Comparison

West Texas Mesonet vs FWAS

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

West Texas Mesonet

Access real-time weather data from over 150 locations across West Texas, eastern New Mexico, and southwest Colorado. View detailed conditions, forecasts, and maps, and share information easily.

Highlights
  • Real-time weather data from 150+ sites
  • Save favorite weather stations
  • Daily and weekly forecasts
  • Share weather data
  • Weather data maps
  • Quick data refresh
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

West Texas Mesonet App Description: Stay connected to the weather around you using the West Texas Mesonet app. The app brings weather information right to your phone from more than 150 sites across West Texas, eastern New Mexico and southwest Colorado, updating every 5 minutes. Features: - Receive updated, real-time West Texas Mesonet data from more than 150 sites across West Texas, eastern New Mexico and southwest Colorado, updating every 5 minutes. - Save your favorite weather stations for easy access to temperature, wind speed, wind direction, wind gusts, pressure, dew point, humidity and precipitation. - View daily and weekly weather forecasts from the National Weather Service. - Share current weather data with friends through text message, Facebook or Twitter. - Access maps of weather data from across the region. - Pull down to refresh data; Relaunch the app to access newly added stations.

About

FWAS

This app provides critical weather information and custom alerts for firefighters to anticipate dangerous fire behavior. It offers map-based access to fire-specific weather data, including RAWS, NWS forecasts, and radar, helping to prevent entrapments.

Highlights
  • Custom weather alerts
  • RAWS/ASOS station data
  • Fire-specific weather forecasts
  • Satellite hotspot mapping
  • Incident location and fire perimeters
  • NWS watches, warnings, and advisories
  • NEXRAD radar data
Features
Read full description

Many firefighters have been entrapped due to rapid changes in weather causing unexpected fire behavior. These weather events are often predictable using local weather measurements and forecasts, but on-the-ground firefighters have historically lacked access to this information. The Fire Weather Alert System provides this access. It monitors nearby weather observations and forecasts to warn firefighters of dangerous incoming weather and provides convenient map-based access to fire-specific weather information (RAWS, NWS zone fire weather forecasts, NEXRAD radar data, etc.). GET CUSTOM WEATHER ALERTS • Get custom weather alerts when wind speed, wind gust, relative humidity, air temperature, and precipitation exceed your set thresholds. • RAWS/ASOS stations and short-term forecasts (HRRR model) are monitored. • Designate the watch area for your fire. • Alerts broadcast using in-app messages, text, and/or email. VIEW RAWS DATA • Select weather stations from a map and view data in graph and tabular form. • Access RAWS, iRAWS, ASOS, and other station networks. VIEW SATELLITE HOTSPOTS • Display VIIRS and MODIS hotspots on the map. VIEW INCIDENT LOCATIONS AND FIRE PERIMETERS • View incident name, type, size, and most recent perimeter (including smaller IA fires). VIEW NWS WATCHES, WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES • See National Weather Service Active Alerts on the map and read the text. • Monitor Red Flag Warnings, Fire Weather Watches, Wind Advisories, Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, etc. ACCESS ZONE FIRE WEATHER FORECASTS • Access and read your local fire weather forecast. • See fire weather zone names and boundaries on the map. MONITOR APPROACHING STORMS WITH NEXRAD RADAR • Display animated radar data on the map.

Screenshots

West Texas Mesonet4 screens
FWAS2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: West Texas Mesonet at 4.0 against FWAS's 3.3. West Texas Mesonet also leads on review sentiment (49% vs 25%) and ratings volume (137 vs 10). FWAS's advantage is update cadence (every 4 months vs every 11 months) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

West Texas Mesonet holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: West Texas Mesonet has 137 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of West Texas Mesonet's written reviews are positive against 25% of FWAS's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

West Texas Mesonet ships an update every 11 months, FWAS every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
West Texas Mesonet versus FWAS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWest Texas MesonetFWAS
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (137 ratings) — better3.3 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews48.7% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings137 — better10
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#201 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.610.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB200 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTexas Tech UniversityUS Forest Service

Customer experience

West Texas Mesonet

All ratings137 ratings
Positive73.7%
Neutral3.6%
Negative22.6%
Written reviews39 reviews
Positive48.7%
Neutral7.7%
Negative43.6%

FWAS

All ratings7 ratings
Positive42.9%
Neutral14.3%
Negative42.9%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

West Texas Mesonet

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Cannot save weather stations after update
  • Map background colors unreadable
  • Map zooms out and is hard to navigate
  • NWS forecast will not load
  • Radar/Satellite features stopped working
Show 4 more
  • 24H charts are blank
  • Relative humidity text is cut off
  • App opens on tower location map with misaligned elements
  • App does not open on tower location directly

Requested features

17 requests
  • Save weather stations
  • Improve map readability
  • Fix map zoom behavior
  • Load NWS forecast
  • Fix radar/satellite functionality
Show 12 more
  • Restore old app features (azimuth)
  • Add wind speed/direction maps
  • Add dewpoint maps
  • Allow saving stations
  • Improve 24H charts
  • Carry over rain totals past midnight
  • Add 48hr rain total
  • Show Max/Min for day/date (wind, temp)
  • Add azimuth for wind direction
  • Add barometric pressure
  • Fix map scaling and alignment
  • Numerical data preferred over graphs

FWAS

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

West Texas Mesonet

No in-app purchases

None

FWAS

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is West Texas Mesonet free?
West Texas Mesonet is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is FWAS free?
FWAS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, West Texas Mesonet or FWAS?
West Texas Mesonet is rated higher. West Texas Mesonet averages 4.0 out of 5 from 137 ratings, while FWAS averages 3.3 from 10 ratings.
Do West Texas Mesonet or FWAS have ads?
Neither West Texas Mesonet nor FWAS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, West Texas Mesonet or FWAS?
West Texas Mesonet ships an update every 11 months, and FWAS every 4 months. Most recently, West Texas Mesonet was updated on November 6, 2026 and FWAS on November 3, 2026.

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