13 Of The Best Weather Apps For iPhone (Free & Paid), Ranked

The iPhone's App Store is full of fantastic free apps, as well as some great paid downloads as well. The vast majority of these are focused on things like news, social media, steaming apps, and mobile games. However, another major category in the App Store is weather apps. Thanks to the fact that smartphones like the iPhone are connected to the internet, they can provide up to date information. That means you can get the most accurate weather forecasts wherever you are.

Of course, not all weather apps are solely focused on whether it's warm, sunny, or windy. There are a vast array of weather-orientated apps that can give users a lot of information about other things as well. Some allow you to track storms like hurricanes, others can provide the best times to see things like the Northern Lights or when the tide will be at its lowest. A few might even help save your life during natural disasters by giving vital emergency information. There are even useful weather apps that support the Apple Watch so you can stay up to date without having to reach for your iPhone.

For this list, SlashGear collated the best weather apps available on the App Store, based on user ratings — while only including those that have a significant amount of ratings and reviews.

The Aurora Borealis are a natural phenomenon that many people want to get a glimpse of. The Northern Lights are caused by charged particles that travel from the sun and interact with Earth's atmosphere. This leads to a spectacular light show that can best be seen in locations such as Iceland and Greenland. However, it is possible to sometimes see the Aurora Borealis further south, although it requires clear skies and very specific circumstances. The My Aurora Forecast & Alerts app is designed specifically to help users discover when they might be able to see the Northern Lights and where they need to be to get the best experience.

My Aurora Forecast & Alerts works across the world in any location and can provide information about the current strength of the Aurora Borealis, how long it will be visible for, and forecasts for up to several weeks in advance. The app also features push notifications to give you important updates and help you plan out a viewing event. The paid version of the app, called My Aurora Forecast Pro, is available for $3.99 and gets rid of advertisements so you don't have any annoying distractions. It also adds support for Apple Watch, so you don't have to pull out your iPhone or iPad to get the information.

Anyone who has used an iPhone will know that the in-built weather app is often wrong. That's because weather forecasting is not an exact science, with Apple pulling from various sources to inform users. This can occasionally lead to mistakes, just like every weather forecast. Yet, while it may be impossible to get the forecast right every time, IBM's The Weather Company is widely regarded to be the most accurate in the world. So, if you value accuracy above all else, then the Weather – The Weather Channel app is an essential download.

Like many other weather apps, this particular download gives you access to forecasts ranging from hourly updates to two-week-long predictions. There's an option to completely customize your experience in the app to suit your specific needs. So if you suffer hay fever, you can add in a pollen count alongside other data like the UV index, air quality, and humidity. Weather – The Weather Channel also supports widgets, allowing you to add a small window to your home page that can give basic information and open the full app when clicked. A premium subscription is available that removes ads and adds new features, such as a 15-minute forecast and a 72-hour future radar function.

For many people, there's nothing like watching a thunderstorm from the safety and comfort of home. Think of the rain splashing against the window, the roar of the thunder, and of course, the flash of lightning. Thanks to My Lightning Tracker Pro you can watch thunderstorms and keep up to date with lightning strikes across the world even when there are no storms in your area. The app works by collating information from various sources to provide real time updates about lightning strikes in all corners of the globe.

The app is regularly updated to add new features and fix bugs, and has a suite of features that will interest any storm chaser. You can do everything from seeing where hotspots for lightning strikes are located to give you a better chance of seeing it in person as well as a detailed map of where local thunderstorms are happening. It's possible to set up the app to provide push notification when a thunderstorm is due to start in your location and you can share images or videos with friends also using the app.

AccuWeather: Weather Alert is another app that focuses on traditional weather forecasting. A free app, it has over 1.5 million ratings on the App Store, with an average score of 4.6 out of 5. This suggests that it is trusted by a larger number of iPhone users, even if it does feature adverts to keep the app as a free download. An award-winning app with numerous notifications from the World Meteorological Organization, AccuWeather: Weather Alerts has a number of unique features.

These include things like minute-by-minute forecasts for the most accurate up-to-date information, as well as detailed local information from pollen counts to temperature readings. It is particularly useful during the winter months as the app gives warnings about possible snow and ice in addition to providing information about what the temperature outside actually feels like. Other features include the ability to get severe weather warnings for your local area as well as 45-day forecasts that provide advance data for planning purposes.

My Hurricane Tracker Pro is the premium version of the app, which includes additional features and perks. Most notably, the paid version is an ad-free experience and also adds support for Apple Watch, allowing you to install the app and have it on your wrist as well as your smartphone and tablet. As the name suggests, it is primarily a storm tracking tool that can be used to follow everything from tornadoes and cyclones to full-blown hurricanes and tropical storms.

Promising an uncluttered experience that only provides the information and data that users actually need, My Hurricane Tracker Pro takes satellite imagery and its forecasts directly from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). That means that users get accurate and up-to-date information about storms, as well as weather warnings so you can stay out of danger. If there's a specific storm you want to track, you can mark it and get updates as it moves and develops. As an added extra, the app also allows you to search an historic record of previous storms across the United States.

Priced at $9.99, RadarScope is one of the most expensive weather apps available on the App Store that scores highly enough in user ratings to be considered among the best in the category. According to the developer, the app can "display the latest reflectivity, velocity, dual-polarization, and other products from any NEXRAD or TDWR radar site in the United States." The app refreshes feeds every few minutes and provides unfiltered data that hasn't been smoothed.

At the heart of RadarScope is the data it takes from NEXRAD, a network of weather radars used by the NOAA's National Weather Service. The app gives users access to both Level 1 and Level 2 radar data, the second of which is much higher resolution and usually not available to the general public. This makes it an invaluable resource for those who are interested in meteorology and want to get the best and most accurate information possible.

For the dedicated hobbyists and professional, RadarScope offers two subscription tiers that provide archived data and extra tools to analyze the data. These can be purchased as a monthly or yearly subscription.

My Moon Phase Pro – Alerts is one of the most highly-rated paid weather apps available on the App Store, with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 based on more than 2,000 reviews. That's high praise, with many reviewers particularly happy with the way it helps them with photography and the uncluttered design of the user interface. My Moon Phase Pro – Alerts acts as a lunar calendar that gives the user precise information about the moon cycle.

The range of data available through the app is specifically designed to give anyone using it the ability to know exactly the shape, distance, and phase of the moon. So, you'll know whether to expect a full moon and when the moon will be visible in the sky. Thanks to the cycle feature, it can also give information about the moon over the coming weeks and months so you know what to expect.

If you want to set a particular moon phase, the app will notify you when it is set to occur. For those who want to capture a great picture, My Moon Phase Pro – Alerts can also alert users to golden and blue hours as well as detailing when the sky is clear.

There are many different weather apps dedicated to providing forecasts but WeatherBug – Weather Forecast is arguably among the very best available. With more than 2.1 million ratings, it has amassed an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 and won numerous awards since its introduction. The developers call it the most popular free weather app, although it does offer ad-free subscriptions, and it is built with an intuitive user interface to make it as easy to use as possible.

Offering up to a 10-day forecast and hourly updates, WeatherBug – Weather Forecast prides itself on providing real-time accurate weather forecasts. It also features an interactive map that can be switched from a standard radar view to everything from pollen count to storm risk to give you as much information as you need. This is augmented with what the app calls lifestyle forecasts, which can help you to plan how the weather will impact your everyday life through factors such as allergies and pain. The global nature of WeatherBug – Weather Forecast also means that it works in more than 2.5 million locations.

To help differentiate itself from the hundreds of other weather apps on the App Store, Windy.com – Weather & Radar focuses on providing the most accurate and detailed forecasts available for iPhone. Supporting smartphones, iPad, and Apple Watch, the app has an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 and has been reviewed by more than 80,000 users in total. The team behind the download hasn't relied on freely available simulations and instead invested in accurate models, which means they can show forecasts in far greater resolution than is usually possible.

This includes taking data directly from the likes of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the HRRR weather model, and ICON-D2. What this means for users is that you can get access to a lot of detail about every element of the weather. Ranging from wind speed and accumulation to snow depth and density, Windy.com – Weather & Radar is packed with facts and figures. You can even get information about soil moisture and the ozone layer as well as pilot tools such as cloud visibility.

My Earthquake Alerts & Feed is an app available as both a free and a paid Pro version. Both have average ratings on the App Store of 4.8 out of 5, although the My Earthquake Alerts & Feed Pro has only a fraction of the total number of users as the free release. Like many other weather apps that are made for iPhone, the paid variant removes any adverts and includes support for Apple Watch.The app is primarily targeted at those who are living in areas that might be at risk of experiencing an earthquake — in a similar way to Google's Android earthquake alert system.

The main aspect of the app is an earthquake map that displays seismic activity all around the world, giving you a way to see exactly where earthquakes are taking place. You can also set up the app to provide you with push notifications for specific areas where you might be, giving you immediate warnings. If an earthquake is happening near the user's location, My Earthquake Alerts & Feed can give details about exactly how far away and strong the seismic activity is. There's also a useful archive feature so you can search for past earthquakes in any given area.

Available for both iPhone and iPad, Tides Near Me – No Ads is a paid app that costs $2.99. For that money you get access to all of the features of the app as well as a promise to see no ads when using the app. With an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 based on more than 2,000 reviews, you can be assured that this app won't be a disappointment. As you might expect given the name, Tides Near Me – No Ads provides the user with up-to-date information about tides.

Gathering data from over 5,500 tidal stations across the United States, the United Kingdom, and several other countries, it can provide accurate and reliable information about tidal conditions in your local area. This can include revealing when the tide is high or low as well as when to expect significant changes. It can also be useful for determining the currents and showcase the rising and setting of the sun and moon. In addition to North America, Tides Near Me – No Ads also works in Australia, India, Ireland, and New Zealand.

River Levels & Flows does exactly what it says on the tin, giving its users information about the current level and flow of rivers. The app takes data directly from government agencies such as the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services and the United States Geological Survey to ensure that all information is accurate, timely, and reliable. The information is gathered using stream gauges and other water level indicators, giving precise measurements about the state of rivers to help inform people about the risk of floods.

Reviews have noted how useful the app can be for those looking to swim in local rivers, as it can give a good indication of whether to expect dangerous current or water levels. River Levels & Flows can also provide vital information to those fishing, so they know whether it is worth going out to the waterway. The app can also help predict potential river conditions based on the upcoming weather, so you know the risk of adverse activity that might affect any plans you have for specific areas.

There are plenty of useful Android astronomy apps available on the Play Store but the App Store also has a fine selection, including Scope Nights Astronomy. Now, stargazing might not seem like something that is weather dependent at first. After all, the process involves looking after stars and planets that are often millions or billions of miles away. Yet to see these far-off worlds, you need clear skies and as little light pollution as possible. This particular iOS app can help you be prepared to get the best possible results.

While it is possible to workout when the best time and place to go stargazing are with traditional weather apps, it can be a lengthy and somewhat complicated process. Scope Nights Astronomy simplifies the process and removes any guesswork. Using data from a variety of sources, the app analyzes the information to inform the user where to go and exactly when to get the darkest, clearest skies. The app can also provide extended astronomy forecasts so you can plan ahead in addition to allowing users to customize Scope Nights Astronomy with their own preferences. That can mean adding specific times you want to stargaze, weather elements that are unsuitable, and conditions that will work best with your equipment.

To rank these weather apps, SlashGear looked at the average ratings of the various apps and their ranking in the App Store as well as the number of reviews they have received. This information has been combined with professional reviews of the apps where available along with personal testing to discover which are the best and most reliable weather apps available on iOS.