Why Is It So Hard to Make a Good Weather App?

Why Is It So Hard to Make a Good Weather App?

From Galaxy Brain by The Atlantic

March 13, 2026 · 36 min · Episode 19

About this episode

This episode explores the challenges of weather forecasting and the reliability of weather apps in the context of climate change.

How are we still getting caught in the rain? This week’s “Galaxy Brain” explores the world of weather forecasting—specifically the apps on our phones that we have come to rely on. As climate change intensifies storms and smartphones put hyperlocal forecasts in our pockets, we’ve never had more meteorological data. And yet plenty of people lament that their weather apps can’t get it right. Charlie digs into why we obsessively refresh our weather apps, why we blame them when they’re wrong, and what it really means to forecast an inherently chaotic atmosphere. Charlie talks with the physicist Adam Grossman, a co-creator of the cult-favorite weather app Dark Sky that redefined minute-by-minute forecasting before being acquired by Apple. Grossman pulls back the curtain on how weather predictions are made—a process that includes satellites, weather balloons, massive physics simulations, and machine-learning models—and explains why forecasts are improving even if it doesn’t always feel that way Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating…

People in this episode

Guest: Adam Grossman

Topics covered

  • weather forecasting
  • weather apps
  • climate change
  • technology

Keywords

  • Dark Sky
  • meteorological data
  • forecasting
  • chaotic atmosphere

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Dark Sky

Books & works: Galaxy Brain, Pulitzer

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