Google Maps + Weather Channel

Published by Blake Macleod | Filed under Technology

Google Maps has recently added weather information from The Weather Channel. This is just one more reason why Google is the king of the online map and is continually distancing itself from the likes of AOL’s MapQuest, Microsoft’s Maps Live, and Yahoo’s Yahoo Maps. The Weather Channel data can be found by clicking the ‘My Maps’ button in the upper left hand corner of the web page (just under the search box). However, I feel that many people do not use the My Maps functionality of Google Maps along with a slew of other features that I find indispensable. So here is list of some of the cool thing that I do in Google Maps.

1. Street View might be the most invasive (people getting caught walking into adult book stores), but also one of the more amazing things Google Maps has to offer. I love strolling the streets of foreign cities or simply familiarizing myself with what a building looks like before I travel to it. Over Christmas we needed the address of a family friend to send out our Christmas cards, but we could not reach them to get it. So I fired up Google Maps Street View, pointed the little map guy at my friends house, the picture of the house confirmed the location and Google gave me the address. Amazing!

2.Satellite View is not as tech geeky cool as Street View, but it might offer the more practical value of the two. Satellite View is exactly what it sounds like; a photograph image taken from a satellite. You can turn on Satellite View by clicking the button at the top right corner of the map (same place as Street View). Where Street View has limited coverage, the whole worlds is covered by Satellite View (the level of zoom varies from place to place). This is a great tool to get an overview feeling for a location or to check out a river to find new fishing spots.

3. Traffic. Simple enough, get traffic updates before you hit the road (or if your have an internet enabled mobile device, while your on the road). I cannot live without this tool. I check it every time before I hop on I-94 (sometimes LSD is a quicker drive up north). Other sites offer more detailed traffic reports like Traffiic.com, but to me traffic is really only three levels. Not moving (red), moving but slower than normal (yellow), or wide open (green). I do not need a 10 point scale for traffic. Red, yellow, and green tell me everything I need to know.

4. I am going to add The Weather Channel layover in My Maps. I know that it is new, but I also know that I will be using it a lot. More to come on the use of this feature to come.

5. Finally, the ability to create your own maps using My Maps. You can create shapes and lines and color them different colors and customize them in all sorts of ways (use your imagination here, possibilities are endless). You can also lay over the maps other people have created like public transportation maps or maps Google has created like real estate search. However, there is one use that I had been looking for in a mapping solution for a long time. The ability to see how far I ran when I run outside. Seems easy enough, but when you zig and zag through a city and up and down the shore you cannot simply type in your starting and ending addresses. You can figure out the distances of your routes by simply creating a new map, clicking the line button (looks like a stock price rising) and start plotting your course.

There are tons of other great features Google offers with Google Maps. Use these five as a starting point and soon enough you will not be able to live without it either.