3 Mobile Apps to Help You Stay Safe While Driving in Winter Weather
Winter traveling—be it visiting grandma for the holidays, daily commuting, or for emergencies—can be wrought with hazards. These three mobile apps take some of the hazards out of winter driving, so you can feel secure as you travel.
The Weather Channel®: You'll definitely want to have access to daily and hourly weather reports during the winter driving months. The Weather Channel® app, available on iPhone or Android devices, provides access to all the information you might need to avoid or escape a winter storm. The Weather Channel® app is convenient and unobtrusive, delivering temperature alerts displayed in a systems tray. It also offers an extensive amount of local weather information, exactly what you need for the daily commute. With extended forecasts, animated radar maps, video forecasts, detailed precipitation facts and forecasts and health and safety information, The Weather Channel has your winter driving covered.
Dark Sky: You checked out the weather forecast and it mentioned the threat of snow or tricky driving conditions, but you need to know exactly where it's snowing at the exact location you're driving to. The Dark Sky weather app is what you need. Dark Sky uses state-of-the-art weather forecasting to predict rain or snow down to the exact minute at your exact location. The app ties into radar available from the U.S. government to predict precipitation hourly wherever you are. The app's stunning radar animation lets you track the path of a storm, so you don't get stuck in it.
Winter Survival Kit: If you find yourself stuck or stranded in severe weather conditions, your safety might ultimately depend on your smartphone. The Winter Survival Kit app will help you determine your current location, call 9-1-1, contact friends and family, calculate how long you can run your engine without succumbing to carbon monoxide poisoning and how long you can run your engine before you run out of gas. Of course, you'll want to put together a physical winter survival kit as well. The Winter Survival Kit app will help by providing the North Dakota State University (NDSU) Extension Service information on how to put together a physical winter survival kit, how to prepare your vehicle for winter driving and how to stay safe if stranded in a winter storm.