Leveraging Rich Data Sets, the New Feature Provides Visual Snowfall Probabilities To Empower Informed Winter Weather Decision Making, from Commutes to School Closures
ATLANTA, Feb. 5, 2025 -- The Weather Channel mobile application, the flagship consumer app of The Weather Company, today announced the launch of a new premium snowfall feature – available first on iOS – designed to deliver more comprehensive, reliable, and actionable winter forecasts. Powered by AI, this probabilistic snowfall forecast combines rich data with an intuitive interface to provide the likelihood of a range of snowfall outcomes up to 72 hours in advance, empowering users to make confident decisions in the face of changing weather.
Snowfall forecasts can lead to stress and uncertainty when the predicted amount differs from what is observed, making it difficult for people, businesses and communities to plan ahead. Unlike deterministic forecasts, which represent one potential outcome, probabilistic forecasts enable information about the full range of possible outcomes. Therefore, probabilistic snowfall forecasts offer a more comprehensive way to understand and prepare for winter weather by presenting possible snow accumulation amounts and their likelihood.
For example, while a deterministic forecast might indicate an expected snowfall amount of 5 inches in the next 24 hours, a probabilistic forecast reveals there's also a chance of as little as 1 inch or as many as 10 inches of snowfall in that time, which might prompt a user to change plans or prepare alternatives accordingly. These options help users better understand uncertainty in the forecast and equip users with trusted insights to better prepare for scenarios ranging from light flurries to major snowstorms.
"Planning for winter weather requires more than just knowing the most likely snowfall amount," said Peter Neilley, Ph.D., director of weather forecasting sciences and technologies at The Weather Company. "We recognize the importance of providing insights that account for the inherent uncertainties of weather and how they can impact you. Our probabilistic forecasting helps people see and understand all possible outcomes, reducing the potential for misalignment between the forecast and what's actually happening outside."
The launch of probabilistic snowfall forecasts follows The Weather Channel App's recent expansion of its dynamic Activities Forecasts and existing health & wellness forecasts. The app equips users with expert tips on how weather impacts health factors like allergies, UV exposure, and breathing conditions, while also offering tailored insights for outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling, golf, and pickleball, helping users make the most of their time. For Premium users, the app's new Air Travel feature offers localized weather forecasts and activity indexes for departure, layover, and arrival airports to support seamless travel planning.
All powered by the world's most accurate forecaster,1 these innovations further solidify The Weather Channel App as the leader in providing actionable weather insights to help people make better decisions.
"The Weather Company is dedicated to going beyond the forecast, distilling the data to explain how weather impacts you," said Rachel Chukura, head of consumer product at The Weather Company. "Launching new features like Probabilistic Snowfall elevates the user experience and transforms data into meaningful insights that help people navigate their daily lives and empower them to confidently plan ahead."
Probabilistic snowfall forecasts are now available for Premium users on The Weather Channel iOS app in the U.S. Download the app from the Apple App Store to experience the future of winter weather planning. Coming later to Google Play Store. For more, visit www.weathercompany.com.
About The Weather Company
The Weather Company helps people and businesses around the world make more informed decisions and take action in the face of weather. With its deep industry expertise and highly accurate, high-volume weather data combined with advanced technology and AI, The Weather Company provides insights and solutions that harness the power of weather in a scalable, privacy-forward way. The world's most accurate forecaster, the company serves hundreds of enterprise customers across media, advertising, aviation and more, and is trusted by hundreds of millions of monthly active users via digital properties from The Weather Channel (weather.com) and Weather Underground (wunderground.com). For more, visit weathercompany.com.
1 ForecastWatch, Global and Regional Weather Forecast Accuracy Overview, 2017-2022, https://forecastwatch.com/AccuracyOverview2017-2022, commissioned by The Weather Company.
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