West Texas Mesonet vs FWAS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Real-time weather data from 150+ sites
- Save favorite weather stations
- Daily and weekly forecasts
- Share weather data
- Weather data maps
- Quick data refresh
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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.
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
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.
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.
| Parameter | West Texas Mesonet | FWAS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (137 ratings) — better | 3.3 (10 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 48.7% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 137 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #201 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 200 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Texas Tech University | US Forest Service |
Customer experience
West Texas Mesonet
FWAS
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
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- 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 moreShow fewer
- 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
West Texas Mesonet
No in-app purchases
FWAS
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is West Texas Mesonet free?
Is FWAS free?
Which has better reviews, West Texas Mesonet or FWAS?
Do West Texas Mesonet or FWAS have ads?
Which is updated more often, West Texas Mesonet or FWAS?
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