Weather is often top of mind for drivers, and for good reason. On average, weather contributes to more than 1 million vehicle crashes in the United States each year, according to the Department of Transportation. Yet the two most popular navigation apps — Waze and Google Maps — don’t allow you to visualize or reroute around high-impact weather.
By Dan Stillman
A recently filed patent suggests that Google Maps could someday factor weather into its routing system. Until then, there are several websites and apps that aim to fill that void. One of them, created by meteorologist and retired Navy rear admiral David Titley, is targeting drivers of recreational vehicles, or RVs, with a new feature that helps them avoid dangerous weather.
RVs remain a popular form of transportation — despite sales having slowed after surging during the pandemic — with more than 300,000 shipments from manufacturers to dealers every year since 2013. RVs are particularly risky places to be during severe weather, as they can be easily flipped by strong winds or swept away by floodwaters.
Last month, an RV driver died after being found in a remote area of Peoria County, Ill., where storms had recently passed through, according to the county sheriff. Tornadoes have damaged or destroyed RV parks in Indiana, Florida, Texas and Ohio this year.
Titley co-founded the website RV Weather after experiencing firsthand how weather can affect RVs while towing one 10,000 miles over six months in 2019.
“One of the things you learn is, it’s a whole lot different than driving your Subaru,” said Titley, whose RV measured more than 50 feet long and weighed 20,000 pounds. “The crosswinds you really feel. On snow-covered roads, you don’t stop very well. RVs are really sensitive to severe weather.”
RV Weather’s newest feature, called SureRoute, recommends routes to RV drivers that avoid adverse weather while getting them to their destination as quickly as possible. Drivers enter their starting point, their destination, the time of day and the number of hours they are willing to drive, their maximum driving speed, and their highest acceptable weather-risk level on a scale of 0 to 5.
Each risk level aggregates multiple weather impacts. For example, Level 1 includes a gusty breeze; light rain, snow or ice; heat index above 105 or wind chill below minus-10; or isolated thunderstorms. Level 5 is the most extreme, with impacts including hurricane-force wind gusts; heavy rain, snow or ice; heat index above 130 or below minus-50; or the likelihood of intense, destructive thunderstorms.
Based on weather-model forecast data, RV Weather generates a route recommendation that includes suggestions on where and when to stop overnight, or even briefly during the day, to avoid weather exceeding the acceptable risk level. You can view the recommended route on a map and see the expected weather and impact levels along the route.
“Within about a minute or two, you get a route that will both conform to your driving preferences and keep you out of the level of impact that you” wanted to stay below, Titley said.
Access to SureRoute and additional features costs $14.99 a month after a free seven-day trial. While RV drivers are the primary target for now, Titley says the tool can be useful for drivers of any type of vehicle.
Other tools that can help drivers maneuver around bad weather include:
Weather on the Way
Weather on the Way is a mobile app that displays current radar and the predicted weather along your planned route, including how they differ for different departure times. It also offers alternative routes with better weather.
“Since our app is iOS only, we can focus exclusively on that platform,” said Piotr Knapczyk, the app’s developer. “For example, with CarPlay integration, users can check the weather radar and forecast right on their car dashboard.”
Drive Weather
Drive Weather is available in the Apple and Google Play app stores. It displays radar and expected weather along your route, including how they differ for different departure times. You can compare predicted weather along multiple routes, estimate how long it will take for the weather to clear, and factor in your planned driving speed.
Highway Weather
Highway Weather, available in the Apple and Google Play app stores, displays current radar and predicted weather along your planned route, including how they change for different departure times. It can factor in your planned driving speed, recommend the best time to start your trip, provide access to traffic cameras along your route, and alert you about upcoming weather while on the road.
MyRadar
The popular weather radar app MyRadar became available on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto this year. Drivers can view radar along their route and have access to the RouteCast feature.
RouteCast “is designed to calculate drive times by integrating weather forecasts and road condition data. It provides information such as road temperature, crosswind alerts and surface condition hazard classes along the route,” according to a news release. “Updates are generated every 15 minutes, and the Timetable feature suggests optimal departure times based on expected weather.”
YourCast
YourCast takes a different approach. Drivers email details of their planned road trip and, in return, receive a detailed forecast, safety recommendations, optimal travel times and alternate routes prepared by a human meteorologist.
“By their nature, apps will have a constantly changing forecast and are prone to error without human touch. We fill a void left by the automated, computer-generated apps in the space,” said YourCast CEO Jaimee Eachus. “Of course, all of this requires a bit more turnaround time since our chief meteorologist creates each YourCast individually, so anyone interested should plan on giving us a day or two heads-up so we can help.”
