Weather4D – Review
By App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 
By: Olivier Bouyssou
Version #: 1.0
Date Released: 2011-03-25
Developer:
Price: 5.99
User Rating:
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There are those who simply read the weather in an effort to plan for their lives. If it’s raining today, they pack an umbrella. However, there are those few who are fascinated by weather and want to look at it from a time perspective. It is for those few that this app has been developed.
After installation, the app needs additional downloads of time/weather data for certain regions before use, and those files can get pretty big. Once those files are downloaded, the app gives a 3D map that can be played like a movie and shown over a week (the data is received from NCEP/NOAA and the map of the Earth was gotten from NASA).
You can choose to look at a region of the Earth (such as North America or Europe) but you can also create a custom area based on global coordinates, although the program can also automatically choose your current coordinates and get local data. The level of detail given about the weather patterns globally is unmatched by any other app. I haven’t even gone into features such as orbital pattern, cloud conditions and the myriad of other possibilities available in this app. This is the sort of graphic a television weatherman would use when describing the expected weather for the upcoming week.
If I had to nitpick, then it would be nice if you could look at the weather historically (you can only download data for the next eight days, which is presumably deleted when the week is up). I also think the price-point is a little high.
The app is a bit like having your own weather channel without an actual weatherman. If you are a weather enthusiast, then this is your app. Otherwise, you’ll just have to stick with the plain old five day forecast.
Quick Take
Value:Medium to High.
Would I Buy Again:Quite possibly.
Learning Curve:Low.
Who Is It For:Weather enthusiasts.
What I Like:Intuitive interface. Excellent design. Extreme depth of information.
What I Don't Like:Historical search would be nice. Somewhat high price.
Final Statement:There is weather, and there is weather with style. This is the latter.
Weather data types:
- Cloud cover.
- Precipitations (Rain, Snow).
- Wind 10 m above mean sea level.
- Temperature 2 m above mean sea level.
Data model:
- Data from NOAA GFS model.
- Forecasts up to 8 day.
- Data steps : 3h, 12h, 24h.
- Worldwide Cover.
- Resolution : 0.5°, 1°, 2°.
- Data updated 4 times a day (every 6 hours).
