Next week I’m headed to Orlando and Indianapolis. According to a weather site called TheVane, I should wear something like this in Orlando…

And for Indianapolis, TheVane recommends I don this cozy ensemble:

Luckily I’ve packed exactly those outfits, but if I need to get the matching gloves, TheVane instantly links you to all the places you can purchase the recommendations. You can search the weather for both men and women, and it’s a lot more fun than actually walking outside to see what the weather is like.

Ordinary and Extraordinary Weather Apps

TheVane is just one of several different takes on weather reporting. I used to use the boring old built-in weather forecasting that came with my iPhone (Siri shines when you ask her about the weather), but other options were just too tempting.

You can go with the robust (but kinda ordinary) major weather forecaster apps, such as the Weather Channel, AccuWeather and Weather Underground (the WunderMap is something special). All of these have both online options and a nice choice of mobile platforms (yes, even BlackBerry!).

Yahoo Weather is the prettiest by far. Whether you download the iOS or Android app or just visit the site, you’ll see beautiful Flickr photos of your location and current conditions and all kinds of nerdy weather details.

My favorite is Dark Sky (iOS). The clean look is (dare I say) sexy, and the dead-simple interface gives you the info you need right away. But the coolest feature is its ability to predict down to the minute how long a rainstorm is going to last.

This image is what was on my screen the other day in Fort Lauderdale, and it was exactly right! I got caught in the rain about 20 minutes after I left the hotel, but it only lasted 10 minutes.

If you’ve installed Google Now, you’ll see a card of weather information along with all your reminders, traffic reports for the commute, upcoming travel and more. This app aims to make weather just part of your daily prep for your life management.