Weather forecasting has always focused on protecting people from changes in the environment by providing pragmatic behavior recommendations:

• Dress appropriately if it's going to rain.
• Avoid outdoor activities due to heatwaves or storms.
• Wear sunscreen during peak UV hours.
• Prepare buildings for high humidity levels and cold fronts.
• Don't take the boat out in stormy weather.
• Watch out for extreme weather events - wildfires, tornadoes, flash floods, etc.

However, before weather apps came along, consumers relied on non-real-time broadcasts of weather information delivered through the radio, tv, and newspapers. Alerts for extreme events were possible - but there was no method of continuously updating people when on the move.

Smartphones changed everything. Weather providers could suddenly function like ‘news’ agencies or ‘alert’ systems by informing consumers about weather changes in real-time. 

Better access to information also served to change consumption preferences for weather information: A 2019 market survey found that younger people are now most likely to check the weather on their smartphone apps than any other platform:

Consumer expectations of what a weather app should look like in 2021 have been influenced by a number of key trends:

Trend 1: Growing Attention to Environmental Impact on Health

New research into the long and short-term impacts of unmanaged environmental exposure is emerging all the time. Here are just some examples of recently publicized research:

• Studies find air pollution to be devastating for human health, especially when it comes to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, reproductive and central nervous system dysfunctions, and cancer. 

• Harvard researchers found correlations between even small increases of historical PM2.5 exposure and COVID-19 mortality.

• An environmental research team found hospital visits could increase by 0.5% per day for every 1 microgram increase in PM2.5, with an estimated $2700 increase in treatment costs. For a month-long increase of 10 PM2.5 micrograms, researchers estimate an annual addition of $680,000 in treatment costs.

• Allergic rhinitis (hay fever) is estimated to total $5.3 billion in direct and indirect annual costs. Allergy sufferers and care providers are both looking for ways to manage patient pollen exposure to minimize spending.

Consumers today expect to see not only a range of environmental features in their weather apps but to understand how different environmental factors combine to affect their safety, health, and wellness.

To illustrate this point, imagine the below scenarios, where a weather app provided only a partial picture of the environmental reality: 

Reporting 'Good' Weather During a Wildfire Event

• A user's weather app reports weather conditions as ‘Sunny and hot with a gentle breeze’ but fails to note a wildfire 2 miles down the road from the user - putting the individual at risk of toxic smoke inhalation. 
  
  

Reporting Pollen Risk but not Air Quality Risk 

• The weather app reports low pollen at the user’s location but fails to account for high particle pollution on account of a dust storm, leaving the individual compromised.
  
  

Communicating Storm Risk but not Pollen Risk

• The weather app reports warm, rainy, and stormy weather. Because it's raining, the user assumes there is a low pollen count. However, a thunderstorm might be on the way - which risks breaking down and dispersing pollen in a dramatic way -  putting the sensitive allergy sufferer at risk. 

The challenge for weather providers is to show how environmental factors affect each other and combine to impact human health.

Businesses that fail to take the full environmental picture into account risk reputational harm and falling behind as their competitors leapfrog them in the marketplace:

Environmental insights beyond traditional weather reporting are set to become key factors for building user loyalty and reputation among weather app users. 

The weather apps with the most engaging features and largest loyal user base will be the ones most likely to make more money through advertising and monetization: In an IBM survey, 93 % of business executives found that enhanced weather insights helped them increase annual revenue, and 68% preferred environmental insights over raw data as a service.

Traditional ‘weather features’ on their own are no longer enough to compete as a weather app: Providers need to ensure they offer at least all of the same features as their competitors and ensure they’re delivering this information in the most engaging and trust-building way possible.

We believe the below-listed features represent the minimum feature checklist for weather apps going forward - but we also believe this list will continue to expand rapidly in the coming weeks, months, and years.