I was out on the lake yesterday and BOOM - big flash of lightning and rumble of thunder - so followed all the other boats and jetted off the lake !

The sky looked ok, did not look threatening - and my phone weather app (Google Weather) said "light rain" was coming up in a few hours, yet nothing else - an online look earlier in the day (on the computer before going out) gave no indication of thunderstorms.

What phone weather app do you use and why ? (specifically looking for an app that that would indicate the threat of lightning/severe weather)

Thank you !

I have a link that opens the NWS station in my area in the FireFox on my phone. Since everyone else gets their data from NWS, I just go right to the source.

I use WeatherBug, which has a lightening alert.  I also use weather.com app, Windy, and DeepDive.  Combined, I can get a pretty good picture, hour-by-hour.

 

That said, NWS accuracy is declining, unfortunately.  So learn the cloud types and their meaning.  I've been doing that since I was a kid, and it hasn't failed me yet.

I use The Weather Channel app. I find it to be remarkably accurate. 

@Glenn's method to use multiple apps to form a complete picture is a great plan. If you can access some local weather data collecting stations, that's great for narrowing in on what's happening short term and trends for the day. I'll add, Windy is worth its weight in gold. Crucial app if you ask me. 

I use MyRadar. It sends alerts for lightning 

I use the paid version of Carrot.  It's the weather app with an attitude.  I disable the personal insults feature.   I like Carrot because you can switch between seven different weather sources.  Between the seven forecast one of them will be correct about 30% of the time.😆  Being able to see seven forecast help me understand that no one in the field really has a clue what the weather will be.

 

I also use the Apple weather widget on my Apple Watch which gives me a short forecast (next few hours) and will tell me if rain is headed my way and when it will arrive.  It pretty accurate for the next couple of hours and helps me avoid storms while on the water.

 

I use the RadarScope app which lets you select and view all of the NOAA radar products.  You can select which radar you want to view and select from about 25 data types from that radar.  Of the 25 I understand what 5 or 6 of them actually are.  😆

I just use whatever app comes installed from apple on my iPhone. It’s actually really accurate. It shows radar and will tell you “rain will start in 10 minutes” etc and it’s almost always right!

Accuweather and My Lightning Tracker. My Deep Dive app also has some weather functions.

After trying most, I’ve relied solely on Weatherbug for the past 10 years.  Very accurate forecasts, very useful wind map, and the lightning strike map could be a lifesaver.  

Accuweather and Windy. AccuWeather sends me a notification anytime there's lightning within 10mi. Windy gives me more accurate wind estimates.

1 hour ago, woolleyfooley said:

I just use whatever app comes installed from apple on my iPhone. It’s actually really accurate. It shows radar and will tell you “rain will start in 10 minutes” etc and it’s almost always right!

 

This is what I use as well.  I have a weather nerd colleague and he told me the weather App on the iPhone is just about the best one to use.  He told me it was some other site and Apple bought it.  I've been using it over a year and I agree that it is very accurate.

Radar Now and Windy, I have Weather * on my phone, it's sometimes hilarious how inaccurate it can be with the hourly forecast, gotten soaked quite a few times relying on that, not exactly laughing at that point. 

Accuweather and The Weather Channel on my phone.

 

If you have an apple phone there is a preloaded on one there. Don’t use that one.

2 minutes ago, gim said:

Accuweather and The Weather Channel on my phone.

 

If you have an apple phone there is a preloaded on one there. Don’t use that one.

Apple weather is now pretty good.  They bought an excellent  app called Dark Sky a while back and used it for the new Apple Weather.  

Didn’t know that. Thanks

AccuWeather and weather wise are what I use. Use apple weather as well just because it’s there…

WeatherBug for 90% of my needs. MyRadar has pretty darn good radar imaging.

whatever weather app is the default one on the homescreen of a galaxy is the one I use.

Thank you for all of the replies and information - @J Francho suggestion to find a local weather station was a good one - I researched and found that Weather Underground has a weather station within a mile of my most local lake, so I will load that on to my phone - and I will give WeatherBug a try, specifically for the lightning strike map feature (I had used WeatherBug years ago but at that time it drained the phone battery pretty quickly and had some malware issues, but with updated phones malware protection and apps hopefully that has changed, so I will give it a try again) 

On 6/17/2025 at 10:05 AM, WaskaCrank12 said:

Thank you for all of the replies and information - @J Francho suggestion to find a local weather station was a good one - I researched and found that Weather Underground has a weather station within a mile of my most local lake, so I will load that on to my phone - and I will give WeatherBug a try, specifically for the lightning strike map feature (I had used WeatherBug years ago but at that time it drained the phone battery pretty quickly and had some malware issues, but with updated phones malware protection and apps hopefully that has changed, so I will give it a try again) 

Weatherbug’s network of lightning sensors is second to none.  In addition to weather stations, their network includes schools across the US that have installed them to provide safety for outdoor sporting events and other activities.

Ventusky - desktop & mobile APP.

Weather Underground for many years.

NOAA.....

I’ve used AccuWeather for years. Most recently I started using the Deep Dive app as well. For fishing this app is great! Find your lake and you can see up to 7 days in advance. Is shows wind direction for your lake as well as water inflow, again, up to 7 days ahead. It’s basically a one stop shop for me when it comes to weather/fishing related apps go.