The summer months are pre-eminently the months when people go outside. But at the same time, these are also the months when extreme weather can occur. Severe thunderstorms and summer storms are especially notorious. With the right apps, you can prepare for that a bit.
You probably know it. After a hot day it starts to get oppressive in the afternoon. A leaden sky looms in the distance. Even some rumbling is audible. There you are, in the middle of the heath. With a potentially annoying scenario that slowly but surely comes your way.
Could you have prevented that? Often. Indeed, let’s focus on that thunderstorm. They are often either very local phenomena or part of a strong storm front. The latter is announced in the regular weather reports, the former is more difficult to predict in the longer term.
Fortunately, the development of such a spontaneous mood is easy to follow. And so it is best to be warned – even if it is only half an hour in advance. In that case, you need an app that, for example, shows lightning strikes. You often see discharges somewhere in the vicinity, where you can also follow the direction of the storm.
You will then soon know whether you may – literally – be wet above your head. In case a shower develops not too far from you, then it is time to seek shelter. Just make sure you have a roof over your head.
The following apps help with that.
LiveLightning: Mapping Lightning Strikes
the app LiveLightning for iOS/iPadOS is ideally suited to watch live lightning strikes worldwide. An equally worldwide network of radio receivers has been set up for this purpose. Every impact location can be determined very accurately by means of a simple triangulation. Nice detail: there is a huge chance that stations on the other side of the world have calculated the impact site; the distance allows even more accurate positioning.
Anyway, the app is simple: Start it and you will see in the form of red balls whether there are lightnings nearby. The brighter red, the more recent. And if the dot is red with a white border around it, then it is a live impact. Practical is the alert option in the bar at the bottom. Here you can set a distance at which you are warned in the event of lightning strikes. If you set it to, for example, 30 kilometers and you receive a notification, then it may be time to see if a shower is heading your way. And if so: quickly look for a shelter.
An app like this is ideally suited for a holiday where you don’t know the local weather at all. In the mountains, for example, there are frequent heavy thunderstorms at certain times of the day. If you are in such an area for the first time, you can be warned in good time. This can be life-saving, especially in more inhospitable areas. Or check the impacts live on this website: https://map.blitzortung.org/â€
Storm Radar: track annoying weather live
Another typical ‘real time’ alert app is Storm Radar†We advise you to use the free version of this in principle. The premium version costs €1.99 per week. To conclude a complete annual subscription for that is perhaps a bit exaggerated and an expensive matter.
Of course you can only go for a certain period of time, but experience shows that people are often forgetful about stopping those subscriptions. Especially if it concerns an app that is only used during certain periods of the year. The advantage of a subscription is that you get various extras, including lightning strikes. Saves you an app somewhere, so just what you want.
Much more interesting are the weather warnings, which also work excellently in the free version. Heat, tornadoes, severe weather, rain, frost, snow and much more are all neatly reported to you. In addition, live radar images can be seen that – also in the free version – are predicted several hours in advance in the form of an animation. In short: with this app with you, it must be very strange if you are attacked by (partly unexpected) severe weather.
Weather Pro: Precise Forecaster
For a more regular weather forecast, WeatherPro (app available for Android and iOS) is definitely recommended. It is an app that has amply proven its reliability over many years. And also does its thing worldwide.
You can take out an annual subscription without any worries, the costs are nice (€8.99 per year). You get an extremely accurate forecast for quite a few days ahead. Includes radar images and many other perks.
Here too you can have notifications turned on via the settings (gear) and the switch behind Notification Center (a somewhat strangely translated option).
Pay attention to data connection and positioning
With this illustrious trio, the chance that you will be faced with unexpected weather surprises is quite small. However, you should keep a few things in mind. When consulting the weather, always check whether your correct location is being used. Usually, that positioning goes neatly by itself, but if something doesn’t go well with this part, you may feel unjustly safe or worry about nothing.
That false belief in safety can also happen if you venture too far into wild nature. Although a mobile network is available in more and more nature reserves and national parks, this is certainly not the case everywhere. Even in a dense forest – even with existing cell towers here or there – connections can be disappointing. In that case, navigation satellites are not always easily picked up from the sky either. Which then jeopardizes the aforementioned position determination. So be sure to check the ‘regular’ weather forecast, such as those from the WeatherPro app, before you leave.
You can also use Storm Radar to view the forecast weather development in the coming hours. The further in the future the projection is, the less accurate it is. Thunderstorms and any associated local severe storms or even a tornado in particular remain difficult to predict. That is why a live internet connection provides extra security in that area. But don’t blindly rely on apps alone, trust your gut feeling too. And take shelter if you don’t trust something.
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