Windy Community
    • Unread
    • Categories
    • Groups
    • Go to windy.com
    • Register
    • Login

    New Snow/Ice Overlay Makes Map Unreadable

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Your Feedback and Suggestions
    23 Posts 18 Posters 3.7k Views 4 Watching
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • idefix37I Offline
      idefix37 Sailor Moderator @AreYouCirrus
      last edited by

      @AreYouCirrus said in New Snow/Ice Overlay Makes Map Unreadable:

      it makes it very hard to distinguish between different return levels to spot areas of heavier snow

      Really? You can’t differentiate the shades of blue, green, yellow?

      1DF33927-8C7C-4AFB-994C-5FA5F89FF509.jpeg

      A B 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • A Offline
        AreYouCirrus @idefix37
        last edited by

        @idefix37

        as far as where things begin and end? Yes, the white snowflakes make it harder to see what is going on exactly where. Different zoom levels present differing levels of obfuscation as well.

        So, yes, I do not like things that make it more difficult.

        Comparing these, the top image is easier to decipher what is going on where.

        Screenshot 2025-12-14 at 4.23.08 PM.png
        Screenshot 2025-12-14 at 4.23.22 PM.png

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 5
        • B Offline
          blues335 @idefix37
          last edited by

          @idefix37
          Really? Did you bother to look at the image he posted ?

          Hopefully this will become a 'selectable' option, Honestly I like this site, but a deal breaker for me ... I can go somewhere else if this is what the crowd wants.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 9
          • L Offline
            lalldrin
            last edited by

            As a long-time Windy user, I want to chime in to agree that the new snow overlay is a step backward. I'm amazed there's no way to disable it. It obscures the radar and city labels. It's just bad UI/UX design.

            Please make it better or give users the option to disable. Or both! Thanks.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 15
            • P Offline
              porkapatamus | Premium
              last edited by

              Please, please, please make this a toggle-able option.

              Also, depicting precipitation type should simply be a different color scale like how every other weather website on the planet depicts it. (I know you like to differentiate yourself, but basically plastering a bunch of asterisks on top of everything isn’t it.)

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 13
              • uktim32U Offline
                uktim32
                last edited by

                I've got to admit I'm quite disappointed with the layer. I was hoping for different color palettes for each precip type (ideally that we can also use custom ones). I think the snowflake overlay just looks ugly.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 12
                • iburnesI Offline
                  iburnes @byahi1983 | Premium
                  last edited by

                  @byahi1983 Completely agree. Please make it a toggle on/off.

                  Or add a different color pallet.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 4
                  • Meteorologist BlaisM Offline
                    Meteorologist Blais | Premium
                    last edited by

                    Agreed!

                    Windy team:
                    If you do not make a toggle button for this to disable it, I will definitely be canceling my subscription. What an absolutely unnecessary eyesore to incorporate. If anything, it makes your product look cheesy and elementary, and also makes it unusable.

                    I will be using RadarScope in the meantime.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 11
                    • Jason SearsJ Offline
                      Jason Sears
                      last edited by Jason Sears

                      Just another user logging in to say these snow overlay is a big step backwards. Windy has been my go to radar for years now and I've pretty much stopped using it in the winter. Hoping you add a toggle to turn this off, especially since it's so unnecessary. It's 20 degrees, I'm well aware the precipitation is snow. What I'd really like is to be able to see the fine detail of how the lake effect is building and shifting near me that the overlay makes really difficult.

                      Here's Windy with the overlay...
                      1bd7e59b-91fd-4cea-a25a-2d9bc0dbe970-image.png

                      And here's NOAA without it:
                      d7053b3b-3f03-481c-a27a-54e86a42c576-image.png

                      NOAA I can clearly see where the heavy lake band is forming and it's direction. Windy, not at all because the white snowflakes make seeing the contrasts between light green and slightly darker green almost impossible.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 5
                      • meiersa78M Offline
                        meiersa78 | Premium
                        last edited by

                        Just adding a comment to further boost this. Hopefully... If Windy says it listens to suggestions, then please do.

                        Give us an option to disable that eyesore or remove it entirely. Or, instead of that unusable, ugly overlay, maybe use a different color scale like others suggested and like almost every other app/website shows different precipitation types.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                        • Volumes3922V Offline
                          Volumes3922 | Premium
                          last edited by

                          I hadn't seen the issue until I looked at the exmples above as my area rarely has snow.

                          I like that the layer now discriminates between precipitation types but do agree others like netweather.tv do it better.

                          On netweather.tv it displays rain as blue, sleet as green and snow as pink.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                          • J Offline
                            JSB66 | Premium
                            last edited by

                            I couldn't take it any more either, I sent a bug report! Either make the snow layer selectable, make the snow flake transparency adjustable or change it to a color scale and not the snow flake symbols.

                            idefix37I A 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • idefix37I Offline
                              idefix37 Sailor Moderator @JSB66
                              last edited by idefix37

                              @JSB66

                              It's not a bug, just a UI choice that you don't like.

                              It is now selectable in the browser version

                              8E14023B-94A6-40A6-B9FA-709564EED3EF.jpeg

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • A Offline
                                algorithmn @JSB66 | Premium
                                last edited by

                                Any idea is/when there will be an option to turn it off on the phone app? You can't view the underlying map data. Should be an option or make the overlay very transparent. Great app otherwise, but this is not so good. Thanks in advance!

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • A Offline
                                  ARadloff | Premium
                                  last edited by

                                  I absolutely hate this snowflake option in the mobile app. If they don't make it selectable I'm cancelling.👎👎

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • R Offline
                                    Researcher2017
                                    last edited by

                                    First, I love Windy. I've used it for years, and 99% of what Windy provides is better than any alternative.

                                    But like others, I unfortunately signed up today specifically to provide the same feedback: the new winter overlay is horrid. Since it's a white snowflake graphic overlay, it actually does make it harder to read. It's looks almost fuzzy or blurry and much harder to differentiate than you'd expect.

                                    More critically, which is vital during this current storm, there is no differentiation between snow or sleet--simply frozen or non-frozen precip. (Contrast a competitor claiming to be "Accurate" -- they use the normal shading for rain, blue tones for snow, and pink tones for ice). Living in an area where we're frequently on the snow/ice line, it's hugely important to know--snow is impacting; ice can shut us down.

                                    Please please please find a better way to present this, and distinguish ice versus snow.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • WeatherMan10W Offline
                                      WeatherMan10 | Premium
                                      last edited by

                                      @ARadloff said in New Snow/Ice Overlay Makes Map Unreadable:

                                      I absolutely hate this snowflake option in the mobile app. If they don't make it selectable I'm cancelling.👎👎

                                      @algorithmn said in New Snow/Ice Overlay Makes Map Unreadable:

                                      Any idea is/when there will be an option to turn it off on the phone app? You can't view the underlying map data. Should be an option or make the overlay very transparent. Great app otherwise, but this is not so good. Thanks in advance!

                                      @idefix37 will confirm this but I believe the mobile update is out either next week or very soon

                                      idefix37I 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • idefix37I Offline
                                        idefix37 Sailor Moderator @WeatherMan10
                                        last edited by idefix37

                                        @WeatherMan10
                                        The beta version of the mobile app (v49) offers this setting. So surely available with the next update.

                                        WeatherMan10W 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • WeatherMan10W Offline
                                          WeatherMan10 @idefix37 | Premium
                                          last edited by WeatherMan10

                                          @idefix37

                                          I just remember @suty saying that it should be out next week or very soon in another thread

                                          EDIT; found it https://community.windy.com/topic/43331/kml-files-disappearing/7?_=1769361633791
                                          it's another issue but he says in a week or 2.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          Windy Community  |  Powered by excellent NodeBB
                                          Terms of Use     Privacy Policy     Windy.com