The Bottom Line
Forecastfox is an add-on for the Firefox web browser which gives you the ability to display international and local weather forecasts in almost any of the browser's toolbars or status bars. It can be customized to display specific weather information, Doppler radar maps, severe weather alerts, and much more.
Pros
- You can easily view your local weather conditions while browsing.
- Severe weather alerts warn you when treacherous weather may be approaching your area of interest.
- Weather forecasts for upcoming days are prominently displayed without being obtrusive.
- A multitude of customization options enable you to see the exact information that you desire.
- The interface and icons are easy to modify.
Cons
- AccuWeather's forecasts tend to be less than accurate at times when compared to other services.
- Forecastfox seems to intermittently take up a higher than expected amount of CPU resources.
- The add-on is not compatible with Firefox v2.0.0.1.
Description
- Forecastfox displays in any of the following locations: status bar, main menu bar, bookmarks and navigation toolbars.
- Current weather information such as conditions, temperatures, and wind direction and velocity is provided.
- Current conditions and severe weather alerts can be configured using several available values such as "RealFeel" temperature.
- These severe alerts can also be shown in tooltips and can be set to display with or without icons and/or labels.
- Miniature Doppler radar maps can be personally configured and displayed in tooltip form.
- The current day's forecast can be configured to display standard information along with items such as UV index & moon phase.
- Extended forecasts can be set up to show several days into the future, displaying only the information that you want to see.
- A rotating profile system lets you switch to different locales and forecast types automatically at user-set time intervals.
- Most items in Forecastfox are clickable and link to full AccuWeather forecast information.
- New icons can be added, allowing you to customize the display to your liking even further.
Guide Review - Forecastfox
In the interest of saving time, Forecastfox displays the weather information that you need in a choice of several very convenient locations in your Firefox window, without getting in the way or forcing you to navigate to a web page just to check on the temperature. The visual interface is pleasing to the eye and the tooltips that display when you scroll over each item present the pertinent weather facts in an easy to read manner. One feature that I believe to be very useful, especially during the winter, are the severe weather alerts. Also, the customization options do not leave much to be desired in the way of making Forecastfox behave just the right way for your particular needs. Although AccuWeather is not one of my favorite weather services due to some of their glaring inaccuracies at times, for the most part they tend to get things right. Forecastfox is subtle enough as to where you almost forget it is there, until you need it of course. This is a nice addition to anyone's Firefox add-on collection.
