Grandinometro app developed by student provides early hail warnings

Davide Agostini, a 21-year-old student from Vigonza, has developed Grandinometro, a free mobile application designed to protect vehicles and personal property from hail damage. The app was inspired by a 2023 storm that destroyed Agostini’s own roof.

Grandinometro utilizes a hybrid model of meteorological radar data from the Protezione Civile and real-time crowdsourced reports from users. By combining these sources, the software reconstructs storm trajectories to provide early warnings. In a recent test on August 28, the system successfully issued an alert 26 minutes before a storm hit the Padua region.

The platform is entirely free, contains no advertisements, and does not sell user data. Its effectiveness relies on the density of user reports; the system becomes more accurate as more people contribute geolocated sightings of hail in their specific areas.