Best Weather-Tracker: Review (Windows)

For a long time I didn't understand the point of weather programs. Whether online, on the TV or on my phone, it just seemed pointless to me. After all, who can really predict the weather with certainty? I was always told that the only way to get a real prediction of the weather was to look out my window and hope the clouds would pass without rain.

These days, it is different. A 48-hour forecast is extremely reliable thanks to advances that have been made in the last decade. Even a five day forecast can be fairly accurate, as more sensitive tools have been developed to check things like bariatric pressure, climate patterns and more. What we have today is a much different animal than what we had twenty years ago.

Now the question is: where can I get the most accurate and up-to-date weather information. For many of us, we like having a program we can take a look at before heading out the door or making plans. So I have gone through many programs for everything from my smartphone to my television.

Of everything that I have tried, my favorite app has been a Windows program called sWeather.

Note, there are other weather related apps we features earlier:

• Menu weather for Mac
• World weather for iPhone
• The weather app for Windows 8 - preview

What Is sWeather?

sWeather is a simple program created by developer Jody Holmes, and released as an opensource application on his website Skwire. It works as a basic tray program that runs in the background and is accessible from multiple locations on your desktop. It also has additional, optional tray icons for both conditions and temperature, in case you want them all accessible without opening the main program.

All information and data on weather conditions comes from the regularly updated Yahoo! Weather. While Yahoo! is often overlooked as a reliable source thanks to bigger platforms that have come to dominate the web, this is one area that they still run a decent monopoly on, and for good reason.

What Does It Measure?

Like most weather programs, the information it provides is within both basic and advanced categories. From the icon you just get a main peak of the current temperature. However, the wider data provides:

• Temperature
• "Feels Like" Temperature
• Barometer
• Humidity
• Visibility
• Wind
• Sunrise Time
• Sunset Time
• Latitude
• Longitude
• Link to full forecast on the Yahoo! Weather homepage.

You also get a basic five day forecast, complete with pictures and whether to expect it to be sunny, cloudy, thunderstorms, snow or other conditions. My only disappointment was to see that there is no air condition section in the forecast.

You can also add in additional locations to watch. Just go to Configure > Options > WOEID Lookup. From there you can enter in your chosen city.

Conclusion

This is a simple but completely functional app that gives you just what you need without taking many resources or trying to scam you into adding additional software. I would suggest it to anyone who needs a basic weather tracker for their Windows.