Google Adds Weather To Google Earth [Google Earth 5.2 Now Packing Weather Data, Looks Fun To Play With, Not Sure It Could Replace The Weather Channel]

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Thinking of checking the weather and hoping for a new method of doing so? Well, for once you may be in luck as Google has just announced a new addition to Google Earth — current weather conditions. The new support comes by way of Google Earth 5.2 and is done so with the introduction of two new layers.

The new layers include the “cloud layer” and the “radar layer” and according to the Google Lat Long Blog;

“The latest version projects images of rain and snow over the areas with those weather patterns as it’s actually happening!”

Granted, this is not likely to replace your use of (enter random weather program or app name here), but at the same time it is kind of neat. I can say for me it will not replace my use of The Weather Channel (both on television and my phone), then again, I live in Florida where the weather can change from rain to sunny very quickly, and given that it is more often better for me to step outside and look at the sky. That and, just assume it will rain at some point in the day.

That aside though, in order to check out the weather in Google Earth 5.2, just fire up Google Earth and then enable the clouds and radar layers, which will let you see things like whether it may be raining in a certain location. You can even scroll in close to the ground and see the rain as it falls.

Finally, as of now the current weather data in Google Earth is limited to those in the US and some parts of Europe. With that, now you can fire up Google Earth and try and amaze your friends and family with your weather predicting skills. Otherwise no word if or when this will come to any of the mobile versions, but it sounds like it would make a pretty nice addition to the iPad version of Google Earth.