With 10-12 inches of snow in the forecast this week, and another 10-12 inches in the forecast for next week in New England, WeatherLive’s WeatherX would seem like the ideal app to have.

Unfortunately, this app couldn’t tell you where it was snowing unless you put your iPhone outside and let the white stuff cover it.

WeatherX purports to give you data and maps about hurricanes, storms, airport delays, tsunamis, earthquakes and I don’t know what else. The data and maps are pulled mainly from public-domain databases at the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

I say “purports” because the maps are so distorted they’re difficult to make sense of. They’re scrunched up in portrait mode and it’s hard to fathom why anyone would think that’s acceptable over landscape mode.

When you zoom in, it’s difficult to get your bearings, even when WeatherX uses your own location — which undoubtedly is familiar to most people. When you finally figure out where you are on a map, the image is often pixelated beyond recognition.

As one reviewer said: “This app is more like Weather Hex.”

Save your $4.99.

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category: Weather