Tropical Storm Arthur officially formed this week, and the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season is already running ahead of the 30-year average for named systems by July. A generic weather widget is not enough when a storm is closing on the coast. The best apps for tracking hurricanes pull live NOAA radar, push National Hurricane Center advisories the moment they drop, and let us watch the cone of uncertainty redraw itself every six hours.
We tested seven Android apps over the last two seasons. The list below covers the free everyday picks, the pro-grade tools meteorologists actually use, and the one app worth installing purely for its push alerts.
What to look for in a hurricane tracker
A good storm app shows you the same data you would see on a TV broadcast, faster, and on the screen you already have in your pocket.
- Live NOAA radar layers. Base reflectivity, velocity, and storm-relative motion. Anything that only shows a static forecast tile is too slow.
- Hurricane cone overlay. The 5-day forecast cone from the National Hurricane Center, with the spaghetti model lines visible.
- Push alerts for watches and warnings. Tropical storm watch, hurricane warning, storm surge warning. The app must override Do Not Disturb.
- Multiple model layers. GFS, ECMWF, HWRF, and HMON help you read divergence between the major models.
- Offline caching. When power goes out and cell towers congest, the last radar frame and forecast matter.
- No paywall on the basics. Push warnings should never be Pro-only.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price/mo | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AccuWeather | All-around storm tracking with MinuteCast | Yes, ad-supported | $0.99/mo Premium+ | 4.6 |
| NOAA Weather Radar Live | NOAA-direct radar and alerts | Yes, ad-supported | $9.99/yr Pro | 4.5 |
| The Weather Channel | Familiar TV-style coverage with live video | Yes, ad-supported | $2.99/mo Premium | 4.4 |
| Windy | Multi-model wind and pressure layers | Yes, full features | $19.99/yr Premium | 4.6 |
| MyRadar | Quick radar with hurricane layer add-on | Yes, ad-supported | $9.99/yr Pro | 4.7 |
| RadarScope | Pro-grade radar for serious storm chasers | No | $9.99 one-time | 4.7 |
| Storm Radar | NOAA polygons and pinpoint alerts | Yes, ad-supported | $4.99/yr Premium | 4.4 |
The 7 best apps for tracking hurricanes on Android
1. AccuWeather — Best all-around for storm season
AccuWeather is the default pick for a reason. The hurricane tracker overlay shows the active cone, projected category, and surface wind probabilities. MinuteCast gives a minute-by-minute precipitation forecast that survives in heavy rain bands when other apps quietly stop refreshing. Push alerts cover every NWS warning category and arrive within seconds of being issued.
Where it falls short: the free tier shows full-screen video ads that delay the load, and the Premium tier adds little for casual users.
Pricing:
- Free: full radar, hurricane cone, alerts, ad-supported
- Paid: $0.99/mo Premium, $1.99/mo Premium+ (no ads, 90-day historical radar)
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web
Bottom line: the everyday pick. Install this one first, then add a radar specialist on top.
2. NOAA Weather Radar Live — Best free NOAA-direct app
NOAA Weather Radar Live pulls directly from the NWS, with no proprietary blending or smoothing. The interface is plain, the radar updates every couple of minutes, and the storm cell tracking icons let you tap a thunderhead to see direction and severity. Cone overlays for active tropical systems appear automatically when one is named.
Where it falls short: the UI looks like 2018 and the ads in the free tier can be noisy.
Pricing:
- Free: ad-supported
- Paid: $9.99/yr Pro (no ads, more layers)
Platforms: Android, iOS
Bottom line: the pick if you want raw NOAA data without anyone’s editorial layer on top.
3. The Weather Channel — Best for TV-style coverage with live video
The Weather Channel app feels like the cable network it grew out of, in the best way. During an active hurricane, the home screen pivots to a dedicated storm view with live video from broadcasters, a cone map, current advisories, and the same “storm names” graphic the TV uses. Alerts arrive fast and override silent mode.
Where it falls short: heavy ad load on the free tier; the Premium tier removes them but costs more than competitors.
Pricing:
- Free: full storm coverage, ad-supported
- Paid: $2.99/mo Premium (no ads, extended forecast)
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web
Bottom line: the pick if you watched The Weather Channel as a kid and want that familiar voice on your phone.
4. Windy — Best for multi-model deep diving
Windy is the app meteorologists screenshot for their TV segments. Toggle between GFS, ECMWF, HRRR, NAM, ICON, HWRF, and HMON to see how the models disagree, then play the wind, pressure, and temperature layers as smooth animations. The hurricane tracker overlay shows every active named storm globally with current models stacked.
Where it falls short: weak push alert support, fewer NOAA-style warning polygons.
Pricing:
- Free: every model, every layer
- Paid: $19.99/yr Premium (1-hour updates, no ads)
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web
Bottom line: the pick when you want to read the models yourself instead of trusting a single forecast.
5. MyRadar — Best quick-look radar
MyRadar opens to a radar map faster than anything else on this list. The base app is free and ad-supported, with optional add-ons (hurricane tracker, aviation layer, severe weather alerts) that you can buy individually rather than as one subscription. The Hurricane Tracker add-on costs a couple of dollars and stays on your account permanently.
Where it falls short: the modular pricing adds up if you want every layer.
Pricing:
- Free: radar with ads
- Paid: $9.99/yr Pro plus add-ons from $0.99 each
Platforms: Android, iOS, Wear OS
Bottom line: the pick when you want to glance at a radar in three seconds and pay only for the layers you actually use.
6. RadarScope — Best for serious storm chasers
RadarScope is the only pay-once app on this list, and it earns the price. The Level 2 NEXRAD data shows base reflectivity, velocity, spectrum width, and dual-polarization fields the consumer apps strip out. Storm tracks, hail size estimates, and severe attributes are visible on the same screen. NWS chasers and broadcast meteorologists use it.
Where it falls short: the interface is dense, the learning curve is steep, and there are no consumer-style alerts.
Pricing:
- Paid: $9.99 one-time on the Play Store
- Optional: Pro subscription for Level 3, super-res, additional cities ($9.99/mo)
Platforms: Android, iOS, macOS
Bottom line: the pick if you trade weather data for sport, or your job depends on reading raw radar.
7. Storm Radar — Best NOAA polygon alerts
Storm Radar from The Weather Channel pulls in NWS warning polygons and lets you pin specific addresses for hyper-local alerts. It is the one app that has woken our test phones at 3 AM for a tornado warning that landed on the exact polygon edge, when other apps fired too late.
Where it falls short: thinner layers than RadarScope, no model views.
Pricing:
- Free: ad-supported
- Paid: $4.99/yr Premium
Platforms: Android, iOS
Bottom line: the pick for the alert layer. Install it on top of one of the daily-driver apps above.
How to pick the right one
If you want one app: AccuWeather. If you trust NOAA more than any brand: NOAA Weather Radar Live. If you want the same view a broadcast meteorologist sees: Windy plus RadarScope. If you only care about alerts that land before the storm: Storm Radar. If you live in the path of every Atlantic system: install AccuWeather, MyRadar with the hurricane add-on, and Windy. The combination covers fast radar, fast alerts, and the underlying model spread.
FAQ
Which is the best free hurricane tracking app for Android?
AccuWeather and NOAA Weather Radar Live are the strongest free picks. AccuWeather has the slicker interface and more reliable alerts. NOAA Weather Radar Live is the closer view of raw NWS data.
Does the National Hurricane Center have its own Android app?
No official NHC app exists. The NHC publishes data feeds that the apps above consume directly. AccuWeather and NOAA Weather Radar Live both reflect NHC advisories within minutes of release.
Can I get hurricane alerts that bypass Do Not Disturb?
Yes. Most of these apps request the override permission during setup, and Android’s emergency alert system carries the most severe NWS warnings independently. Inside each app, look under Settings then Notifications to confirm the warning level is set to “critical” or “high priority”.
What radar app do storm chasers use?
RadarScope is the dominant pick among professional and serious amateur storm chasers because of its Level 2 NEXRAD data and dual-polarization layers.
Are there any offline hurricane tracking apps?
Most apps cache the last radar frame and current advisory for offline viewing, but live data needs a connection. RadarScope and Windy both keep enough cached to be useful for a couple of hours in a power outage.
