Now when you are checking out Google Maps for directions, you can get an instant weather report too. The Official Google Blog has announced they have just added a weather layer on Google Maps that displays current temps and conditions around the globe:
To add the weather layer, hover over the widget in the upper right corner of Google Maps and select the weather layer from the list of options. When zoomed out, you'll see a map with current weather conditions from weather.com for various locations, with icons to denote sun, clouds, rain and so on. You can also see cloud coverage, thanks to our partners at the U.S. Naval Research Lab. And, if you look closely, you can also tell if it's day or night around the world by sun and moon icons.
Good news comes out of the 4th of July holiday weekend about one of Weather Snob's favorite internet hangouts, AccuWeather. AccuWeather for Windows Phone is now available for download from Windows Phone Marketplace.
This app automatically updates forecasts for selected locations right on the phone's start screen. Localized forecasts for global locations are updated hourly, along with their RealFeel® temperature, and severe weather alerts. Day and night weather forecasts are readily available as well as information for the next ten days.
Other features include panoramic views, interactive Bing maps, and nicknaming of your favorite places. There's access to multiple weather displays, including animated radar and satellite maps, and current, broadcast-quality weather videos, many available in both English and Spanish.
The user has the option of choosing between metric or imperial units, as well as forecasts for special lifestyles, such as conditions for specific sports and other outdoor activities. For more details go to AccuWeather.
Weddar Real Feel Weather App for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
Weddar is a new interactive weather service app for the people, by the people. Anyone can be a weather reporter with this location-based app which provides weather reports from someone who is actually experiencing it. From the Weddar site:
In Weddar you have real people reporting on how the weather feels, not machines.
With the old weather report services you get the usual, broad and generalist "New York, 93º f, 73% humidity, NE light wind." reports.
In Weddar, someone, somewhere in Central Park will tell you that the weather "Feels perfect.", another one near the river will tell you that "Feels good but windy", because weather conditions really are different in a same city.
Old Weather -- Researching Our Past Weather to Predict the Climate's Future
The Old Weather project was created with the goal of improving climate predictions by using old weather observations from the past. It's not a question of proving or dis-proving global warming as much as to improve upon our ability as a species to predict weather and climate in the future. And you can help them collect as much historical data as they can! From the site:
Help scientists recover worldwide weather observations made by Royal Navy ships around the time of World War I. These transcriptions will contribute to climate model projections and improve a database of weather extremes. Historians will use your work to track past ship movements and the stories of the people on board.
Having recently visited SimpleWeather and found them using CustomWeather, we thought we'd pass along the info to this cool weather service. CustomWeather is one of the most comprehensive weather service providers today, offering the highest level of detailed coverage, accuracy and customization. Their products and services are intended to be fully integrated and private labeled to support the branding whoever buys the data service.
Opera has announced they are now including a direct link to the AccuWeather mobile website from the Opera Mini start page.
AccuWeather’s Senior VP of New Media saying: “We’re very pleased to offer our weather directly to Opera Mini users from their start page.”
Opera’s Senior VP of Consumer Products said: “Offering fast and convenient access to pertinent information is part of that experience and is even more critical on a mobile device. Partnering with AccuWeather.com provides timely and useful weather information to our users wherever they are.”
It is indeed just Weather, but it's probably for Opera one of the few exclusive links/content agreements they have.
Want a quick way to get to a larger more interactive doppler radar image of your area? The National Weather Service Doppler Radar Images is a great resource - providing quick point and click access to over 100+ doppler images for the US.
Realtime Weather Using Your Nintendo Wii and Sega NIGHTS
Okay - this is a great idea. Use the Wii weather channel (a feature of the Nintendo Game console), and then display the weather in the game Nights that's like the weather where you are. Nuts.
As previously reported, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams on the Wii will take real-time weather information from the Wii's forecast channel. Instead of using this feature in story mode, however, NiGHTS will only make use of real-time weather in the "My Dream" mode, a virtual pet environment separate from the main game.
1UP details the new "My Dream" mode, which will feature the same "A-Life" virtual pet system that's been featured in many Sonic Team games, from the original NiGHTS to the Sonic Adventure series. Now, however, the A-Life environment will pull data from the Wii's forecast channel, allowing you to raise adorable creatures in spaces that mimic the actual weather on your area. Pretty cool, right?
Less cool are the screenshots CVG presents along with this information, which "show off" the weather effects in action. All screens look pulled out of the N64 generation, with low-res textures, a sparse spattering of low-poly trees, and very little else.
1UP's preview states that the "My Dream" space starts out sparse, but becomes more robust as players progress. Still, things aren't looking so pretty in general, and the lack of objects certainly doesn't explain away the "low-def" feel of it all. With the US release of the title a little over a month away, here's hoping the special mode looks a lot better in action.
Now you can receive comprehensive graphical weather displays 24x7 in your plane, boat, vehicle or any fixed location in the continental U.S. and 100 miles into U.S. Coastal waters. Multiple weather conditions similar to those shown over the internet or on TV weather reports can be shown in near real-time on laptops, chartplotters, electronic flight bags, PDAs or other display devices. XM WX gives you the ability to view weather across the U.S. at a glance, as well as the flexibility to zero in on any specific location you need – all you do is identify the area you want and zoom into it.
* Precipitation Type (at surface)
* Wind
* Visibility
* Sea Conditions
* Severe Weather Storm Tracks and
* Satellite Mosaic and more
Hopefully we'll get our hands on one of these GPS units soon over at GPSLodge.com and put the XM WX Satellite Weather package through it's paces.
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