Android app - Rainfall Radar with Alerts

[EasternBlocGeek]

Been using the BBC & Met Office but they've become increasingly inaccurate over the past 2+ yrs.

I know I could look at the rainfall radar myself but I wondered if anyone here is using, & would recommend, an app (Android) which can reliably push notifications of impending rain?

I hate washing the car only for it to unexpectedly (based on BBC/MetOffice forecasts) chuck it down an hour later. Similarly when out on my bike, I've baked in my waterproof touring jacket because heavy rain was forecast & been soaked in my mesh summer jacket because hot 'n sunny was forecast. Hoping there's a better forecasting solution out there.

[Scabutz]

I use one called Rain Alarm. It will give you an alert with a score out of 10 for the area and intensity.

It's pretty good, occasionally though it has started raining before the alert

[mikef]

I use RainToday on iOS and it looks to be available on Android. From MeteoGroup, publishers of WeatherPro



There’s a good radar view as well, and notifications in advance of rain

From experience, it’s pretty good for accuracy

Edited by mikef on Monday 1st January 18:49

[Scabutz]

It's not a forecast, it used radar and when rain enters a circle around you it alerts.

ETA - the post I was responding to has been deleted.

[MonkeyBusiness]

As someone that spends a lot of time outdoors, they are all pretty naff.
Hyperlocal is good based on iOS DarkSky. Only good for short (24 hours) but when it says it will rain in 7 minutes, it will.

I hear good things about Yr (yes that's the name) too.

Dont use the Met Office. They've been making up the weather since 1842.

[outnumbered]

mikef said:

I use RainToday on iOS and it looks to be available on Android. From MeteoGroup, publishers of WeatherPro



There’s a good radar view as well, and notifications in advance of rain

From experience, it’s pretty good for accuracy

Edited by mikef on Monday 1st January 18:49

I use this on Android. It's an excellent app, the radar is quick and easy to access, and rainfall time predictions are very useful. However, I've found the notifications to be a bit hit&miss.

[Dave.]

outnumbered said:

mikef said:

I use RainToday on iOS and it looks to be available on Android. From MeteoGroup, publishers of WeatherPro



There’s a good radar view as well, and notifications in advance of rain

From experience, it’s pretty good for accuracy

Edited by mikef on Monday 1st January 18:49

I use this on Android. It's an excellent app, the radar is quick and easy to access, and rainfall time predictions are very useful. However, I've found the notifications to be a bit hit&miss.

It’s been removed from the Play Store. It’s available from apkpure and uptodown but it’s not been updated since 2018.

[EasternBlocGeek]

Scabutz said:

It's not a forecast, it used radar and when rain enters a circle around you it alerts.

ETA - the post I was responding to has been deleted.

Rain Alarm looks pretty good. Two questions.... Does it cost, as I read some reviews that suggest that the original one-off fee is no more & it's now a monthly subscription? Also, is the circle of a fixed radius or can you extend it to a distance of your choice?

Cheers

[Dave.]

EasternBlocGeek said:

Scabutz said:

It's not a forecast, it used radar and when rain enters a circle around you it alerts.

ETA - the post I was responding to has been deleted.

Rain Alarm looks pretty good. Two questions.... Does it cost, as I read some reviews that suggest that the original one-off fee is no more & it's now a monthly subscription? Also, is the circle of a fixed radius or can you extend it to a distance of your choice?

Cheers

£3.60/yr to remove ads, £10.50/yr for "full features"...

[Scabutz]

EasternBlocGeek said:

Rain Alarm looks pretty good. Two questions.... Does it cost, as I read some reviews that suggest that the original one-off fee is no more & it's now a monthly subscription? Also, is the circle of a fixed radius or can you extend it to a distance of your choice?

Cheers

I don't pay for it. There is a setting called widget radius but that's disabled with a shopping trolley icon next to it so guess that's a paid for feature to change the circle.

[LeoSayer]

I've used Rainy Days for many years. Free with adverts.

It doesn't have alerts that I can see but does show a radar animation of the previous few hours allowing you to see if the rain is headed in your direction.

[mmm-five]

I use Ventusky (not just for rain) on my iPhone, but I believe it's available on Android too.



https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.a...

[David_M]

EasternBlocGeek said:

Been using the BBC & Met Office but they've become increasingly inaccurate over the past 2+ yrs.

I realise that this is off-topic slightly, but I regularly use both of the above and I don't understand how they are often wildly different?

Often they will show very different rainfall predictions within the next 24/36 hours - one at 10% and one at 70% chance of rain. Today is not that extreme, but see 17:00/18:00

[s p a c e m a n]

If you get the Google opinion rewards app you'll soon make the £3 to spend on extras and buy apps that you wouldn't spend real money on

[Fore Left]

MonkeyBusiness said:

As someone that spends a lot of time outdoors, they are all pretty naff.
Hyperlocal is good based on iOS DarkSky. Only good for short (24 hours) but when it says it will rain in 7 minutes, it will.

I hear good things about Yr (yes that's the name) too.

Dont use the Met Office. They've been making up the weather since 1842.

I use HyperLocal. Short term is very good but isn't always reflected on the hourly forecast (short term will say rain in 7 minutes, hourly will say 0% chance of rain). It will do alerts but you need to pay for them. I'm going to try some of the others recommended here.

[xeny]

David_M said:

EasternBlocGeek said:

Been using the BBC & Met Office but they've become increasingly inaccurate over the past 2+ yrs.

I realise that this is off-topic slightly, but I regularly use both of the above and I don't understand how they are often wildly different?

Often they will show very different rainfall predictions within the next 24/36 hours - one at 10% and one at 70% chance of rain.

Almost certainly better asking this in the winter rain, wind, snow and ice thread 2023/24 thread https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... , but I believe that the BBC one uses less recent runs of the forecasting models?

I tend to look at https://www.netweather.tv/live-weather/radar in a web browser - toggling between animation on and off to get an idea of blob speed and make a judgement based on that. Works pretty well to plan the next couple of hours at minimum.

[Locoduck]

xeny said:

Almost certainly better asking this in the winter rain, wind, snow and ice thread 2023/24 thread https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... , but I believe that the BBC one uses less recent runs of the forecasting models?

I tend to look at https://www.netweather.tv/live-weather/radar in a web browser - toggling between animation on and off to get an idea of blob speed and make a judgement based on that. Works pretty well to plan the next couple of hours at minimum.

Different weather apps may also use different models to get the data from, models may be finer or coarser resolution so difficult to pick out detail such as where showers are likely to impact.
Even with shorter lead times the spatial distribution of showers can be difficult to get spot on and it is all very much guesswork based on an ensemble of model runs all showing slightly different things and picking the ones that approximately align.

I use a mixture of apps, some already mentioned above such as Ventusky and weather radar which are generally reasonable. I’m not aware of any apps that alert you to any rainfall in a set area but it’s bound to be a bit hit and miss still, especially at lead times any longer than a few hours.

[Dogwatch]

xeny said:

I tend to look at https://www.netweather.tv/live-weather/radar in a web browser - toggling between animation on and off to get an idea of blob speed and make a judgement based on that. Works pretty well to plan the next couple of hours at minimum.

I like Netweather too. Paid the sub one year for an upgrade but found I preferred the free version!
Got it on Pc and Ipad

[DangerMonkey]

Weather Underground is very good. Has a decent desktop map as well

[RichFN2]

I use Weather24 and it's been brilliant, I imported my android phone from China and needed a decent weather app to replace the default version.

I tried a few but this one has been the best: