Weather.com is by far the best weather site simply because of its extreme accuracy and constantly updating information. It is actually an extension of the cable television network, The Weather Channel (TWC), which first came on the scene in May of 1982. Many television viewers were initially skeptical of the cable version. The thought of a 24-hour cable station completely devoted to weather seemed to be “overkill” at first, but it didn’t take long before TWC proved its worth. Eventually, it jumped to an online format as well and weather.com was born.
Get an Instant “RIGHT NOW” Update
The most common use for weather.com is probably the ability to see the local weather forecast of your area. Simply type in your zip code at the top right corner of the home page, and get an instant “RIGHT NOW” update. This makes it the best weather site by telling you almost everything you could ever want to know in a single glance, including:
• Current Temperature
• What it looks like outside (Sunny, Cloudy, Raining, Snowing…)
• “Feels Like” Temperature
• Wind Direction and MPH
• Humidity Percentage
• Barometric Pressure
• Dew Point
• UV Index
You can click on other tabs to find the “Today” forecast, which tells you the high and low temperatures and other cumulative information. It will even tell you the phase of the moon (full moon, half moon) and the exact time of the sunset. Click the “Tomorrow” tab for the next day’s projections and the exact time of the sunrise. This is just the tip of the iceberg for what makes weather.com the best weather site.
Plan Your Travel Schedule
Although no weather agency can predict the future with 100% accuracy, weather.com does a pretty good job. The operation is manned and supported by a 24-hour cable news outlet whose only focus in the weather of the world. The website is being updated nearly every 10 minutes. TWC has a feature called “Local on the 8’s” that broadcasts the most current information at every minute of the hour ending in an “8”, for example 8:08, 8:18, 8:28…and so on. Weather.com updates accordingly, complete with videos from the cable show. Few other online weather forecasts are this quick to react, making weather.com the best weather site for not just daily forecasts, but for long range planning as well.
Its other predictions for 1-day, 5-day, 10-day, Weekend and Monthly forecasts make it a great tool to plan getaways and vacations. Weather.com is by far the best weather site for planning and scheduling those grueling business trips. You will learn the projected high and low temperatures, the amount of precipitation, the projected weather conditions (partly cloudy or sunny), and the wind velocity and direction.
Every Kind of Weather Map Imaginable
It’s important to remember that weather.com is not just tracking the weather for your local market, but for the whole globe, making it the best weather site worldwide! It forecasts weather conditions in over 77,000 local and regional markets all over the word. So if you are in Tokyo, Japan and want to make sure you can get home without weather delays at the airport, you can still go to weather.com for all of your information by typing in simple zip codes.
There is a “Weather in Motion Map” that updates every couple of seconds, showing the progression of weather patterns from west to east. There is the traditional Doppler Radar Map that you are used to seeing on your local television news program. A “Current Weather Map” shows what is going on in the entire United States at a glance, so that you can tell what is happening at your Aunt Martha’s house some 2000 miles across the country. The “Current Temperatures Map” shows up-to-the-minute scores of approximately 100 Major US Cities, and they even provide an “Interstate Forecast Map” to help you determine driving conditions on highways across the country. No other website offers such an enormous variety of information to its users, making weather.com the best weather site.
Severe Weather and Winter Storm Central
The website is chock full of video information too. When severe weather of any kind is heading towards any part of the country, a red band will appear across the top of the page. You will know instantly if a tropical storm is bearing down on you or if your vacation to Key West is going to be delayed due to a hurricane. This instant feedback is another major factor in making it the most popular weather site among online users.
In the fall of 2012, weather.com and TWC began to name their winter storms. From the winter season of 2012 to February of 2013, fifteen storms were named: Athena, Brutus, Caesar, Draco, Euclid, Freyr, Gandolf, Helen, Iago, Jove, Khan, Luna, Magnus, Nemo, Orko, Pluto, Q, and Rocky.
Always trying to up their game and to maintain their reputation as the best weather site, their thinking behind this naming convention was to provide their viewers with an easier way to track the storms as they were heading across the country. By giving a unique name to each severe storm, it created more impact and awareness for its audience.
But on November 7, 2012, the National Weather Service made the announcement that they would not agree to the naming of winter storms, leaving weather.com and TWC to continue with the process on their own.
Facebook and “My Friends Weather”
Even though the National Weather Service didn’t exactly go for the naming of winter storms, no one can deny weather.com’s reputation for being the best weather site due to instant access of potentially dangerous approaching weather conditions. Weather.com began using the many applications of social media to its advantage. As the weather progresses across the country, up-to-the-minute video footage will appear at the instant the storm hits. Additional video of the aftermath is uploaded for added emphasis of the potential disaster, perhaps coming soon to your own backyard. With iPhone now on board, you can now update your friends right away and warn them.
This best weather site has recently incorporated a really fun feature in collaboration with Facebook. When bad weather is verified and the red band appears at the top of your screen, Facebook avatars of your friends who might be affected will appear in the top right corner. You can warn them instantly by clicking on one or all of the icons.
The service also works when there is not severe winter storm warnings or impending hurricanes. The “My Friend’s Weather Alerts” appears at the right hand column about midway down the first page as well. As strange or abnormal weather patterns appear, your friends’ avatars will also appear, with a little notation as to why you are being notified. For example, if your friend resides in an area with a River Flood Warning in effect until Tuesday of next week, you can Facebook your buddy and tell them to come over to your house until the threat dissipates.
Weather.com is More than just Rain, Sleet, and Snow….
What makes Weather.com so valuable is that it covers anything remotely to do with weather. They warn of high pollen counts in the summer, of elevated flu outbreaks, and even if the waves are going to be good for surfing tomorrow. You can check out if the fish are biting, if the waters will be choppy, and even the best time to do your spring gardening. Weather.com has come a long way since its inception in 1982, and it seems as if they have a lot more offerings in the works as well!
