Google Maps adds weather layer

Google Maps got a new feature that can potentially draw more users. The search engine giant announced the addition of a weather layer to their Maps, which sports a grid of icons depicting the present weather conditions across an area.

This feature is activated through the drop-down menu located at the top right corner of the Maps screen, along with other layers like transit and traffic. The weather layer only shows when a user zooms out to the neighborhood level. A whole set of data points appear to show the weather conditions on the entire map. Fisher Capital Management confirms that a menu pops out, letting the user toggles between various units for wind speed and temperature.

When you zoom out or in, the weather layer also scales. It’s quite a neat feature that makes the integration of weather updates more sleek and convenient compared to typing names of cities into a weather search. For a traveler, having access to weather conditions will be a cinch for they will automatically shows up everywhere along your chosen route. What’s more, Google allied with the US Naval Research Lab to show real-time cloud cover data straight to the map. This particular feature works best if you are zoomed out, because being close in it will make it difficult to tell if there are really clouds. While there are those who will certainly find use in these new features, they can be turned off if you zoom far enough of the map.

By clicking on a particular icon, more details will pop up along with a four-day weather forecast. The data comes from Weather.com  and the pop-ups have links to their site to give you an hourly update or a ten-day forecast.

This new feature is particularly helpful, especially for those who are traveling. Though it’s been a long time coming, Fisher Capital Management must say the integration of Naval Research Lab tech and Weather.com is well worth it.