Your phone can be the best weather tool you own, if it has the right apps on it. These are the ones we actually find useful in Lethbridge and southern Alberta. All of them are free to download.
Must-haves for safety
WeatherCAN
Environment Canada’s own app. Forecasts, radar and, most importantly, weather warnings pushed to your phone for the places you choose. Set it up for Lethbridge and anywhere you travel.
Alberta Emergency Alert
Alberta’s alerts for tornadoes, wildfires, floods, Amber Alerts and other emergencies, sent to your phone for the areas you pick. Your phone also gets the most serious alerts automatically, but the app lets you choose more areas and see the details.
App Store · search “Alberta Emergency Alert” on Google Play
511 Alberta
Road conditions, closures, construction and highway cameras across the province. Check it before you head up Highway 2 or over the Crowsnest Pass in winter.
Radar, wind and lightning
Windy
Beautiful animated maps of wind, gusts, rain, snow and temperature from several forecast models. Great for seeing a chinook or a cold front coming before it arrives.
WeatherBug (Spark lightning alerts)
WeatherBug’s Spark feature tells you how far away the nearest lightning strike is, based on your phone’s location. Handy at the lake, the golf course or a ball game.
LightningMaps.org
A live map of lightning strikes from a volunteer detector network. Open it in your phone’s browser and watch storms roll across the prairie in real time.
FireSmoke Canada
Wildfire smoke forecasts for the next couple of days, so you know when to close the windows or skip the outdoor workout.
Our own station, on your phone
West Lethbridge Weather
Live readings from our station on the west side, the Whoop-Up Drive camera, and a forecast made right at the station every hour.
Games & Tools
The Chinook Tracker, Crosswind Checker, Frostbite Clock, Wind Rose and more. Several use our live station readings.
Turn your phone into a weather station
Most newer phones, including iPhones and many Android phones, have a built-in barometer. A free barometer app will show the air pressure where you are, and watching it fall is one of the oldest ways to see a storm coming. Search your app store for “barometer” and pick one with good reviews.
Want the real thing? A home weather station with its own phone app can show your yard’s temperature, wind and rain from anywhere. Many can also share their readings with weather networks, the same way our West Lethbridge station does.
We don’t get paid for any of these recommendations. App names and features change from time to time; if one stops working, let us know.