Apple’s Weather app has grown in recent years into an app that is full of interesting weather data. The app shows more than just the current temperature and the forecast for the coming days. One of the recent additions is the ability to send notifications. Apple’s Weather app can send two types of notifications, but unfortunately they aren’t available in all locations. Where do the precipitation notifications work and how do you enable it if it works in your location?
- What type of notifications?
- Where does it work?
- Set up
- Alternatives
Two types of notifications for Apple’s Weather app
The Weather app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac can send two types of notifications: warnings for severe weather and for precipitation in the next hour. You can choose which type of notifications you do or do not want to receive via the app’s settings. Severe weather includes, for example, very heavy storms or dangerous weather situations. The app does not provide a warning for, for example, code yellow or code red issued by the KNMI. In the Weather app itself you will also find information about severe weather.
The notifications for precipitation in the next hour warn you when it will rain soon and when it stops again. This concerns all types of precipitation, including snow. You cannot indicate the level of precipitation from which you will receive a notification, because the app determines this itself. This is possible in some third-party apps.
For which locations can the Weather app send notifications?
Unfortunately, not all locations worldwide are supported for sending notifications from Apple’s Weather app. In principle, almost all locations are supported for severe weather reports, although we have never received such a report (at least in the Netherlands). Apple doesn’t have a list of exact locations where it does and doesn’t work.
This does apply to reports of precipitation in the next hour. Officially, this feature only works in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. So it only concerns a handful of countries. But there is still good news for parts of the Netherlands and Belgium. The Weather app can send precipitation notifications for almost the entire province of Zeeland and a southern part of the province of South Holland and some border locations in the west of North Brabant. This also applies to the western part of Belgium and a large part of France. But how is it possible that Zeeland, a part of South Holland and part of Belgium can receive precipitation reports, but the rest of the Netherlands and Belgium cannot?
In order to send precipitation reports for the next hour, radar images for the next hour must be available for that location. Apple uses all kinds of data for this, from national meteorological services. Apple has, as it were, divided the world map into compartments, so that the availability of accurate radar images does not exactly follow national borders. The image below shows how large the area is for Ireland and the United Kingdom. And what you may immediately notice: this also includes Zeeland, part of Belgium and a large part of France. These areas simply belong to the area of the accurate radar images for Ireland and the United Kingdom, so these areas also benefit from that extra information. Surrounding countries where these radar images (and therefore also the precipitation reports) are not available are shaded with dashes. In areas where the app sends precipitation reports, you will also see a precipitation graph with blue bars indicating how much precipitation is expected.
In the settings of the Weather app you will automatically see which type of notifications are suitable for which of your saved locations. You can also enable precipitation and severe weather notifications for your current location. These will only be sent if that information is available for your current location.
The reliability of the forecasts and precipitation reports from Apple’s Weather app is debatable. The app seems to be neglected more often, at least in the Netherlands. If you do not find the Weather app reliable, check the (Dutch) alternatives further down.
Set up precipitation notifications in the Weather app
To set up severe weather and precipitation notifications in Apple’s Weather app:
iPhone and iPad
- Open the app and go to the weather of your current location or one of your saved locations.
- Scroll all the way to the bottom and tap Manage notifications. You may first have to give permission to receive notifications.
- Choose the type of notifications you want to receive for your current location. But note: you will only receive notifications if your current location supports it.
- Under the heading Your locations you will find all saved locations in the Weather app. There you can enable notifications per location. The switch for precipitation for the next hour will only be shown for locations where this is available (i.e. in the US, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Zeeland, the southern part of South Holland, the west of Belgium and part of France).
- Tap Done to save the settings.
Mac
- Open the Weather app and click Weather > Settings in the menu bar.
- Choose what type of notifications you want to receive for your current location and saved locations. If a certain type of notifications is not supported in a location, this option is grayed out.
Alternatives if your location is not supported
If you want to receive precipitation notifications in a location that is not supported by Apple, or you are looking for another weather app because you do not find Apple’s own app reliable, there are all kinds of alternatives. We highlight the three best for you:
- Rain radar – weather (Free, iPhone/iPad/Watch + IAPiOS 15.0+) – Dutch Rain Radar has a lot of radar images and also lets you set notifications for your location.
- Rain alarm (Free, iPhone/iPad/Watch + IAP, iOS 11.0+) – This Dutch weather app has made rain notifications its core business: everything revolves around informing you of approaching rain and snow showers. You can also indicate to what extent you want to receive notifications. In our experience, it is the most reliable.
- CARROT Weather: Alerts & Radar (Free, iPhone/iPad/Watch + IAP, iOS 13.0+) – Beloved international weather app with lots of options (really a lot). Also supports Live Activities for rain showers.
You’ll find more alternatives in our guide to the best rain apps for iPhone and iPad.
