Official Guidance

Read What the Forecaster Actually Wrote

Area Forecast Discussions, Hazardous Weather Outlooks, storm reports, and six more official National Weather Service products, with your local office's own observations and forecast beside them, all free on every tier.

Availability, coverage, update frequency, and alert delivery vary by data source, region, subscription plan, device permissions, and service conditions. These are National Weather Service products, so the hub covers the United States only. Which products appear depends on what your local office issues.

Make the National Weather Service Your Everyday Forecast

Choose the National Weather Service as your forecast source and the forecast you check every day comes from your local forecast office. It is free on every tier, across the United States and its territories.

Hourly and daily, from your office

Your hourly and daily forecasts are the official ones your local office issues for your location.

Each day in the forecaster's words

Open any day to read the day and night forecast the way the forecaster wrote it.

Your choice of source

Switch between the National Weather Service, Apple Weather, and WeatherAI Forecast whenever you like. The discussions and products on this page stay available with any of them.

The Forecast, and the Reasoning Behind It

Behind every forecast number, the National Weather Service publishes far more: the forecaster's own discussion of what the models are doing, a running outlook of hazards for the week, storm reports as they come in, and specialized products for fire, marine, and surf conditions.

WeatherAI puts that material next to the official observation and forecast for your location, so the reasoning and the numbers live in the same place.

Why it is worth reading

A forecast that says 40% chance of storms tells you almost nothing about confidence. The discussion behind it often says outright that the models disagree, which one the office is leaning on, and what would change the call.

Written for forecasters

AFDs are dense, abbreviated, and full of jargon, because the audience is other meteorologists. That is exactly the kind of text a summary helps with.

Illustrative excerpt, not a current forecast discussion

.SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...

CONFIDENCE REMAINS LOW ON CONVECTIVE COVERAGE THIS AFTN.
HI-RES GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO DIVERGE...HRRR BREAKS OUT
STORMS ALONG THE BOUNDARY BY 21Z WHILE THE NAM3KM HOLDS
OFF UNTIL AFTER 00Z. HAVE LEANED TOWARD THE FORMER GIVEN
BETTER AGREEMENT WITH SFC OBS. ANY STORM THAT DEVELOPS
WILL HAVE ACCESS TO STEEP LAPSE RATES ALOFT.

Summarized

The office is not confident about storms this afternoon. Two high-resolution models disagree by about three hours on when storms fire, and the forecaster is going with the earlier one because it matches what surface observations are showing. Anything that does develop could turn strong.

Nine Official Products

WeatherAI lists whichever of these your local office currently has available. Coastal Waters and Surf Zone come only from coastal offices, and a Hurricane Local Statement appears only when a tropical system threatens your area.

AFD

Area Forecast Discussion

The technical reasoning behind the forecast, written by the meteorologists on shift. Where the confidence is, where the models disagree, and what would change their mind.

HWO

Hazardous Weather Outlook

Potential hazardous weather over the next 7 days, issued daily by your local office.

NOW

Short Term Forecast

What the office expects in the next few hours, issued when conditions are changing faster than the routine forecast covers.

LSR

Local Storm Report

Reports of severe weather as they come in: tornadoes, hail, and wind damage, with the time and place each was observed.

FWF

Fire Weather Forecast

Fire weather conditions and outlook for the office's area, including the wind and humidity that drive fire behavior.

CWF

Coastal Waters Forecast

Offshore and nearshore marine conditions, issued by coastal offices for the waters they cover.

SRF

Surf Zone Forecast

Surf conditions and rip current risk, issued by offices along the coast.

CLI

Climate Report

Daily climate data including records, so you can see whether a hot afternoon actually broke anything.

HLS

Hurricane Local Statement

Local impacts and recommended actions during a tropical storm or hurricane, written for your specific area rather than the basin.

Your Local Office, in One Screen

The hub is built around whichever Weather Forecast Office covers your location, so everything on it comes from the same source that issues your warnings.

Current Conditions

The latest observation from the nearest official station, with the station's identity and how old the reading is.

Hourly Forecast

The official NWS hourly forecast for the next 24 hours, straight from the gridded forecast your local office produces.

Extended Forecast

The official daily and extended point forecast, including the day and night wording the office writes itself.

Forecast Office

Which Weather Forecast Office covers you, its radar site, and its timezone.

Nearby Stations

Other reporting stations around you, so you can see how conditions differ across the area.

NWS Products

Every text product your office currently has available, listed with what each one is for.

Summaries for the Dense Parts

Forecast discussions and hazardous weather outlooks can be summarized in plain language, and you can ask follow-up questions about what a passage means. The original text stays beside the summary, so you can always read the forecaster's own words.

Follow Up to 10 Offices

Subscribe to Area Forecast Discussion and Hazardous Weather Outlook notifications for up to 10 Weather Forecast Offices each, picked by searching a city or browsing the office list. Useful if you track weather somewhere other than home. For warnings themselves, turn on Weather Alerts as well.

Learn More

Outlooks, Watches, and Warnings

How the NWS escalates from an outlook to a watch to a warning, and what each one is asking you to do.

Feature

Severe Weather and SPC Outlooks

National-scale convective outlooks and mesoscale discussions, alongside the local products on this page.

Seasonal Guide

Winter Weather

Snow, sleet, and freezing rain, wind chill, and what each winter storm alert from the NWS means.

Read Your Office's Discussion Tonight

The NWS hub is included free on every tier. Download WeatherAI for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is an Area Forecast Discussion?

An Area Forecast Discussion, or AFD, is the technical write-up a National Weather Service forecaster publishes alongside the forecast. It explains the reasoning: which models are being trusted, where they disagree, how confident the office is, and what would change the forecast. It is written for other meteorologists, so it is denser than a consumer forecast, but it is the clearest available account of why your forecast says what it says.

Which NWS products does WeatherAI show?

WeatherAI shows nine official text products where your local office issues them: Area Forecast Discussion, Hazardous Weather Outlook, Short Term Forecast, Local Storm Report, Fire Weather Forecast, Coastal Waters Forecast, Surf Zone Forecast, Climate Report, and Hurricane Local Statement. Coastal Waters and Surf Zone are only issued by coastal offices, and Hurricane Local Statement only appears when a tropical system threatens the area.

Can I get notified when a new forecast discussion is issued?

Yes. You can subscribe to Area Forecast Discussion and Hazardous Weather Outlook notifications for up to 10 Weather Forecast Offices each, chosen by searching for a city or browsing the list of offices. These arrive as normal notifications, so silent mode or a Focus can hold them back.

Can I use the National Weather Service as my main forecast?

Yes. Choose National Weather Service as your forecast source and your hourly and daily forecasts come from your local forecast office, with each day and night described in the forecaster's own words. It is free on every tier and covers the United States and its territories. Anywhere else, the app shows Apple Weather.

Is the NWS hub available outside the United States?

No. These are National Weather Service products, so the hub covers the United States only. Outside the U.S., WeatherAI still displays supported official alerts from the Meteorological Service of Canada, the U.K. Met Office, and Meteoalarm across parts of Europe, along with forecasts from your selected provider.