CAIC vs StormNet
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CAIC
Access up-to-date avalanche forecasts for Colorado's mountains. View summaries, discussions, current problems, and mountain weather. Submit observations directly to the center from your device.
- Up-to-date avalanche forecasts
- Forecast summary and discussion
- Current avalanche problems
- Mountain weather forecast
- Submit observations
- Colorado-specific forecasts
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The Colorado Avalanche Information Center avalanche forecast on the go! View up-to-date avalanche forecasts for the mountains across Colorado, including the forecast summary, forecast discussion, current avalanche problems, and the mountain weather forecast. You can also submit observations directly to the CAIC from your mobile device! For more information about CAIC: https://colorado.gov/avalanche To help support CAIC: https://friendsofcaic.org
StormNet
This app provides highly accurate severe weather forecasts using advanced radar and real-time data analysis. It predicts risks for lightning, hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes up to 14 days in advance.
- NEXRAD Super-Res Radar
- 14-day severe weather forecasts
- Lightning, hail, wind, tornado risk prediction
- Real-time data analysis
- Radar overlays (reflectivity, velocity)
- National Weather Service warnings
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StormNet is optimized to provide the most accurate severe weather forecast with NEXRAD, Super-Res Radar. StormNet is completely free, with no ads. Trained on decades of severe weather events, StormNet analyzes high-resolution radar, satellites, ground-based sensors, and weather forecast models in real-time to find complex patterns that lead to severe weather. The model updates every 2 minutes to provide 14-day forecasts for lightning, hail, damaging thunderstorm winds, and tornadoes. Super-Res Radar is the highest-resolution NEXRAD radar data available from 159 stations across the continental United States. Each radar station updates every 3-4 minutes and measures the intensity of precipitation based on how much energy the radar signal receives back from objects in the atmosphere. Combined, StormNet + Super-Res Radar provides a first-of-its-kind, multiple-component severe weather forecast system for the United States. StormNet Map Overlays • Radar: The highest-resolution radar available for the United States from each radar station. • Radar + Risk: NEXRAD radar, alongside StormNet risk probabilities, for the next 4 hours. • Risk Forecast: The StormNet risk probabilities from real-time to 14 days into the future. StormNet Risk Forecasts • Lightning • Hail • Damaging Winds • Tornado Super-Res (NEXRAD) Radar • Radar Reflectivity • Radar Velocity • Spectrum Width National Weather Service Warnings • Tornado • Severe Thunderstorm • Snow Squall • Flash Flood StormNet vs. National Weather Service The National Weather Service, the Storm Prediction Center, and other government agencies are the official sources for watches, warnings, and severe weather information. StormNet should serve as a trusted and automated guide for severe weather risk, but StormNet should not be treated as an official source. StormNet vs. Traditional Weather Models Existing weather forecast models are incredible feats of engineering and predict the ingredients for severe weather, but they are not designed to excel at severe weather forecasting and are not real-time tools. StormNet was trained and optimized to provide severe weather forecasts. StormNet vs. Other Weather Apps Existing weather apps and companies usually pass along official government watches and warnings, and often communicate if lightning or hail is already close by. While these are valuable features, we are not aware of another weather app or company that matches StormNet’s ability to provide real-time updates for lightning, hail, damaging thunderstorm winds, and tornado risk. Powered by OpenSnow In 2011, OpenSnow began predicting snowfall for skiers and snowboarders. OpenSnow has since become a global leader in mountain weather forecasts and expanded to provide forecasts for every type of outdoor activity. Since lightning is a risk to outdoor activities, especially on longer mountain-based adventures, OpenSnow created a weather forecast system that would provide both lightning forecasts to support real-time decisions and multi-day outlooks to support trip planning. Meteorologist Andrew Brady built StormNet to predict the risk of severe weather. OpenSnow acquired his technology in 2024 to help people stay safe and enjoy the outdoors. — Terms & Conditions — StormNet is free and available in the United States. We'll never track you, sell ads, or collect data. We only ask for your location to show the most accurate radar and severe weather forecast. Full terms and conditions can be found here: https://support.opensnow.com/legal/terms | https://support.opensnow.com/legal/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: StormNet at 4.9 against CAIC's 4.3. StormNet also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months) and review sentiment (82% vs 70%). CAIC's advantage is iOS requirement (12.4 vs 15.1). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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.
StormNet holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 18 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of CAIC's written reviews are positive against 82% of StormNet's.
CAIC ships an update every 6 months, StormNet every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CAIC | StormNet |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (15 ratings) | 4.9 (18 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 70.0% of reviews | 81.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 15 | 18 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.4 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | FRIENDS OF COLORADO AVALANCHE INFORMATION CENTER | Cloudnine Weather, Inc. |
Customer experience
CAIC
StormNet
In-app purchases
CAIC
No in-app purchases
StormNet
No in-app purchases









