Outside for recess? Use the WeatherRadar

School is back in session and the everyday question will come up for teachers - outside for recess? Use the WeatherRadar to make your decision!

When scrolling down on the app, you may have quickly noticed the WeatherRadar. This is one of the app's most popular features showing loads of weather information in one easy-to-understand map. It is interactive and allows users to explore current, past, and future weather conditions, including cloud cover, precipitation, storms, and temperature - perfect for making the recess destination decision.

On an Android device, there are two ways to find the WeatherRadar. The first option is to tap on the main menu icon at the top left of the screen and select "WeatherRadar."

Alternatively, users can find it by scrolling down on the app's landing page until they see the map. The second option also works for iOS devices. If you have friends or loved ones with which you would like to share the current weather, tap on the share icon at the top right (iOS) or top center (android) and follow your phone's instructions.

Once on the WeatherRadar, users can pan or zoom across the map. At the bottom of the screen, there is an interactive slider feature that allows users to explore past, current, and future weather conditions.

The WeatherRadar goes out as far as four days into the future, making recess planning easy - one less thing to worry about for the daily plans. To see incoming weather, select the day of interest at the bottom and use the slider to change the hour. By tapping on "now," users can see the radar forecast in 5 or 15-minute intervals at a much higher resolution making it easy to pinpoint incoming clouds and storms.

There's a lot of information on the WeatherRadar, and it's all straightforward to understand using the colors and legend.

Rain is shown in blue, changing from light blue to dark blue depending on the intensity of rainfall. However, when the rain is very heavy, usually during a strong thunderstorm, the shading turns purple. Caution, damaging winds, hail and tornadoes can occur with powerful thunderstorms. So, it's essential to always keep an eye on those purples!

For colder regions, rain isn't the only thing to watch out for. The WeatherRadar also shows snow in hues of pink. Like rainfall, the darkness of the shading depends on the snowfall rate. Darker pinks indicate heavier snowfall and vice versa.

The remaining precipitation type on the WeatherRadar is wintry mixed precipitation, and it is shown in a reddish-orange color. It's always important to spot wintry mixed precipitation as it can cause huge impacts, including slippery roads and power outages. Hopefully a snow day is called at this point, though.

Planning on taking advantage of the warm days outside during recess? Check the WeatherRadar first for lightning! Yellow and orange dots will appear on the WeatherRadar in areas where lightning is occurring or forecast. Remember, purple shading combined with lots of yellow or orange dots indicates strong thunderstorms.

Check it out before you take the kiddos outdoors!