Weather Pro for iPad has just been updated with hi-definition maps. I know what you’re thinking: Are those dorks at Cult of Mac really going to write a post about every app that gets retina display support? Well, maybe, but this update actually brings something that can make use of all those extra pixels: Super-detailed weather maps.
Weather Pro has been my favorite iOS weather app since all I owned was a first-gen iPod Touch. It is both easy and quick to read, and yet holds enough information to keep even an amateur meteorologist happy. What’s more, it is very accurate.
But until this 2.6 update, the maps were never more than a novelty. The radar and satellite animations were great for seeing the movement of the weather, but what if you just wanted a big map of your country with various types of info laid over it, just like in a TV forecast? Now you can.
The map view shows a satellite image of the terrain with major cities marked. Tap the various “layers” buttons in the list on the right and you can overlay air-pressure lines, a color-based temperature heat map, precipitation, clouds, High Resolution Visible satellite (daytime cloud cover) and more.
If you want a quick overview of the weather it’s pretty great. And you can even play an animation of the past few hours’ weather to get an idea of where it’s going next.
It gets better. If you tap the the name of a city, you can toggle weather info on or off (not in real life, obviously — just in the app). This keeps things tidy, but the extra info is there if you need it. This plus all the other regular weather charts and information will cost you $5, with a premium subscription required for 14-day forecasts and some specialist travel information.
If you live anywhere that has weather, you should check this app out. I can’t wait to see how it looks on the new iPad’s retina display.