Have you ever wished that you could make a standard weather app reflect your interests and lifestyle? That’s the idea behind the new “Smart Forecasts” feature added today to the free Wunderground app (in-app purchases available). Powered by the over 200,000 personal weather stations that are part of the Weather Underground network (both Marty Edwards and I run personal weather stations), Smart Forecasts provide hyperlocal forecasts tailored to a number of outdoor activities.
To begin with, users decide whether to create a custom forecast or choose from 13 different activity presents. For example, activities can be active — like running or biking — or more sedate, like fishing, gardening or photography. Next, users select individual preferences from a list of 13 paraments, like temperature, humidity, wind speed, precipitation probability, or UV index. Finally, the app suggests times to engage in those activities within hourly, daily or weekly time horizons.
Let’s say I want to go biking, I hate wind and rain while I’m on my bike, and I prefer a temperature of less that 85°F for a comfortable ride. Based on conditions either at my personal weather station or at the location where I’m going to ride, the Smart Forecast will provide a list of suggested times for up to 10 days in advance. I can then make sure that my ride is scheduled at the optimum time for my comfort, and schedule my Apple World Today work around my bike ride.
The Smart Forecast feature is available today to all users of the Wunderground app.
