Best Weather Apps For iPad

This year we have seen record heat and hurricanes as far North as Vermont and south in the Gulf of Mexico. The best weather apps on iPad have become of a necessity for iPad2. Weather apps are comfort apps, travel planning apps and survival apps. The Apple iPad 2 apps interact with weather playing an important part in our everyday lives. Whether we travel, play or work the latest weather forecast shapes our decision. What will I wear today, which route will I take, what is the surf or fishing report?

The dynamic weather apps on iPad enhance the ‘Apple age’. Users of the iPhone and iPod touch are familiar with the Weather icon that comes with the device. However on the iPad weather applications do not come readily built in to your iPad. Don't despair Weather apps on iPad are only a few clicks away. There a number of exciting weather options to choose from. Weather applications and travel apps for iPad go hand in hand.

The best weather apps on iPad can be tailor made to suit your own needs and comforts. Whether you are a fisherman, surfer, traveler, farmer, gardener, a skipper or a pilot there are weather apps for you. The costs range from free to specialized weather apps for $39.99.

There are the familiar names such as The Weather Channel, Weather Underground and AccuWeather. Here is a guide for accessing weather on iPad with a round up of weather applications available at the launch of the new iPad. With major environmental events like the Iceland volcano eruption and the BP Gulf oil disaster weather applications have become one of the most popular on the new iPad tablet right around the world.

Many of us think of The Weather Channel as the resident experts for weather. Given that it makes sense that they have an app for iPad. Indeed they have a free iPad app available that shows the usual coverage of current weather conditions. You can upgrade for free to a more interactive application for your iPad called Weather Channel Max. This app provides customizable full-screen local, regional, and national weather maps. 

You are able to past and future weather on iPad with in-motion and storm footage. Want to check the traffic before work? Then you can customize local traffic cams for your route where available. If that isn’t enough than you can access The Weather Channel’s hosts Twitter feeds.

Another favorite for weather watchers is AccuWeather as utilized by many of the leading Television stations. Weather on iPad with this app includes hourly predictions storm alerts with links to videos of local forecasts and radar. AccuWeather provides 5-day local forecasts for 2.7 million U.S. and international locations.

The app incorporates GPS technology to enable users to localize the weather report with accelerometer motion sensitivity. The iPhone and iPod touch an iPad optimized ad free version is available for $1 from the iPad app store.

Another cool way to get weather on iPad is through the WeatherBug Elite app for iPad. WeatherBug Elite automatically detects where you and your iPad are located which can save some time. Local maps showing current conditions are displayed with storm warnings and other neat customizable options. Taking advantage of the larger iPad screen WeatherBug Elite features 640x640 video and live weather camera images. After locating you it enables up to 15 locations within a 100-mile radius. 

WeatherBug Elite allows you to plan ahead with extended seven-day and hourly forecasts and contour maps. The WeatherBug Elite iPad application is free for a limited time and the iPad-only app will be available for $1 after the current promotion ends.

It makes perfect sense with all the noise about the iPads vibrant depth and color to see weather in high definition. If you’re after HD than the Weather HD iPad app is waiting for you to download. You get to watch your weather report in HD videos that look like you are peaking outside, (which I guess you can do!) on your iPad. You get current weather and forecasts in high definition. 

Weather HD costs $1 from the app store and is compatible with any iPad running iPhone OS 3.2 or later. It will be interesting whether the HD or the different customizable apps become the most popular for watching weather on iPad.

If you have tracked hurricanes or severe storm you have most likely accessed Weather Underground. Weather Underground has its proprietary Wundermap, which maps the information, complied from the world’s largest network of personal weather stations. There are said to be over 16,000 Weather Underground stations. This has been my favorite for checking out tides and storm reports. 

You can download the Wundermap app for iPad for free from the iPad app store.

If you are a boater or fisherman that wants more from your Weather on iPad experience than the answer be with one of the two Charts & Tides+ iPad apps. There are two apps, one for the East Coast and one for the Gulf Coast. Navimatics Corporation developed something more sophisticated for your boating or fishing needs that include charts, tides and currents readings. The apps include navigational guides for when you are at sea.

Charts & Tides+ provides a continuous and seamless vector chart that is fed by NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts. Other benefits are a 3D bathymetry from the NOAA Coastal Relief Model. To aid your ocean navigation the application touts a “aircraft-like Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI) instrument” with “real-time tides and currents computation.’

Other features include updates from NDBC stations. A sun and moon calendar can be accessed and settings for day and night are available. These Charts & Tides+ iPad apps cost $39.99 in the app store.

Here is the weather app for iPad for pilots or people needing airline information such commercial and military pilots, shippers and travelers. ForeFlight Mobile 3 HD Aviation and Preflight Intelligence for pilots iPad app is the latest update to ForeFlight's flagship app. The 3.2 versions include a free upgrade for existing ForeFlight Mobile 3 customers. It should be noted that “animated radar, flight plan filing, and nav logs not included” with the initial iPad release.

The ForeFlight Mobile 3 HD Aviation and Preflight Intelligence application displays a fully integrated AOPA Airport directory with global airport coverage that accesses Universal Weather and Aviation's UVTripPlanner database. You can get weather on iPad through over 27,000 airports in over 220 countries with global airport coverage and flight plan filing.

You can download the ForeFlight Mobile 3 HD Aviation and Preflight Intelligence for pilots’ iPad app for free.

At the time of writing these appear to be the best iPad weather applications that were available when Apple released the iPad. I will keep an eye out on reviews as they become available and don’t be afraid to share your own experiences with the best weather apps on iPad.