Checking your smartphone to see clear skies forecasted all morning, only to get soaked by a downpour on your bike ride to work—what could be more annoying? Despite the plethora of weather apps available, it’s hard to distinguish between them and even harder to know which to trust based on what criteria.
Top Picks for Accurate Forecasts: “Météociel” and “Windy”
Here are two free and comprehensive apps. Both use multiple meteorological models for their forecasts. Météociel offers a simple, ad-free interface that covers the basics. A notable feature: you can choose which model you want your forecasts based on. Typically, “Arome is the most reliable model in France, with a resolution of 1.3 km²,” suggests Serge Zaka. By navigating through Météociel’s menus, you can access a variety of more detailed maps, showing rain evolution or lightning strikes based on Météo-France data, up to highly detailed maps for each forecasting model.
Map enthusiasts will definitely find their match with Windy. The app offers about fifty maps forecasting various weather conditions over different time frames. Whether it’s rain, wind, waves, UV index, or even urban heat, there’s something for nearly every need.
Best for Real-Time Observations: “Infoclimat”
Need to check the outside temperature but don’t have a window? Are you a storm chaser eager to track lightning strikes in real-time? Serge Zaka recommends Info Climat, “which operates its own network of 1,000 stations across France.” This ensures a fairly precise coverage of the area.
Best for Specific Needs: Professional Weather Services (Agricultural, Maritime, or Mountain)
Is agricultural weather truly the cream of the crop, or just an urban myth? “No, it’s true that they are more reliable,” confirms Serge Zaka. Whether it’s for farmers, mountain regions, tourist offices, or even extreme sports and beaches, the so-called “professional” weather services are generally more credible. “They are reviewed by human experts, or are based on different models,” adds the agroclimatologist.
Best for Rain: “Rain Today”
Key Takeaways
Generally, Serge Zaka advises trusting apps that utilize multiple models. There are only about a dozen models globally for hundreds of apps, and the difference mainly lies in the presentation and, possibly, how the software synthesizes several models. He particularly notes that apps offering ranges of temperatures and probabilities (indicating the use of multiple models) are more trustworthy.
For rain forecasts, it’s better to rely on apps that use Météo-France rather than satellites, which are less reliable. “A weather forecast isn’t just about saying ‘it’s going to be sunny,’” he sums up. “We’ve tried to simplify it so much that it becomes untrue.” Here’s hoping that advances in science, computational power, and perhaps one day AI, will save us from getting drenched for sure.
