8 Fantastic Examples of CSS & JS Weather Widgets
Weather is a huge part of our daily lives. As such, there is always a need for websites and mobile apps to report on it. Users will want to check out anything from the current conditions outside their house to the forecast for their favorite vacation spot.
A compelling UI can make weather both easier to understand and even a bit more entertaining. Designers achieve this through a combination of color, animation and playful icons. Sometimes, an unexpected surprise or two can also have a positive impact.
Let’s take a look at some examples of weather UIs that are the design equivalent of a sunny day.
Weather Beyond Borders
Card-based UIs seem to be a natural fit for weather data. Everything you need is all in one neat and tidy space. But this snippet breaks away from tradition. It animates various weather scenarios that go beyond that little card. Rain, snow and sun rays burst outside of the card’s confines.
See the Pen Animated Weather Cards by Steve Gardner
Simply Beautiful
What makes this weather UI work is its simplicity. The use of familiar, rounded shapes along with a high color-contrast make for easy reading. Plus, the included hover effects are sure to grab a viewer’s attention.
See the Pen Simple Weather App Design by Colin Espinas
Abstract Icons
Here’s a group of CSS3 icons that look boldly different than your typical weather imagery. They’re a bit on the abstract side, with simple animations that add personality. While they’re a bit larger in this example, the styles lend themselves to small icons as well. They offer a way to stand out without taking too much space.
See the Pen Animated Weather Icons(pure CSS) by Akhil Sai Ram
SVG Movement
This collection of animated SVG icons are razor-sharp. The animated movements are intuitive and noticeable – but not over the top. Even better is that they’re vector and can scale to any size. They would make a great addition to any weather app.
See the Pen some weather icon svgs by Nat
Your Local Weather on Demand
Location-based services are great for bringing relevant information to your site’s visitors. This snippet is a prime example, as it detects your location and shows the current weather. The Google Map in the background is also a nice touch.
See the Pen Show the Local Weather by Den McHenry
Gentle Waves
This snippet combines several aspects of the other examples on this list. It’s location-based, features a card-like container and makes use of simple animation. The result is a weather widget that’s quite minimal, yet noticeable. It’s proof that you don’t need to overwhelm users with too much design to keep them informed.
See the Pen Weather card by The Coding Aviator
Now and Beyond
Here’s an attractive widget that grabs your location and shows you what to expect through midnight the next day. Right from the start you’ll find the current temperature and other relevant data. Scroll down further and see what things will look like in three-hour increments. The included video background really completes the look.
See the Pen Fluency – CIT261 by Bermon Painter
Here’s Mario With Today’s Weather
While this delightful weather UI isn’t accurate, it sure is fun to watch. The star of the show needs no introduction, and the angry sun in the sky brings back great (or terrifying) memories. Besides, you could always hook this up to an API to get a real forecast.
See the Pen Super Mario Weather by ErreC
Dress Your Website for the Weather
Displaying weather on your website isn’t necessarily difficult in a technical sense. But designing a UI that grabs attention (while remaining unobtrusive) is a real challenge.
The examples here (with the possible exception of Mario) offer a clean, unique way to display important information. The use of animation is particularly nice, as it adds context to various types of weather. Plus, it’s just more fun than a static image.
Looking for more weather UI snippets? Pack your umbrella and head on over to our CodePen collection!
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