Which element of the weather forecast display requires most development? The data presentation, the diagrams, the
design?
None of the above: It is the weather symbols - our pictograms. Each pictogram combines information of cloud cover, type and layer, precipitation amount and type, extra effects (e.g. thunderstorms, desert dust), and must integrate these for hours, daytimes or days. In addition, it must reflect day- and nighttime, and be easy to read by anyone, in different display sizes. Therefore, it has taken us more than 10 years to fill the gaps of our previous 35 pictograms on our meteoblue home page. We have added 6 additional pictograms to better distinguish thunderstorm and cloud cover situations.
Starting from the upper left to the bottom right pictogram in the image, they have the following meanings:
- Mostly cloudy
- Mostly clear with a chance of local thunderstorms
- Partly cloudy with a chance of local thunderstorm
- Partly cloudy with local thunderstorms and showers possible
- Cloudy with thunderstorms and heavy showers
- Mostly cloudy with thunderstorms and showers
These descriptions better differentiate the weather situations and improve the forecast presentation in our daily overview. For more detailed information, the 3-hourly and hourly overview is recommended. The new pictos will also be available with the next version of our apps for iOS and Android.
Furthermore, our weather text on the start page have been improved in English and French, for better and more enjoyable reading!
These improvements should further improve the recognition of weather situations and thereby your user experience.
