Best Wind and Weather Apps for Real-Time Forecasting
Weather is such an undeniable part of our lives that nowadays some people will cringe at the topic of conversation when brought up. Although many of us still rely on the weather for our work and hobbies, being able to track it to some degree beyond watching the evening news can be helpful. Most modern smartphones have a built-in weather app which gives very limited information about the weather, depending on your job or hobby, you may require a bit more details.
Being a surfer means not only having a relationship with the vast seas and oceans that hug our planet, but also the complex weather systems. It also means being able to drop what you’re doing and hit the local beach when those Goldilocks conditions come up. As a local surf shop in Jupiter Beach FL, we know that the best of way of keeping up with weather conditions is through one of the following apps.
Surfline
If you’re a surfer that doesn’t know about Surfline, then don’t be surprised when other surfers ask you what rock you’ve been living under all these years. Surfline has been one of the most invaluable digital tools in the world of surfing, allowing people to get surf-specific reports on all the best destinations.
Built by Surfers for Surfers
Founded by Southern California surfers Craig Masuoka, David Wilk, and Jerry Arnold in 1985, Surfline was not only the first surf reporting service of its kind, they also ended up being the first surf website back in 1995. Since then, Surfline has been updated countless times to keep up with modern technology, and nowadays, they provide live cam footage as well as an app with the same high quality reporting that they’re famous for.
Features
Some features include:
- A vast network of high-definition live cams providing footage of the best surf locations
- A live cam rewind feature to allow surfers to relive their best rides
- Morning and afternoon updates from expert forecasters on multiple locations
Free access allows visitors a taste of their premium service, with basic data and short surf cam streams. The premium membership is $7.99 per month, or $95.88 annually (at last check).
Wisuki
You’d be hard-pressed to spend any time in a surf shop in Jupiter Beach FL without hearing someone mention that they’re checking the local beaches on Wisuki. While to the outside observer the services that Surfline and Wisuki seem similar, any surfer could tell you the difference. Essentially, what it boils down to is whether you want to look at certain beaches (Surfline), or whether you want to see all beaches with certain conditions (Wisuki).
A Community of Communities
Another great feature of Wisuki is the focus on community, which encourages people to make reports of their sessions to like and comment on. This social media-like aspect of Wisuki is made tolerable by the automatic linking of your session report with the exact conditions at that location. This can allow you to gather your own data and provide accurate information to others, helping everyone better understand how forecasts work under any conditions.
Features
Wisuki has a great range of forecasting variables you can view, including:
- Wind orientation
- Interactive tide height and coefficients charts
- Multiple-hour data analysis intervals
- Wind, wave, and weather alerts
- Forecast charts with a 10-minute resolution
- Water temperature
- Standard, satellite, and hybrid radar map modes
- Buoy locations
- Moonrise and sunset times
- Statistic
- Nearby surf cams
These combined with the invaluable community features have made Misuki a Swiss Army Knife in the modern surfer’s toolkit.
Honorable Mentions
While the above two may be all most people need for their surfing careers, there are countless other apps out there which have relevant information. The following are the other apps we thought were worth a mention.
Windy
Popularized in recent years due to its detailed and colorful wind and weather forecasting system, Windy was founded in 2014 by Ivo Lukačovič. Its aim is to become the best weather forecasting service on the planet, and they are already making great strides in their attempts.
Windguru
Starting as a service for windsurfers, Windguru quickly developed into an all-round wind and swell forecast app. While it was initially targeted towards European locations, the addition of Maui’s forecast the website grew exponentially. They even run their own high-res Weather Research and Forecasting model for selected areas.
Visit Our Professional Surf Shop In Jupiter Beach FL
Don’t forget to ask around your local area too, it’s not uncommon to hear people talking about the new surf apps they’re trying out when down at the local surf shop in Jupiter Beach FL or elsewhere.