The creators of Dark Sky, the cult-favorite weather app that was acquired by Apple in 2020, have pulled off something unusual: they’re making the forecast feel personal. Dark Sky was popular for its extreme rain forecasts, accurate warnings and emphasis on data visualization. Now, its three creators—Adam Grossman, Josh Reyes and Dan Abrutyn—are taking another approach to weather forecasting with Acme Weather, a new app that combines sophisticated data with fun features like rainbow and sunset alerts.
“Our biggest pet peeve with weather apps is (or rather, not dealing with) forecast uncertainty,” Grossman wrote in a blog post last week. “It’s a simple fact that no weather forecast will ever be 100 percent accurate: the weather is fickle, volatile and chaotic.”
Although predictions will not be perfect, applications can be clearer about their limitations. Acme Weather aims to do just that, supplementing its internal forecasts with other forecasts to give users a better sense of confidence and accuracy. The app is available for $25 per year, with a two-week free trial.
Grossman, a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, launched Dark Sky in 2012 after a freak thunderstorm disrupted a road trip. Apple later acquired the app for an undisclosed sum, integrated some of its features into its Weather app and brought most of the Dark Sky team in-house.
After the acquisition, the Dark Sky team worked on WeatherKit, Apple’s developer-facing service that sells subscriptions to access its weather data. But for a company of that scale, “it’s hard to try weird, new, experimental ideas,” Grossman told TechCrunch in an interview yesterday (Feb. 23).
With new startups, founders say they can explore freely. Acme Weather combines critical weather data with easy-to-touch, pop-up alerts for events like rainbows and clear sunsets. Users can also share real-time local conditions with their community using weather icons and emojis.
“The weather system we’ve always wanted, and we’ve always wanted to build,” Grossman wrote in his blog post.
Maps are part of the experience. The app provides detailed radar and lightning views, rain and snow totals, wind data and even storm tracking. Custom alerts allow users to create alerts, whether they want daily UV index updates or warnings about heavy rain in a 24-hour period.
The broader prediction market is also hot. Estimated at $2.7 billion last year, the global market for forecasting services is expected to reach $5.2 billion by 2034, according to Fortune Business Insights.
At the same time, new technologies, such as AI-based predictive models, are gaining ground. Companies including Google, Microsoft again Nvidia they are investing heavily in the space, alongside high profile sponsors such as Bill Gates again Jeff Bezoswho have funded models designed to help farmers in Africa. Other big players include Tomorrow.io, which raised $175 million earlier this month to reach unicorn status.
Traditional weather stations are developing as well. The European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts has begun introducing AI forecasting tools, as has the US National Weather Service. Both organizations are listed among Acme Weather’s data sources, along with agencies in Canada, Germany and Japan. The app’s forecasts draw on a mix of numerical weather forecasts, satellite and radar data, and ground station observations.
