we missed any great weather radar apps for Android, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists.
Thank you for reading! Most people are perfectly fine with normal weather apps. You get your forecast, current weather conditions, and a functional but otherwise unimpressive weather radar. As it turns out, you can really upgrade the weather radar functionality with a secondary app. These apps focus primarily on the radar side of weather rather than the basic features like forecasts. Most let you do things like add layers, track storms, and see things in a much higher resolution than a standard weather app. Here are the best weather radar apps to really see what the weather is like.
This list is primarily only for apps with powerful weather radars. Most weather apps have radars, but this is an entirely different genre. Those looking for an all-in-one weather app can check out our best weather apps and weather widget list here.
The best weather radar apps for Android
MyRadar Weather Radar
Price: Free / $2.99-$6.99 / $24.99 per year
MyRadar is one of the better and more popular weather radar apps. The app features smooth animations, multiple layers, and a slew of other features. On top of its radar, it also uses a patent-pending technology to show you hyper-local precipitation. Additionally, it has support for Wear OS, a bit of forecasting, and some other stuff as well. You can remove ads for $2.99, add on some extras for additional fees, and there is an aviation weather feature available for $24.99 per year. However, the free version works just as well. You can get a Level 2 add-on for $6.99 if you want more radar features.
RadarNow
Price: Free trial / $6.99
RadarNow is a radar app for people who need a lot of weather information. This app provides radar information from the NWS NOAA WSR-88D NEXRAD radar sites. It’s quite a mouthful but it’s a reliable source of weather data. You can see storms and systems moving through the area and also see stuff like temperature, wind speed, and other data. The app worked fine in our testing and it does what it says. You get a 5-day free trial on download and the premium version runs for $6.99
RadarScope
Price: $9.99 / $9.99 per year / $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year
RadarScope is one of the best weather radar apps available. It has a metric ton of data and is trusted among people who care about weather radars. It doesn’t use level 2 data like some believe, but it’s still better than most others. The app also has support for AllisonHouse subscribers if you want to go that route. Otherwise, there isn’t much else to talk about. You can change some settings to make things look different and find more info. The app runs for $9.99 on the face with two optional subscription tiers. The first one is $9.99 per year and includes real-time lightning data and access to Level 2 radar data. The more expensive $14.99 per month ($99.99 per year) tier adds more extra stuff.
Rainy Days Rain Radar
Price: Free / $3.49
Raindy Days Rain Radar is one of the simpler weather radar apps on the list. It shows you radar from multiple sources for about half of the world. That makes this a good option for our International readers. It sources doppler radars first and then uses satellite feeds if doppler is not available. It could probably use a few more layers and options, such as a longer weather loop, but otherwise it’s a good, cheap solution for a radar.
Ventusky
Price: Free / $3.99 per year
Ventusky is an excellent weather radar app and one of our picks for the best Darky Sky alternatives. The app includes global weather, reasonably accurate radars, and it shows alternative stuff like wind, temperature, and more. In addition, you can choose different weather models to give you a slightly different look at the radar results as they come in. Thus, you can choose exactly the kind of weather radar experience you want. This one is as good as RadarScope or MyRadar, but does have a steeper learning curve. The premium version is also relatively cheap.
Weather Radar App
Price: Free
Weather Radar App is a pretty boring name, but the app is actually pretty good. It features a high definition radar, and several good options. You can view things like changes in wind speed, cloud cover, temperature, and, of course, precipitation. It also includes a widget, some good basic weather app functions, and it works in multiple countries. It’s easy to use and it’s also free as long as you don’t mind the occasional video ad.
See also: The best camping apps for Android
Weather Underground
Price: Free / $19.99 per year
Weather Underground is technically your standard weather app with a radar rather than a dedicated radar app. However, it still has a really good radar. The radar includes things like cloud cover, precipitation, temperature, wind, and low and high pressure front lines. It also uses over a quarter of a million PWS points to report local weather on a scale most other apps can’t compete with. The only downside is IBM bought Weather Underground a while back and now charges more money for the premium subscription. Luckily, the radar is the same in both versions so you can use it for free.
Weawow
Price: Free / Optional single or monthly donation
Weawow is an excellent weather app with some good radar capabilities. It does global radar, so you can use it anywhere in the world. In addition, it has a healthy selection of widgets, accurate weather, and a ton of adjustments you can make to customize the experience. In fact, there is very little that this app does wrong, and that makes it an easy recommendation for us. Maybe the radar could load and play a little more smoothly? Anything negative we say is nitpicking. This one is excellent, although you do need to give a donation to the developer to unlock everything.
Windy.com
Price: Free / $19.99 per year
Windy.com is a popular option for weather radar apps, especially in countries outside the US. It sources information from a ton of sources, including global ECMWF, GFS, NEMS, AROME, ICON, and NAM. There are 40 radar layers along with both satellite and doppler imaging. You can also save map setups to the menu for quick access later. It doesn’t seem to have the most advanced technology like Level 2 data, but it’s definitely among the best in its class otherwise. The subscription is a bit pricey, but you can use most of the features for free anyway.
wX
Price: Free
Wx is a bit of a wildcard on this list. It’s the only entirely free weather radar app on the list. It’s also open source with no advertising. As it turns out, the app is also really good. It features both Level 3 and Level 2 data from NEXRAD in single, dual or quad pane configurations. It also does some basic stuff like the 7-day forecast and current conditions. It’s not the best looking of the weather radar apps on the list, but it’s legitimately one of the best.
If we missed any great weather radar apps for Android, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists.
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