Comparison

Storm Shield vs Powder Radar

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

Head to head
About

Storm Shield

Receive precise, location-based severe weather alerts for tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and more. Get voice and push notifications, view radar maps, and access forecasts. Optional premium features offer advanced radar imagery and lightning alerts.

Highlights
  • Location-based severe weather alerts
  • Voice and push notifications
  • Hi-Def radar map
  • Today screen widget
  • Apple Watch alerts
  • Current conditions and forecasts
  • Save additional locations
Read full description

Named by Time.com's @Techland as one of the best weather apps for your iPhone and Apple Watch. Severe weather alerts for your exact location. Storm Shield gives you storm-based alerts for tornado, hurricane, flood, thunderstorm, winter storms and other life-threatening weather events via voice and push notification. Storm-based alerts help reduce false alarms by alerting you to severe weather based on your exact location within a county. County-based alerts can result in false alarms, warning you when your location in the county is not within the threatened area. What people are saying: • Storm Shield "alerted our family of the Broken Arrow, OK tornado, faster than the TV and tornado sirens." - Robyn • "I was in Oklahoma City during the tornado... we were right in its path. Your app literally was a life saver." - dcalk12 Benefits: • Get voice alerts just like a NOAA weather radio via push notification anywhere in the United States. • With Apple Watch, get a tap on your wrist when alerts are issued for your locations. • Add Storm Shield's widget to your Today screen to get quick access to active alerts for the first location in your app. • Touch Storm Shield's app icon on your 3D-Touch enabled iPhone for widget access. • Hi-Def radar map is your home screen so you can quickly see what's going on at your locations. • Fully supports Dark Mode in iOS 13. • Long-tap on the map to get current conditions, hourly and daily forecasts. • Save additional locations to ensure family members stay safe. View NOAA severe weather alerts on the map to see where dangerous weather is happening: • Tap alerts to view info • Flood watches & warnings • Tornadoes & Thunderstorms • Hurricane & Tropical Storm forecast tracks • Winter storms • Marine & Coastal alerts • Radar & Clouds • Wind Speed • Snow Fall • Water Temperatures • Road Weather • Premium Weather (purchase required) • Lightning Alerts and notifications (purchase required) Enhance your app with auto-renewing monthly subscriptions: • Buy 'Premium Weather' to unlock these features and see predicted imagery for these map layers: 1) Future Radar 2) Future Clouds 3) Future Clouds & Radar together 4) Future Surface Temperature Land 5) Future Surface Temperature Water 6) Future Surface Temperature Land & Water together 7) Future Wind Speeds Map 8) Storm Tracks: See how fast storms are moving & where they're headed. • Buy 'Lightning' to unlock these 2 features: 1) Lightning strike push notifications up to 10 miles away. 2) See lightning on the map within 100 miles of a selected location. Note: • Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. • No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. • Privacy Policy: https://www.stormshieldapp.com/privacy_stormshield_wxs.html • Terms of Use: https://www.stormshieldapp.com/terms_stormshield_wxs.html • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Storm Shield is made possible by The E.W. Scripps Company & KNXV Phoenix, WCPO Cincinnati, WEWS Cleveland, WXYZ Detroit, WMAR Baltimore, WFTS Tampa, WPTV West Palm, KSHB Kansas City, KJRH Tulsa, RTV6 Indianapolis, KMGH Denver, KGTV San Diego, KERO Bakersfield, WKBW Buffalo, WTVF Nashville, KMTV Omaha, WSYM Lansing, WFTX Ft. Myers, WTMJ Milwaukee, WGBA Green Bay, KIVI Boise, KTNV Las Vegas, KGUN Tucson, WTXL Tallahassee, KXXV Waco, KRIS Corpus Christi. Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

About

Powder Radar

Features
Read full description

Powder Radar answers one question: where's the snow? Open the app and instantly see which mountains are getting the most snowfall in the next 72 hours. No clutter, no ads — just forecasts ranked by who's getting dumped on, so you know exactly where to go. Set custom powder alerts on your favorite resorts. Pick a snowfall threshold and how many days in advance you want to know. When a storm is headed for your mountain, you'll get a push notification before it hits — so you can plan your powder day, not just react to one. See the whole picture on the explore map, where live snowfall shows up as a heatmap across entire mountain ranges. Tap any resort to go straight to its forecast. Planning a trip months out? Plan mode ranks resorts by how they actually performed in past seasons — total snowfall, snow days, biggest single day, and which month peaks — so you can pick where and when before you book anything. FEATURES — 7-day snow forecasts for 3,273 ski resorts across 67 countries — Resorts ranked by 72-hour snowfall so the best day is always on top — Interactive explore map with a live snowfall heatmap — Plan mode: historical season data to research trips before you book — Custom powder alerts with adjustable thresholds and lead time — Hour-by-hour breakdown so you know exactly when the snow starts — Home screen widgets showing top snowfall at a glance — Summit and base elevation forecasts — snow line matters — Season stats per resort: totals, snow days, best day, % of normal — Published forecast accuracy, so you can see how we actually score — Dark, glanceable design built for quick checks on the lift Most forecast apps never tell you whether they were right. We publish how our forecasts scored against measured snowfall, by lead time and by resort. Check it before you trust it. Built by a snowboarder who got tired of checking five different weather apps before every trip.

Screenshots

Storm Shield4 screens
Powder Radar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Powder Radar at none against Storm Shield's 7. Powder Radar also leads on ads (none vs shown). Storm Shield's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and chart position (#18 vs unranked). On price 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. Storm Shield sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Powder Radar asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Storm Shield ships an update weekly, Powder Radar every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Storm Shield versus Powder Radar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStorm ShieldPowder Radar
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (114K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews37.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings114K — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#18 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size91 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMosaic S.r.l.Pacific Dev Labs LLC

Bugs and requests

Storm Shield

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inconsistent alert delivery
  • Radar map not always showing correct location
  • Subscription features not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to read alert details in notifications
  • Option to silence alerts during certain times
  • More customization for alert types and locations
  • Horizontal radar view with manual scrolling
  • Integration with smart home devices for alerts

Powder Radar

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Storm Shield

Subscriptions7
  • Weekly Subscription$1.997 Days
  • Weekly with Free Trial7 Days trial$1.997 Days
  • Premium Weather$10.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Lightning Strikes$10.991 Month
  • 30-Day Limited Offer Upgrade1 Month trial$11.491 Month
  • Yearly with Free Trial7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Yearly Subscription$29.991 Year
None

Powder Radar

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Storm Shield free?
Storm Shield is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Powder Radar free?
Powder Radar is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Storm Shield or Powder Radar have ads?
Storm Shield shows ads; Powder Radar does not.
Which is updated more often, Storm Shield or Powder Radar?
Storm Shield ships an update weekly, and Powder Radar every 2 months. Most recently, Storm Shield was updated on October 23, 2026 and Powder Radar on October 19, 2026.

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