The Weather Channel

Whether you’re hitting the beach, planning a picnic, or just on the road for a while, it’s helpful to know what kind of weather you can expect out there.

Simply by entering your zip code (type it in or use the voice recognition option), you can see what’s on the horizon, whether that’s a few hours from now or sometime next week — you can view the weather hourly, over the next 36 hours, or for the next 10 days. The Android version even has its own widget that you can pin to your phone’s home screen, so you’ll always be in the know about sunny skies, scary windstorms or other weather. (You can pin a Live Tile of The Weather Channel app to your Start screen on Windows Phone.)

Viewing the weather right now gives you the appropriate illustration (sunny, partly cloudy, etc.), plus the temperature. But you also get more detailed information, including what the temperature really feels like, wind speed and direction, humidity, the UV index, visibility distance and the dew point, plus sunrise and sunset times. You can set your favorites, search by recently viewed places, even share the forecast on Facebook or email it to a friend.

This app has a great design, and it works flawlessly. In our opinion, it’s quite possibly the very best weather app available. For $3.99, you can buy the Max version, which includes push notifications, precipitation maps, more detailed forecasts and no ads.

Reviewed: Jun 09, 2011 | Caitlin M. Foyt

Also featured on: Best Android Tablet Apps of 2012

This app is included in a scenario called 5 Useful Apps for Your Summer BBQ