Carrot Weather added two features in its March update. Multi-model forecasts, and Storm Prediction Center analysis for severe storms and wildfires in the US.

The multi-model piece is the more interesting of the two. Most weather apps show you a single forecast. Carrot now shows you several at once. They are called ensemble forecasts, and they run the major global weather models many times with small tweaks to the starting conditions. If the runs cluster, confidence is high. If they spread out, the forecast is shakier than the one number on your screen suggests.

That is information you usually do not get from a consumer weather app. A single number creates a false sense of precision. Showing the spread is closer to how forecasters actually think about a forecast, and it is useful when you are planning around uncertain weather.

The Storm Prediction Center piece is US only. Carrot now pulls in SPC discussions for severe storms and wildfires, which gives you the reasoning behind a risk forecast rather than just the result. After the wind weeks we had in Orange County last year, I will take all the wildfire context I can get.

Both features land on top of a Carrot Weather that was already doing more than the Apple Weather app for the kind of detail I care about. I came back to Carrot last year for wind data. Multi-model forecasts and SPC analysis are why I will keep renewing.

The wind has been on everyone’s mind in Southern California for the last few weeks. In addition to the tragic fires up in Los Angeles, down here in Orange County, everything is equally dry, and the wind is blowing equally fast. Last week, one night, we clocked it at 79 miles an hour in my backyard.

Somewhere along the way, I let my CARROT Weather subscription lapse. The Apple weather app has come a long way, and it’s just fine for general information like the temperature and forecast. But getting predictable wind information out of it is a pain in the neck. So much so that I re-upped with CARROT weather and, within seconds, had precisely the data I was looking for. While the Weather app is good enough for many people, CARROT Weather remains the king.