SKY WACH vs ScoutWx
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SKY WACH
This weather application provides detailed, high-resolution radar and satellite imagery, along with current conditions and hourly/daily forecasts. It offers severe weather alerts and customizable location saving for users on iPhone and iPad.
- 250 meter high-resolution radar
- Future radar for severe weather tracking
- High-resolution satellite imagery
- Current weather updates
- Daily and hourly forecasts
- Save favorite locations
- Severe weather alerts
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WACH is proud to announce a full featured weather app for the iPhone and iPad platforms. Features • Access to station content specifically for our mobile users • 250 meter radar, the highest resolution available • Future radar to see where severe weather is headed • High resolution satellite cloud imagery • Current weather updated multiple times per hour • Daily and Hourly forecasts updated hourly from our computer models • Ability to add and save your favorite locations • A fully integrated GPS for current location awareness • Severe weather alerts from the National Weather Service • Opt-in push alerts to keep you safe in severe weather
ScoutWx
This app provides advanced weather data for meteorologists, storm chasers, and aviation professionals. It offers raw radar, atmospheric soundings, 17 forecast models, and live alerts for severe weather events.
- Raw Level II NEXRAD and TDWR radar
- 140+ European radars
- Atmospheric soundings and skew-T diagrams
- 17 synchronized forecast models
- Live storm tracks and NWS alerts
- Dual-polarization radar products
- High-resolution aviation charts
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ScoutWx is built for meteorologists, storm chasers, pilots, and weather enthusiasts. Interrogate storms with raw Level II NEXRAD and TDWR radar and 140+ European radars at every tilt, over high-resolution FAA charts, launch skew-T soundings anywhere on Earth, and run 17 forecast models on one synchronized map. VOLUMETRIC RADAR & DUAL-POL Step through every elevation angle at native resolution, with SAILS and MRLE rescans as the radar sweeps, in loops up to 120 scans long. • Reflectivity: Super-resolution base reflectivity at every tilt, composites, and TDWR long range. • Velocity & Shear: NWS-dealiased velocity, storm-relative velocity with NWS cell motion or custom vectors, and spectrum width. • Dual-Polarization: Differential reflectivity (ZDR), correlation coefficient (CC) to isolate tornadic debris, specific differential phase (KDP), and hydrometeor classification. • Severe Products: Vertically integrated liquid (VIL), enhanced echo tops, rain rates, MRMS rotation tracks, and hail size. THE NEXT TWO HOURS • ScoutWx Now+: Loops run past the newest scan, the radar carried forward along its own motion: up to 90 minutes on the U.S. and European mosaics, 60 on a single radar. • Any Place: Long-press anywhere or open a saved place for when rain or snow starts or stops, and how heavy. ATMOSPHERIC SOUNDINGS & SKEW-T • Observed Radiosondes: Decoded flights from 800+ upper-air stations worldwide, with balloon drift. • Model Soundings: Native HRRR and GFS column soundings anywhere on the map. • Skew-T & Parcel Math: Interactive Skew-T log-p diagrams with SB, ML, and MU parcels, CAPE, CIN, LCL, LFC, EL, and a zoom on the lowest 3 km. • Hodographs & Indices: SPC shear layers, 0–1 km and 0–3 km SRH, Bunkers vectors, Corfidi vectors, STP, SCP, SHIP, DCAPE, and Dendritic Growth Zones. STORM TRACKS & NWS ALERTS • NWS Cell Tracking: 15-minute projected paths, severe hail probabilities, core heights, and TVS and mesocyclone signatures. • Live Polygons: Tornado, Severe Thunderstorm, Flash Flood, and Special Marine warnings as they stood at each scan. • Discussions: SPC and WPC discussions. Tap any alert for full text. LIGHTNING & SATELLITE • Flashes & Ground Strikes: GOES GLM optical flashes and NLDN cloud-to-ground strikes across the lower 48 plotted within about a minute, with fading trails. • GOES Multispectral: Visible, infrared, water vapor, and cloud cover loops over the Americas, every 5 minutes. 17 FORECAST MODELS • Regional & Convective: HRRR (3 km), RRFS (3 km), NBM (2.5 km), Canadian RDPS (10 km) and HRDPS (2.5 km). • Global & Ensembles: ECMWF IFS and AIFS (AI), NOAA GFS and AIGFS (AI), DWD ICON, ECCC GDPS, plus GEFS, ECMWF ENS, AIFS ENS, and REFS ensembles with spaghetti contours and probabilities. • Hurricanes: HAFS-A and HAFS-B with moving 2 km storm nests. • Diagnostics: Simulated reflectivity, precipitation type, CAPE, helicity, vorticity, jets, and totals out to 16 days. AVIATION CHARTS • VFR & IFR: High-resolution FAA VFR sectionals with terminal area, flyway, and helicopter route charts, and IFR enroute charts, under live radar and sharp at every zoom. • Plates & Diagrams: Every airport's procedures, with approach plan views and airport diagrams on the map. DUAL-VIEW & GROUND TRUTH • Dual Maps in Step: Two synchronized maps side by side on iPad and iPhone Duo, such as radar beside the HRRR. • Precision Gate Inspector: Long-press anywhere to sample exact dBZ, velocity, hydrometeors, and beam height. • Airports & Stations: Decoded METARs and TAFs with change groups and flight categories, plus live Dank Weather personal weather stations. • Follow Me & Private: The map stays on you and switches radars as you travel; your location never leaves your device, and nothing tracks you.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: ScoutWx at every 2 weeks against SKY WACH's every 3 months. ScoutWx also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). SKY WACH's advantage is ratings volume (149 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). 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.
ScoutWx holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SKY WACH has 149 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
SKY WACH ships an update every 3 months, ScoutWx every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SKY WACH | ScoutWx |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (149 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | 149 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 241 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc | Drake Apps |
Customer experience
SKY WACH
ScoutWx
In-app purchases
SKY WACH
No in-app purchases
ScoutWx
No in-app purchases









