Hajra Naz
The team behind Dark Sky—the cult-favorite weather app acquired by Apple in March 2020—is returning to the forecasting space with a new product they believe improves on their original formula.
Their new app, Acme Weather, is designed to deliver forecasts that are not only more reliable but also more transparent about uncertainty. In addition to standard alerts, the app includes playful notifications, such as predictions for rainbows and especially vivid sunsets.
Unlike typical weather apps that present a single forecast as the definitive answer, Acme Weather layers in alternate projections to give users a clearer picture of what might actually happen.
In a blog post introducing the product, Dark Sky co-founder Adam Grossman explains that the app’s in-house forecasting system draws from multiple numerical weather prediction models, as well as satellite imagery, radar data, and ground-station observations. By combining these sources, the team aims to produce a more dependable primary forecast.
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What sets the app apart, however, is its display of alternative scenarios. These appear as gray lines on forecast graphs, visually representing other possible outcomes.
“Forecasts are often wrong—it’s the weather,” Grossman said in an interview with TechCrunch. “It’s one of the hardest things to predict. And one of our biggest frustrations with many weather apps is that you only see their best guess. You don’t know how confident they are.”
Understanding the range of possible outcomes can be particularly helpful during major weather events.
Take a winter storm, for example. One model might predict morning snowfall, while others suggest precipitation could hold off until later — increasing the chance of afternoon rain instead. Seeing those variations directly on a timeline gives users an intuitive sense of model agreement — or disagreement.
That more nuanced view of probability could make the app valuable not just to consumers, but potentially to developers as well.
At Dark Sky, the team monetized its weather engine through a paid API. After joining Apple, they worked on WeatherKit, a subscription-based toolkit giving developers access to Apple’s weather data. Grossman said they haven’t yet decided whether Acme Weather will eventually offer its own developer API.
For now, the focus is on the consumer app, priced at $25 per year with a two-week free trial. The subscription helps offset the cost of aggregating multiple data models and sources — an expensive process.
“Most of our time has gone into building our own forecast — essentially our own data provider,” Grossman said. That independence allows the team to generate multiple forecast paths and build custom maps without relying on third-party mapping platforms.
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At launch, the app includes a wide range of interactive maps, covering radar, lightning, rain and snow totals, wind speeds, temperature, humidity, cloud cover, and hurricane tracking.
Another feature, called Community Reports, allows users to submit real-time updates about local conditions, improving the app’s live situational awareness.
Dark Sky became known for its precise hyperlocal rain predictions—sometimes down to the minute. Acme Weather aims to refine that capability while adding more personality.
The app includes built-in notifications for rain, nearby lightning, community updates, and government-issued severe weather alerts. It will also experiment with creative notifications like rainbow forecasts and alerts for potentially stunning sunsets.
These experimental tools live inside a dedicated “Acme Labs” section. Grossman said the team will approach these predictions conservatively, given the technical challenges involved.
Users can customize alerts based on the weather conditions that matter most to them — whether that’s wind speeds, UV index levels, or the chance of rain within 24 hours.
The ability to experiment freely was a major reason the founders returned to building an independent app.
“I absolutely love Apple,” Grossman said. “But in a large company, it’s difficult to test unusual or experimental ideas. If you have a billion users, mistakes are costly. Development cycles are long. There are many stakeholders. Being able to try things quickly — that’s exciting.”
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Acme Weather is currently available on iOS, with an Android version in development.
The company is bootstrapped and led by Grossman alongside co-founders Josh Reyes and Dan Abrutyn, both former members of the Dark Sky team. The small workforce includes a mix of former Dark Sky employees and new hires as they aim to carve out a fresh position in the competitive weather app market.
