Percentages in Apple’s Weather app don’t mean what you think
If you regularly check Apple’s Weather app, you’ve probably noticed the percentages. We explain exactly what the rain percentages mean.
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Rain percentages in the Weather app
The weather app is perhaps one of the most used apps on your iPhone. In iOS 16, Apple has given the Weather app some cool new features. However, one feature has never changed: the percentages in Apple’s Weather app.
Also read: Weather app not working (on iPhone): here’s what’s going on
You will find these rain percentages regularly, especially in the Dutch Weather app. If rain is predicted, there is a percentage under the rain cloud. This can be seen in both the daily overview and the weather forecasts for the next ten days. What exactly does this percentage say about the amount of rain that can fall?
This is what the percentages mean
The percentage in the Weather app indicates how likely it is that precipitation will fall in a certain location. However, it does not indicate how long it will rain. That can be 10 minutes, but also 24 hours. According to the KNMI, it is ‘the chance that someone who is in a fixed location in the Netherlands will receive precipitation one day’.
The percentage therefore does not mean in what percentage of a certain area precipitation falls. With a percentage of fifty percent, there is therefore a fifty percent chance of rain or snow in an area, for example. Rainfall is not expected in half of the area.
Incidentally, the probability of precipitation does include how much of a certain area is reached by the precipitation. In the weather forecasts, the probability of a shower is first calculated. This probability is then multiplied by the percentage of the area that is actually affected by the precipitation. This is how the rain percentage in Apple’s Weather app is built up.
Weather app finally available for Mac and iPad
The calculation of the rain percentages in the Weather app is of course not watertight, but it does give you an idea of the precipitation you can expect. The Weather app has now been expanded with new functions in both iOS 15 and iOS 16. For example, it has recently become possible to see how strong the wind is and what the temperature is throughout the day at a certain location. Check out all the new features of the Weather app in iOS 16 here.
Read also: The 7 best weather apps for your iPhone
Apple’s Weather app is therefore extremely useful and extensive. Since iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura, the Weather app can finally be installed on the iPad and Mac. Apple’s weather service can be downloaded for free in the App Store:
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