vinegarFrancesca Simon, author of the children’s book “Horrid Henry,” pulls out her phone and checks the weather multiple times a day — not just where she is, but where her friends and family live, where she went on holiday, and where she grew up.
“I love weather apps. I think they’re magical,” she says. She has about 10 locations logged, and her friends tease her about her “weather porn” habits. “If I don’t like what I see on one app, I check another one.”
This week, Simon She shared her weather app obsession with Queen Camilla As the two discuss a miserable summer day at a charity event.[Camilla] “She said everyone was making fun of her … so we were laughing at each other’s obsession,” Simon said.
It’s an obsession shared by millions: If you’re going on vacation, planning a summer barbecue, worrying about your yard, or suffering from hay fever, you probably check the app at least daily to see the latest weather forecast.
The app provides much more localized and detailed information in graphical form than traditional weather forecasts, including wind speeds and chance of precipitation.
This is a lucrative business. Most basic weather apps are free to use, but they make money from advertising, paid upgrades, and data monetization. According to Statista in 2022, global revenue for the weather market is Projected to reach $1.58 billionThe majority of its revenue comes from advertising.
be Last year’s YouGov pollIn 2015, apps were the primary source of weather information for Americans, used by 53% of people. One in five people said they check the app multiple times a day, and the older people they are, the more frequently they check it.
For people with specific weather needs, bespoke apps may be available. For example: the wind is strong Wind speed and direction are tracked and the Met Office has introduced UK-specific Coastal Forecasts (in partnership with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution) and Mountain Forecasts.
Most apps provide wind speed and direction, sunrise and sunset times, UV forecasts, pollen counts, air pollution index, etc. Some apps even provide users with extreme weather alerts.
The Met Office launched its weather forecast app in 2010 and released a major update in 2016. By 2023, it expects to have around 6.2 million users, most of them in the UK. Usage spikes during severe weather events, such as named storms or heatwaves.
Met Office spokesman Graham Mudge said the app was in “continuous development” and had become more refined since its launch.
The center offers “detailed information for the next 24 hours,” but the further out a user looks, the more general the forecast becomes. “We’re recognized as one of the best centers in the world for our accuracy,” Mudge says. “We’re very proud of that.”
As a government agency, the Met Office provides data to other forecasters, but three years after the BBC released its weather app in 2013, it switched to a private weather company, Meteor Group, now known as DTN.
DTN “pulls data from multiple sources, including satellite imagery, global ocean and continental datasets, and real-time observations from a network of more than 20,000 sensors,” said Renee Vandewege, the company’s general manager of weather and climate information. The data is “processed in a high-performance cloud environment using AI and machine learning.”
“DTN believes our forecasts are among the most reliable in the industry and globally leading,” Vandewege added.
The BBC acknowledged earlier this year that the symbols that summarise the day’s weather on its app (which has been downloaded more than 28 million times) could paint an overly gloomy outlook: “The symbol of the day reflects the weather conditions that are likely to have the greatest impact on people’s lives,” it said. A BBC spokesman told The Sunday Times:.
“This may focus on short periods of weather on a particular day and is designed to be read in the context of the bigger picture and hourly details that change depending on the latest data.”
The company works with the National Center for Atmospheric Science to monitor and evaluate the accuracy of its forecasts across all platforms, including its app.
UK weather has always been changeable, but meteorologists say the global climate crisis is making it even less predictable and more prone to extreme weather – which could lead to increased reliance – or, as Simon puts it, obsession – with weather apps.
In the UK, “weather patterns rarely stay in one place for more than a few days at a time compared to other parts of the world such as California, which makes forecasting even more difficult”, Mudge said.
“Located between the Atlantic Ocean and the European continent, with the tropics to the south and the Arctic Circle to the north, the UK has an almost unique relationship with the weather globally.”
Vandewege said: “Checking the weather app is a global phenomenon. The weather affects every aspect of our lives – from what we wear, what we do and, in many cases, what we eat, to the more severe weather impacts, such as risks to safety and business operations.”
As weather data becomes more accessible, it’s not just the next local downpour that drives app usage: “Users are increasingly interested in knowing what the weather is like in multiple locations, not just their own local area.”
Source: www.theguardian.com
