WeatherSphere’s Apps Provide Detailed Forecasts, HD Radar

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You never really know which one of your weather sources is going to be right. Instead of looking up info in all of your different weather apps to brace yourself for whatever inclement weather you may have to face, WeatherSphere is behind four of iOS' top weather apps, so you can get accurate information without wasting time fishing around in your other weather apps.

The apps are NOAA Hi-Def Radar, NOAA Snow Forecast, Weather Alerts and Simple Tides. Each is highly rated in Apple's App Store, but each has different functions and features.

NOAA's Hi-Def Radar ($1.99) gives near real-time radar information in, you got it, high-def. It shows you severe weather warning boxes on the map, as well as Storm Tracks, Hurricane Forecast Tracks and wildfire locations. Plus, you can send radar screenshots from within the app, as well as weather postcards. And if you live in Manhattan but want to track the weather in the Hamptons for your weekend trip, you can bookmark several locations.

Sure, your TV weatherman gives you a large overview of the snow forecasts for your entire area, but NOAA Snow Forecast ($1.99) pinpoints exactly how much it's projected to snow in your exact location. An animated snowfall overlay shows hourly snowfall amounts for the next 2 days, and you can check snowfall projections for other locations as well. NOAA's bookmarking feature is also present, and you can send screenshots from within the app.

Although WeatherAlerts ($2.99) may startle you at first, you'll thank it later. The app alerts you with a loud siren noise whenever an impending natural disaster - such as a tornado, hurricane, snow storm, flood, tsunami and fire - is approaching. You can get push notifications whenever alerts are issued within a certain distance, plus you can choose what types of warnings you'd like to receive. And you can check weather and alerts for any location on the map.

Simple Tides ($0.99) is great for coastal users - it shows an accurate tide chart and table for any point on the map. You can check the weather at any location, plus check out info for a date in advance, which comes in handy when you're deciding whether to make that last-minute weekend beach trip.

This story was provided by Laptopmag.com, a sister site to LiveScience.