Google today announced a visual and technical overhaul of its weather forecast feature in Google Now for Android. Because weather isn't a dedicated app on Android, Google is able to integrate the new features and weather animations more deeply into the Android search function. Now you'll get charts and information tailored for viewing on mobile and available via voice, as opposed to the standard chart you could get before, which mirrored what Google displays on the web when you ask about the weather through Google search.

"Now when you search for 'weather' or ask Google, 'will it rain today?' in the Google app on your Android phone, you’ll get a wealth of new information," writes Google project manager Lea Stolowicz in a blog post. Those features include "hourly sky conditions and chance of rain, severe weather alerts, a detailed 10-day forecast, air quality, UV index, sunrise and sunset times, and more."

Google is even including a neat little animated frog, or a "new meteorologically inclined friend" in Google's words, whose cartoonish background conditions will change to match the weather, that way you can get a sense of the day's forecast at a glance. Google will also start including destinations you add to your Google search drop-down menu.