Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. Weather apps for Mac users range from the free Dashboard Widget to the comprehensive weather tracking app, Wx. What’s the easy and free way to view weather conditions on a Mac?
The Mac Meteorologist
Wouldn’t it be great if your Mac came with a built-in meteorologist? The weather widget works, but requires effort to view (usually a flick of the wrist to invoke the Dashboard).
Meteorologist, the Mac app, sits in your Menubar and displays the city and current conditions. It’s free and easy to set up. Download, drag, drop, double-click. Preferences will pop up after the install.
Configure how you want Meteorologist to look in the Menubar, including temperature, font color, current weather conditions, submenu, and the extended forecast. To add a city to Meteorologist, click the Cities tab in Preferences, click Add City, and click Update Menu.
Meteorologist takes up residence in your Mac’s Menubar with a graphic display of conditions, the city name, and the temperature (all configurable). From then on, weather is just a glance away.
A single click will bring up more weather information and more options.
Click Meteorologist to see more detailed information on current conditions, including other cities and extended forecasts. There isn’t much we can do about the weather. Even watching it won’t change it. But Meteorologist makes watching the weather easier and is the most efficient of the free weather utilities.
What if you’re a weather junkie? Wx is excellent for historical data and current conditions, but requires effort to set up and use.
Wx can be configured to track weather conditions, watches/warnings/advisories, live radar, and forecast information for up to 20 U.S. locations, and it can download up to 20 weather maps or images.
Also worthy of consideration by weather buffs is Seasonality, which looks and behaves like a television meteorologist’s screen. WeatherMan provides more information than Meteorologist, and is a bit more graphical (and costs a bit more money). Geekier Mac weather followers may prefer Home Weather Center, featuring current conditions, weather data, and a variety of weather sources.
My personal, paradise-based bias is toward simple. All I need to know is whether it’s dry or not. The temperatures are always in the 70s or 80s.