Mobile app showing probability of rain launched

MANILA, Philippines - A software developer yesterday launched the first locally produced mobile app that allows one to know the probability of rain.

Voyager Innovations, Inc. (Voyager), a subsidiary of Smart Communications, Inc., launched RaincheckPH which can predict the coming of rain four hours to four days before the downpour with 95 percent accuracy.

RaincheckPH uses data from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)’s Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) in predicting the coming of rain.

Launched in 2011 after the devastation caused by Typhoon Sendong in Northern Mindanao, Project NOAH operates more than 700 sensors that gather a variety of weather information all around the country.

Covering nearly 70 cities around the country, the RaincheckPH app alerts users through a pop-up notification whenever rain is coming down in their current location.

The mobile app can be downloaded to a smartphone with a Google Android operating system.

To download the RaincheckPH app, Android smartphone users need to proceed to the Google Play Store and search for “RaincheckPH.”

Users of RaincheckPH can also get real-time data on temperature, weather conditions, amount of rain, wind speeds and a full four-day forecast.

To warn friends and loved ones of coming rain and other hazards, users may use the mobile app’s social media sharing feature so they can share “nowcasting” details through Twitter or Facebook.

“After one to two years of using RaincheckPH app, we may add some more functions,” said Mahar Lagmay, executive director of Project NOAH.

In future updates, users can get up-to-the-minute reports on class or work suspensions in their area as delivered by InterAksyon.com, the online news portal of  TV5.

Voyager is also working on building a crowdsourcing facility within the mobile app where users can report on flooded roads and other situations within their area, so other users can take precautions and look for alternative routes to their destinations.

The launching of RaincheckPH marks the first step in getting Filipinos ready for hazards and natural calamities that affect the Philippines yearly.

“We are all well aware of how destructive typhoons can get once they make landfall, as we’ve seen in what happened in the Visayas with Super Typhoon Yolanda,” said Benjie Fernandez, chief operating officer of Voyager. “But we also know that even monsoon rains can cause major destruction in some parts of the country, as we’ve seen here in Metro Manila in the past few years.”

For more information on this mobile innovation, visit www.raincheck.ph and www.voyagerinnovation.com.

By making users aware of coming rain, RaincheckPH can help Filipinos develop a culture of preparedness for any type of weather hazards and other forms of disasters, Fernandez added.

“With the RaincheckPH app, Filipinos can receive timely and accurate information about rain and other hazards within their vicinity so they can always be prepared,” Lagmay said.

“Equipping Filipinos with the proper tools and mindset to prepare for these natural disasters has always been the main goal of Project NOAH from the start – and this new and innovative mobile app helps in achieving that,” Lagmay added.

“In times of calamities, preparedness trumps whatever measures we implement after storms ravage our towns and cities. By equipping Filipinos with tools like RaincheckPH, we can develop a culture of preparedness and a mindset that is always ready for whatever disasters that may come our way,” Fernandez said.

For more information on this mobile innovation, visit www.raincheck.ph and www.voyagerinnovation.com.