Microclimates

One city, a dozen different days.

It can be foggy at one end of town and shirtsleeves at the other. Microclimate Explorer paints your city from the personal weather stations around you, so you can see which neighborhoods run warm, which run cool, and how far apart they are today.

Free to download; live weather requires a subscription. On iPhone and iPad, every subscription includes a 7-day free trial for new subscribers; Mac plans do not. Mac and iOS plans are separate; Apple TV is included with Forecast Bar Gold on iOS.

Up to 150Stations on one map
48 hoursHour-by-hour replay
TypicalHow your city usually runs
ShareA card of your city's gap
Microclimate Explorer on iPhone at 6 PM: San Francisco painted warm in the east and cool in the southwest, with a summary reading that the city spans 16 degrees, from Porta Ballena at 72 to Noe Heights at 57 Microclimate Explorer scrubbed back to 3 PM over San Francisco, with Porta Ballena at 84 degrees and Saint Francis Wood at 64 degrees, above a 48-hour timeline and a play button Stations Near You on iPhone: a map of San Francisco with temperature pins from 60 to 74 degrees above a list of stations, several marked Agrees with its neighbors, passes WU checks

Microclimate Explorer, in short

What it is
Microclimate Explorer in Forecast Bar paints a map of a city's warm and cool neighborhoods from the personal weather stations around it, up to 150 at a time.
Replay
Microclimate Explorer replays the last 48 hours hour by hour, so you can watch a city pull apart and come back together.
Views
Relative shows each neighborhood as warmer or cooler than the city's middle, and Actual shows temperatures.
Typical
Typical mode shows how a city usually runs at each hour this season, once Forecast Bar has built up enough history for that city.
Sharing
Microclimate Explorer shares a card with a city's warm and cool areas, the gap between them and a two-day trend.
Coverage
Microclimate Explorer needs at least six trusted stations reporting around you. With fewer, it says there aren't enough stations here yet.
No station needed
Microclimate Explorer works without a personal weather station of your own, and it doesn't change your forecast.
Plan
Microclimate Explorer is part of Gold on iPhone and iPad, and Pro on the Mac.
Microclimate Explorer on iPhone at 6 PM: San Francisco painted warm in the east and cool in the southwest, with a summary reading that the city spans 16 degrees, from Porta Ballena at 72 to Noe Heights at 57
Right now

See how far apart your city is today.

The map paints warm and cool across the city from every trusted station around you, and pins your spot against the city's middle. A sentence at the bottom says what it shows, like how many degrees the city spans this evening and which neighborhoods are at each end.

  • Warm and cool neighborhoods on one map
  • Your spot against the city's middle
  • Switch between Relative and Actual
  • Tap a station to see it, then follow it
Microclimate Explorer scrubbed back to 3 PM over San Francisco, with Porta Ballena at 84 degrees and Saint Francis Wood at 64 degrees, above a 48-hour timeline and a play button
The last two days

Watch the fog roll in.

Press play and the last 48 hours run across the map, one hour at a time, or drag the timeline yourself. The chart beneath shows the city middle, where most neighborhoods sat, and your own spot, so you can see when the city pulled apart. Typical shows how it usually runs through a day this season.

  • Play or scrub the last 48 hours
  • Your spot against most neighborhoods
  • Typical mode, once your city has the history
  • On the Mac it opens in its own window
Pass it on

Settle the argument about whose side of town is warmer.

The share button turns the map into a card with your city's warm and cool areas, the gap between them and a two-day trend, ready to send to the friend who swears their side of town is warmer.

  • A card with the warm side, the cool side and the gap
  • A two-day trend of how the gap moved
  • Labelled with your city and the date
  • On iPhone and iPad, find it at Settings, Features, Weather Station

An honest note: the map is only as good as the stations around you.

Microclimate Explorer needs at least six trusted personal weather stations reporting near you. Where there are fewer, it says there aren't enough stations here yet rather than painting something it can't back up. There's no fixed list of cities: it depends on who has a station on the Weather Underground network, and cities with more stations do better. Typical mode arrives city by city.

It shows what stations measured, now and over the last two days. It isn't a forecast of the coming hours, and it doesn't change the forecast on your main screen. Only your own personal weather station does that.

FAQ

Questions about microclimates

Do I need my own weather station?
No. Microclimate Explorer reads the personal weather stations around you, so it works without one of your own.
Does it work in my city?
It needs at least six trusted stations reporting around your location. If there are fewer, it tells you. Cities with more stations do better.
What does Typical show?
How your city usually runs at each hour of the day this season. It appears once Forecast Bar has built up enough history for that city.
Does Microclimate Explorer change my forecast?
No. It's a map of what stations are measuring. Only your own station, connected in Weather Station, changes your forecast.
Can I look at a city I'm not in?
Yes. Microclimate Explorer opens on the location you're viewing, so a saved location works too. US cities are also published on the web at forecastbar.com/microclimates.
Which plan includes Microclimate Explorer?
Gold on iPhone and iPad, and Pro on the Mac. Open it from Settings, Features, Weather Station.
How much does Forecast Bar cost?
Forecast Bar is free to download, and live weather requires a subscription. On iPhone and iPad, every subscription starts with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers, so you can try everything your plan includes before you're charged. Mac plans do not include a trial. In the US App Store, iPhone and iPad are $11.49 a year for Silver and $19.99 a year for Gold, and Mac is $9.99 a year for Plus or $19.99 a year for Pro. Prices vary by region, so the App Store shows what you will actually pay. Mac and iOS plans are separate; Apple TV is included with Forecast Bar Gold on iOS. See Compare Plans for what each tier includes.
Forecast Bar app icon

See how your city really runs.

Try Microclimate Explorer free for 7 days with a new iPhone or iPad Gold subscription.

Free to download; live weather requires a subscription. On iPhone and iPad, every subscription includes a 7-day free trial for new subscribers; Mac plans do not. Mac and iOS plans are separate; Apple TV is included with Forecast Bar Gold on iOS.