Weather SlateSix intervals, one compact view
When precipitation is relevant, Weather Slate’s one-hour design uses six bars, each representing approximately ten minutes. Together they describe roughly the next 60 minutes. The intent is to make a near-term pattern readable without filling the home screen with dozens of marks.
When the outlook is dry, a compact dry-state presentation keeps the screen clear. A dry outlook refers to the available forecast; unavailable data should never be read as proof that conditions are dry.
- 0–10minutes
- 10–20minutes
- 20–30minutes
- 30–40minutes
- 40–50minutes
- 50–60minutes
Nowcasting asks a nearer-term question
A nowcast focuses on the immediate future. An hourly forecast supports a broader part of the day, while radar provides an observation-based view of precipitation patterns. Comparing the three can be more useful than asking one of them to do every job.
A ten-minute interval summarizes a short window. It is not a promise that rain begins exactly at a bar boundary. Local showers can grow, weaken, or change track between updates.
Use the timing as a margin, not a countdown
If a shower is expected near the end of a walk, consider the whole route and how quickly you could return. Leaving a margin makes more sense than trying to arrive home at the last predicted dry minute.
The same applies to putting equipment outside or starting setup for an event. Consider the cost of being surprised: bringing a jacket is easy; moving a crowd or dismantling equipment takes longer.
Know what can be missing
Minute-scale forecasts depend on source coverage, recent observations, and the ability to represent very local change. Apple notes that next-hour precipitation is available only in supported regions through WeatherKit. U.S. focus does not mean every weather product will always be available at every location.
Check the location, update time, and radar context. Planned rain alerts may help draw attention to changes, but no notification or dry-state display replaces official hazard information.