Did you get a new phone for Christmas? Are you just looking for new stuff for your current one?
Every Floridian or visitor should check these apps to help make your life here easier.
A good weather app
Florida is famous for its weather. We’re the Sunshine State, with blazing-hot days and wide blue skies. We’re also the state of rainy weeks, localized flooding and, you know, hurricanes. Keeping track of the weather is vital, and potentially lifesaving.
Your phone comes with a weather app and it’s a good one that will give you basic features such as precipitation probabilities, air quality and severe weather alerts. All-around weather apps such as AccuWeather , the Weather Channel or Carrot help you with all aspects of your daily travels. But there are some specialty weather apps you might consider:
- National Hurricane Center Data: Just what it says. This non-official app pulls maps, satellite imagery, tracking data, spaghetti models, forecast cones and more taken straight from the National Hurricane Center.
- Price: Free, with upcharges for high-res images and other offerings. ( iOS ) Note that if you don’t want to add an app, the NHC has a stripped-down mobile-friendly version you can bookmark in your phone’s browser or add as an icon on your phone’s desktop. The weather.gov site used to, but decommissioned it last June to focus on making their main site accessible to mobile devices.
- Storm Shield: Storm-based NOAA alerts for tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, thunderstorms and other life-threatening events for your exact location, with voice and push notifications. According to the Storm Shield site, the service is more accurate than county-based forecasts.
- Florida Storms: Immediate information on all storms, radar, plus real-time audio and text alerts from the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network.
- My Hurricane Tracker: Does just what it says. Simple add for tracking cyclones, tornadoes, tropical storms and weather warnings.
- Emergency by American Red Cross: Get highly customizable alerts, info on how to prepare for disasters and help creating personalized emergency plans.
- FEMA: The FEMA mobile app provides alerts, tips on preparation and a map of emergency shelters, and it also helps with resources after the storm passes and helps you get answers.