While watching your favorite programming on Windows 7 Media Center you might want an easy way to check out weather conditions. Today we take a look at Heatwave, which is a simple plugin that provides you with global weather conditions in WMC.

Heatwave Setup

Installation is quick and easy following the install wizard, just go with the default settings.

After installation, open Media Center and you’ll find the Heatwave icon in the Extras Library.

When you open Heatwave you’re presented with weather conditions for major cities from around the world.

You’ll probably want to customize the forecasts for your area so click on Settings.

In the Settings section you can edit the locations you want to monitor the weather. You can change the order they appear on the main page and edit or delete locations.

You can enter in a zip code or the name of the location you want to add.

In the General Settings you can select the language beta, metric or standard units, and select auto updates.

Under Appearance you can select different options including Show on Start Menu.

Then from the Start Menu, you can jump right to a specific location to see the weather, or go into settings.

After everything is setup you can use it to quickly find out what the weather conditions are in your area.

At the bottom of the screen you can scroll through other conditions including local pollen reports, airport conditions, lawn and garden weather, and rush hour traffic.

Click on the information you want and it opens The Weather Channel website where you can enter in the city or zip code for the report.

Heatwave is available in 32 and 64 bit versions, and is a handy a plugin to have if you like keeping your eye on the weather while in Media Center.

Download Heatwave plugin at The Windows Club