Best Weather Apps for Windows 10 PCs (2021)
While some of the apps in this curated list are also available on mobile, others are only available on desktops. Be that as it may, they all offer great features, a user-friendly UI, and more. So without further delay, let’s check out the best weather apps you can use on your Windows 10 computer.
1. Weather: Native Windows 10 App
Windows 10 comes with a feature-packed native weather app. You can access it from the Start Menu, where it resides as a Live Tile. It offers tons of information, including the current weather, temperature, precipitation, humidity, air quality, wind speed, visibility, UV index, and more. It also displays the chances of rain and the barometric pressure at your location. The app offers hourly forecasts for temperature and rainfall for the next 24 hours, as well as daily forecasts for the next 10 days. That makes it one of the best weather apps on Windows 10.
A feature that I particularly like is a ‘this day in history’ function that shows the historical weather for that day over the past thirty years. For example, the app displays the average temperature and rainfall, as well as the record temperature and rainfall (high and low) for that particular day over the past three decades. Other notable features include timings for sunrise and sunset, as well as moonrise and moonset. The app sources its weather data, forecasts, and maps from Finnish weather forecasting firm, Foreca, while historical data comes from US-based WeatherTrends 360.
Pros: Free, No additional download, Updated periodically, Decent set of features, Accurate weather forecasts, Clean and easy-to-use UI Cons: Not for professionals and meteorology enthusiasts Download: N.A.
2. MSN Weather
If the built-in Windows weather app isn’t detailed enough for you, there’s another similar app you should look at. That’s because Microsoft also offers an additional weather app on Windows called MSN Weather which comes with a lot more features and information for true weather tracking enthusiasts. One of the best weather apps on Windows 10, MSN Weather offers accurate 10-day and hourly forecasts for your region as well as severe weather alerts via notifications. You can also use the MSN Weather Live Tile to see current weather conditions in the Start Menu.
Like its native twin, MSN Weather also offers the ‘Historical Weather’ feature, as well as weather news from around the world via articles, videos, and slideshows. You can also track current weather in the locations of your choice, while there are interactive maps on offer for radar, temperature, precipitation, cloud, and satellite. Overall, MSN Weather is the perfect choice in the segment and one that I would highly recommend if you like the look and feel of the native app but want a bit more detail.
Pros: Free, Accurate forecasts, Historical weather, Interactive radar, and satellite maps Cons: Not all features are available everywhere Download: Free
3. WeatherBug
One of the best weather apps on Windows 10, WeatherBug comes from the eponymous weather forecasting service. The app features a clean and organized interface that is easy to use for both novices and professionals alike. It comes with what the developers claim is the “world’s largest network of real-time weather and lightning sensors” for real-time data. It keeps you up to date with minute-by-minute, mile-by-mile lightning monitoring from the WeatherBug Total Lightning Network. The app also comes with a live lightning map to show you lightning strikes near you and across the world.
WeatherBug also offers extended 10-day forecasts and severe weather alerts, including National Weather Service (NWS) warnings in the US. The app also supports enhanced interactive maps with multiple layers such as Doppler radar, humidity, pressure, wind speed, high/low forecast, satellite imaging, and more. Another feature of WeatherBug is news about severe weather conditions from around the world. That includes news about lightning, hurricanes, thunderstorms, and more. Finally, with Live Weather Cams, the app also lets users see live images from over 2,000 weather cameras across various locations in the US.
Pros: Intuitive UI, Accurate data and forecasts, Unique ‘Spark’ lightning alerts, Doppler radar animation for precipitation information Cons: Windows app missing many new features of its Android and iOS counterparts Download: Free
4. MyRadar
The developers of MyRadar describe the app as a “fast, easy-to-use, weather application that displays animated weather radar around your current location, allowing you to quickly see what weather is coming your way”. The app features a high-definition animated radar that helps track various weather details, including precipitation and severe weather events. You can also zoom, pan and scroll across the map to check the weather across the US, making it one of the best weather maps on Windows, especially for US residents.
On top of the basic weather, users can also check temperatures around the country and overlay a current satellite image of cloud cover. Additional features include weather warnings and alerts, complete with push notifications, to warn you about severe weather in your area. While the app is free to use, there’s also an in-app purchase option to remove ads and activate the ‘Live Tile’ feature. There’s also an optional hurricane tracker upgrade that provides details and projections for the path of storms.
Pros: Detailed radar maps, Toggle for cloud coverage, Layer to track severe weather watches and hurricanes (optional), Aviation layers Cons: Heavily US-centric – not much info about the rest of the world Download: Free with in-app purchases
5. Forecast
Forecast is a premium weather app for Windows 10. Available for a nominal charge on the Microsoft Store, it is one of the best weather apps on Windows 10, especially when it comes to aesthetics. It is a fast and fluid app with an easy-to-use interface, detailed weather forecasts for millions of locations around the world, and more. Notable features include Meteogram, which shows weekly and hourly forecasts as easy-to-read graphs.
Forecast offers a live tile with multi-day forecast, in-app weather graphs, and location-based weather updates. The app’s appearance is highly configurable in terms of both color and image themes. Users can even sync it with Bing to change its background image every day to Bing’s image of the day. It supports both Fahrenheit and Celsius scales for temperature, as well as various units for wind speed, precipitation, and pressure.
Pros: Aesthetically pleasing, Intuitive UI, Supports locations around the world, Helpful Meteogram graphs, Auto-sync with Bing image-of-the-day for changing backgrounds every day (optional) Cons: Paid app Download: Free trial, $1.49 for full version
6. Simple Weather
Simple Weather is one app that lives up to its name with an uncluttered UI and easy-to-use interface. It is one of the best weather apps on Windows 10 if simplicity and basic everyday weather information is all you crave for. However, it isn’t totally barebones either. It shows the current weather conditions, daily and weekly forecasts, as well as humidity, precipitation, pressure, and wind conditions. It even shows sunrise and sunset times for your town or region.
Other notable features of Simple Weather include severe weather alerts, support for multiple favorite locations, resizable live tile for current weather conditions, air quality updates from the World Air Quality Index Project, and more. It is also one of the few Windows 10 weather apps with support for multiple weather providers, including HERE Weather (premium only), U.S. National Weather Service (US only), OpenWeatherMap, MET.no, and WeatherUnlocked.
Pros: Multiple options for weather provider, Intuitive and uncluttered UI Cons: No radar data, No satellite maps, Might be too simple for some users Download: Free with in-app purchases
7. Perfect Weather Universal
Yet another of the best weather apps on Windows, Perfect Weather Universal, shows the current weather and the forecast for 10 days. The forecast for the current day includes an hour-by-hour prediction, and users can swipe on the screen to see how the weather will change throughout the day. The app displays all the details you’d expect from a modern weather app, including wind speed, atmospheric pressure, day length, and even moon phase.
Perfect Weather Universal includes many landscape templates as background images and themes that change based on real-life weather in your region. The sunset, sunrise, moonrise, and moonset in the background also happen at the same time as in real life. It also comes with multiple Live Tiles that automatically update the forecasts throughout the day. Overall, Perfect Weather Universal is not the most feature-filled weather app for Windows but quite capable of what it does and looks good while at it.
Pros: Detailed forecasts for temperature, precipitation, etc.; Multiple landscape templates to customize the look and feel Cons: Some features only available with in-app purchases Download: Free with in-app purchases
8. The Weather 14 Days
As you can tell from its name, The Weather 14 Days features detailed 14-day forecasts, warnings, maps, satellite and radar images. It is free and offers the latest weather information for the US and the rest of the world. The app comes with a modern layout based on Google’s Material Design, making it responsive and easy to use. Weather information includes temperature, rainfall, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction, snowline, UV index, dew point, and more.
The Weather 14 days also shows sunrise and sunset times for every day, as well as the phases of the moon. The US users also get radar maps detailing temperature, rainfall, cloudiness, and barometric pressure. The app also offers notification alerts for severe weather and customized Live Tile support. While the satellite images are provided by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the radar maps detailing recent and current rainfall come from the NWS (National Weather Service).
Pros: Free, Full-featured, Accurate weather data from NOAA and NWS (for the US) Cons: Some features missing for non-US users Download: Free
9. Weather Notify
Weather Notify is largely similar to most of the other weather apps on Windows 10, offering daily forecasts for seven days, as well as hourly forecasts for 48 hours. However, where it differs from other apps is an intense focus on notifications for all kinds of weather events. You can customize notification preferences to get alerts when the temperature exceeds or falls below certain thresholds or for rain, snow, sleet, and various other weather events.
The app displays the temperatures, precipitation, wind speed, humidity, UV index, dew point, barometric pressure, and sunrise/ sunset timings. Weather Notify does not offer detailed satellite images or radar info to please meteorology enthusiasts. However, it features all of the critical weather information for mainstream users. The app supports both metric and imperial measurements, and its Live Tiles offer both current weather and predictions. It also offers dark mode support and an aesthetically pleasing modern, interactive UI. Overall, it is one of the best weather apps on Windows 10, especially for users who want to receive notifications about every weather event in their region.
Pros: Beautiful UI, Detailed weather information, Highly customizable notifications Cons: No satellite and radar images Download: Free
10. Weather Mate
Finally, we come to an application that’s completely different from the rest of the apps in this list. Weather Mate is a free Windows program that gives you instant access to the weather forecast for tens of thousands of locations worldwide. It is one of the best weather apps on Windows 10 if you’re not looking for a glitzy UI, but instead, a free and ad-free app that gives you all the information you need. Weather Mate is available not only with an installer but also a portable app (ZIP file) that you can run off a USB drive.
As for its features and functions, Weather Mate comes with an easy-to-use interface and displays weather for multiple locations. It also shows severe weather alerts and offers radar images for serious meteorologists. The app also comes with a variety of weather maps for US residents. It also comes with voice support, which means it can read out the weather report for the convenience of users. Overall, it is a great app if you want the information and don’t care much about aesthetics. For the rest, you should look elsewhere.
Pros: Free, Ad-free, Detailed weather data, Voice support to read out weather details Cons: Unattractive UI Download: Free
BONUS: News and Weather Widget on Windows 10 Taskbar
If you don’t want a dedicated weather app, you can use the news and interest widget on the Windows 10 taskbar to keep track of temperature, precipitation, and other events. It rolled out to all users with a recent update. If it’s not available for you, here’s a guide to get a similar news and weather widget on Microsoft Edge. And if you are not a fan of the taskbar widget, you can disable the news and interest widget on the Windows 10 taskbar with a few simple steps.
Use the Best Weather Apps on Windows 10
While you can check the weather by navigating directly to the websites, apps are easier to use and less of a hassle, especially if you check the weather often. So install one of the weather apps listed above on your Windows 10 PC and stay on top of changes in the weather forecast for your region. Once you’ve installed the app of your choice, let us know which one you chose and why. If you use a different app, tell us about it and why you think it is better than the ones on our list. We’d love to hear from you.
