PORTLAND, Ore. — Weather Route Inc. is providing new app to help drivers keep track of weather while they’re on the road.
Creators stated in a news release that the app’s goal is to provide “a nexus between GPS navigation and weather forecasting.”
Drivers can enter a route and in turn be provided with weather information at frequent intervals along the route.
“Our weather forecasts start with temperature, sky cover, precipitation, wind, and weather radar,” said Devan Stormont, co-founder, CEO and chief technology officer of Weather Route Inc.
“From there, we take it a step further: We show you what the weather will be at the time of arrival to various points along your journey,” he continued. “We also provide additional safety features, such as live camera footage. You also have the ability to plan for rest/delivery stops along the route — the rest of the route will instantly adjust the later weather forecasts.”
In 2011, Stormont said, he was planning a long drive across the western U.S. during the winter holidays and was trying to plan his route around a series of heavy snowstorms. He discovered that, in some areas, no useful department of transportation tools were available. Despite his familiarity with the route and tools, such as Oregon’s TripCheck, that were available for other parts of the drive, he decided it was the safest choice to cancel the trip.
Because of his frustration at spending the holidays away from family, Stormont said he spent the seasonbuilding the first version of the app. As the app grew, the Weather Route business expanded into other verticals. Alex Kizis joined the company as another co-founder to help keep the business focused on user needs as it grows.
Stormont says most weather apps only provide information about specific city locations.
“For a driver, (these apps) can tell you what the weather is at your source and destination, but tell you nothing about the weather in between,” Stormont said. “To find this information, drivers have to manually search for cities they know are along their route. This is a very cumbersome process.”
Stormont said the new Weather Route app “does all the heavy lifting” by finding the right information to provide to a driver all at once.
“We take into account your expected travel time as well as other factors, such as what kind of vehicle you are driving. Our weather reports are tailored to truck drivers versus cars versus motorcycles. For example, we know that high-profile vehicles are more sensitive to wind than a car will be,” he said.
“For drivers today, we already offer a number of risk mitigation features,” he continued. “Proactive notice of severe weather alerts coming up on the road ahead. Suggested guidance on the safest time to start a trip. Live radar and camera footage, among other features.”
Stormont says Weather Route is currently building capabilities to integrate with load dispatchers and managers, with a goal of helping to keep entire organizations stay aware of risks faced by individual company drivers.
“We are also building more individual-focused capabilities, like notifications of chain controls and other kinds of road closures and obstacles, estimations of gas cost for the trip, or being able to find truck parking for the night and a hot meal,” hesaid.
More information about the app can be found at https://www.weatherroute.io.
Joseph Price has been a journalist for almost two decades. He began in community media in 2005 and has since worked at media outlets in Virginia and Arkansas. He is also a commercial drone pilot and video editor. He hosts a weekly community radio show focused on goth, metal and industrial music that airs Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. at www.kuhsradio.org.
There are plenty of free apps that allow you to track weather.