Zoom Earth is a weather map and storm tracker. It provides live satellite imagery of weather conditions such as rain, cloud cover, temperature, humidity, wind speeds, and more.
However, is Zoom Earth any good? Is it accurate, and is it free to use? It is a viable Google Earth alternative.
Today, I will be reviewing Zoom Earth in depth. I will go over its features, pricing, and more.
Let’s get into it!
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Verdict
Our Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Zoom Earth gets five stars from us. It is a free tool with many weather maps and overlays that allow you to view updated information on storms, precipitation, temperature levels, wind speeds, fires, and more.
I like to use it on the web, but Android and iOS apps are also available.
Pros
- It’s entirely free to use.
- It has a wealth of weather information, with several maps and overlays.
- Animations help you track weather changes over the past 24 hours.
- You can measure distances and areas with its handy tools.
- The mobile apps let you track weather information on the go.
Cons
- You can only zoom in a little bit. The resolution is limited, although it depends on which forecast model you use.
- You can’t view streets, houses, or cities. It’s not like Google Earth.
- Live satellite data is actually delayed by 20–40 minutes.
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Zoom Earth Review
Satellite Map
With the Zoom Earth satellite map, you can view weather information, track storms, and see other details from a satellite view.
Simply move around the map to view snowstorms, city lights at night, and other details. You can zoom in a bit to see weather patterns in more detail.
There are actually two versions of the satellite map. One is “Live,” which is updated every 10 minutes.
It doesn’t actually show real-time imagery. It’s usually delayed by 20–40 minutes, but it’s still pretty accurate.
Note that even with the “Live” mode, city lights at night are not updated in real time.
The other mode is “HD” (High Definition). HD shows greater detail, but it’s not as up to date.
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Weather Maps
There are several weather maps you can view. They are all accessible from the menu on the left side of the screen.
Radar
The radar map displays a rain radar map.
As demonstrated in the screenshot above, not only can you see where it is raining at the current moment, but you can also see where it is snowing.
If you want to know how many inches of rain or snow are falling per hour, hover your mouse over one of the rainy areas.
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Precipitation
The precipitation map shows the expected precipitation for an area. Unlike the rain radar map, which is in real-time, the precipitation map is a forecast for expected rainfall.
Once again, you can hover over an area to see the expected rainfall or snowfall for the area.
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Wind Speed and Wind Gusts
The wind speed map, under “wind” in the left-side menu, shows you the direction the current winds are blowing and how fast they are going. To see the speed of a wind gust, hover your mouse over it; it will display the current average speed.
You can also check the little arrows on the map, which show the directions and speeds of major wind gusts.
To see the maximum speed of sudden wind gusts and bursts, select the wind gust map.
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Temperature
There are two temperature maps. One shows the actual temperature, while the “feels like” map shows what the temperature actually feels like.
There is often a difference. If it’s a hot and humid day, it frequently feels hotter than it is.
If it’s cloudy, it might feel colder than it is.
These temperatures are measured at six feet above the ground.
The color-coded heat map, as per the scale in the lower-left corner, gives you a quick overview of the temperatures in different regions. You can also hover your mouse over any area to see the temperature in a specific spot on the map.
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Humidity
There are two humidity maps. One is the relative humidity, which compares the air moisture to the temperature.
The other is the “dew point” map, which shows you how humid it actually feels.
As with other maps, there is a color scale that gives you a quick overview of the humidity in different areas.
Pressure
The pressure map shows the atmospheric pressure at sea level. The pressure often determines the weather.
For example, when the pressure is low, you can expect heavier winds and more clouds. When the pressure is high, you can expect lighter winds and fewer clouds, with a greater chance of sunny skies.
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Weather Animations
You can also see how storms have been moving around over the past few hours by clicking on the play button at the bottom of the page. This will cause the map to play an animation over 10-minute intervals.
It’s a really fun feature, because you can clearly see snowstorms, hurricanes, and other storms moving across a country or state.
You can run animations on different maps. For example, if you want to see an animation of the wind gusts over the past 24 hours, run the animation while viewing the wind map.
To see how temperatures have risen or fallen, play the animation while viewing the temperature map.
If you want to know whether a storm is headed your way, you can use this feature to do so. For example, if there’s a snowstorm in a nearby state, and you are worried it might be heading to your area, you can run this animation to check the direction of the storm.
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Overlays
On the right side of the screen, you will see overlay options. These overlays provide additional information about certain weather conditions.
Let’s go through some of these overlays. However, note that the available overlays will depend on which map you are viewing.
For example, if you are viewing the pressure map, you will see a pressure isolines overlay. These represent elevation on the map.
Some other overlays include:
- Wind animation: This shows an animation of the current wind gusts. You can use this overlay on various maps, not only the wind maps.
- Night boundary: This overlay shows where it is daytime and where it is nighttime.
- Labels: The labels display the names of countries and oceans. You can toggle them on and off with this overlay.
- Clouds: The cloud overlay displays cloud cover information. If you want to see whether an area is cloudy or not, use this overlay.
Once again, if you don’t see an overlay option mentioned above, it might not be available on the map you are viewing. The cloud overlay, for example, is available when viewing the precipitation map.
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Measuring Distance
On the right side of the map, you will find a distance measurement tool. It looks like a line; in the screenshot above, the arrow is pointing to it.
Let’s say you want to determine the distance between two cities. You can easily do that by drawing a line between them.
For example, what is the distance between Paris, France, and Madrid, Spain? What about the distance between Kyiv, Ukraine, and Istanbul, Turkey?
I would have thought that Paris is a lot closer to Madrid than Kyiv is to Istanbul. Well, it turns out that they’re actually the same distance, as shown in the screenshot above.
Of course, that refers to physical distance only. The miles you will have to drive between each of the two cities from those pairs will depend on the road networks.
Measuring Areas
Right under the distance measurement tool, you will find an area measurement tool. It allows you to measure the square mileage of an area on the map.
You can draw a square, rectangle, triangle, or any other shape and see the total area inside that shape.
Settings
You can adjust the settings for your map by clicking on the settings icon on the right side of the screen. Options include (this is not a comprehensive list):
- Changing the animation speed
- Changing the animation duration (from three hours up to 24 hours)
- Changing the metric units (miles vs kilometers, Fahrenheit vs Celsius, etc)
Pricing
Zoom Earth is entirely free to use.
It uses data from OpenStreetMap, and it doesn’t charge any fees. There are no premium upgrades, nor will you be required to create an account.
You can use it without any restrictions and without paying.
The same goes for the mobile apps, which are free to download at no cost.
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Conclusion: Is Zoom Earth Any Good?
Yes, Zoom Earth is an amazing tool. Many people mistake it for something akin to Google Earth, but Google Earth is not designed to be a weather map but rather a tool you can use to zoom in and view streets, houses, and more up close.
Zoom Earth, on the other hand, provides satellite imagery for weather. It offers comprehensive weather data but is not meant to be used for exploring streets or cities.
