On August 9, 2026, Windows Latest reported that the Windows 11 Weather app used more than 1.2GB of memory even when left untouched. Task Manager also showed nine Chromium-based subprocesses running under the app. Microsoft's official documentation describes Weather as one of the apps that use Microsoft Edge WebView2, and says that running as multiple processes is by design. The 1.2GB observation shouldn't be dismissed. But the number of processes alone can't tell us what caused the bloat or whether there is a memory leak.
What the 1.2GB observation does and doesn't show
The Windows Latest reporter already had Task Manager open when launching Weather. Without clicking or scrolling, memory usage reportedly climbed past 1.2GB. What the article's screen recording confirms is limited to this: on the reporter's machine, heavy memory use occurred while the forecast screen was displayed.
The outlet also measured the macOS Weather app and reported a single process using 246.7MB. Dividing 1.2GB by 246.7MB gives roughly 4.86, so the "about five times" headline is arithmetically sound. However, the article doesn't state either machine's configuration, the OS versions, the app versions, or how long the measurement ran. The features may not be identical, either, so the roughly fivefold gap can't be treated as a universal performance difference in the Windows version.
Information on reproducibility is also lacking. The article doesn't say whether the 1.2GB was a temporary spike right after launch, whether usage stays above 1.2GB if you keep waiting, or whether memory returns after the app is closed. This measurement is a starting point for investigation. It is not proof of normal usage or of a leak.
Nine processes are not evidence of a fault
In its official WebView2 FAQ, Microsoft lists Weather as an example of an app using the technology. WebView2 embeds web content such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript into Windows apps, using the same Chromium-based engine as Edge. The nine subprocesses Windows Latest found in Task Manager are consistent with this architecture.
WebView2 separates browser management and rendering into different processes. GPU work runs independently, and helper processes handle networking and audio. According to Microsoft, this split limits the impact when one task stalls and helps maintain security and performance. Nine processes point to the use of web technology, but they don't mean nine faults or nine times the waste.
Still, WebView2 does carry a startup cost. Microsoft's performance guidance states that each WebView2 control launches multiple processes, including browser, renderer and GPU, adding overhead to startup time and memory. Usage also depends on the complexity of the web content displayed and the processes it spawns. To determine what accounted for the 1.2GB in an app that renders forecasts, maps and ads on one screen, you would have to separately measure the JavaScript heap, long-retained DOM and GPU buffers.
The diagnostic tools Microsoft points to also go beyond counting processes. Edge DevTools can examine memory and long-lived DOM, and Windows Performance Recorder can log process launches and memory trends. Only when abnormal growth continues does it make sense to suspect a leak and trace the breakdown.
Separating the taskbar weather from the Weather app
Microsoft's Windows guidance describes two separate ways to check the weather: the Weather widget on the taskbar and the preinstalled Windows Weather app. The former shows current conditions on the taskbar and forecasts in the widgets board. The latter opens from the Start menu and shows detailed daily and hourly forecasts.
Windows Latest recorded the 1.2GB+ figure when its reporter opened the Weather app and displayed a forecast screen. Nothing supports concluding that the same 1.2GB is constantly consumed just because a temperature appears on the taskbar. Users checking their own machines should separate Weather from Widgets in Task Manager and compare usage before launch and right after the screen appears. Recording again a few minutes later and after closing the app would show whether the load persists.
This distinction matters for remedies, too. If the simple taskbar display is enough, there's no need to launch the Weather app for detailed forecasts. Conversely, if Widgets itself is heavy, closing the Weather app won't help, and the widget side must be checked separately. Measuring the two apart on your own machine comes first.
Will Microsoft's improvements reach Weather?
On May 1, 2026, Microsoft announced that it was working to reduce memory use across Windows 11. For Widgets, it began rolling out measures to Windows Insiders that lower default memory use, return unused memory sooner, and limit pre-launching on devices with little installed memory. Improvements aimed at low-memory environments are already an official development priority.
However, that announcement describes Widgets. It doesn't indicate a plan to move the Weather app to a native implementation, or a schedule to slim it down during 2026. Microsoft's official WebView2 guidance lists reduction techniques, including an API to lower the memory target when inactive, an API to suspend the renderer, and reuse of the same environment. Which of these Weather adopts can't be confirmed from public information.
We can say Weather has become lighter only when Microsoft discloses what changed and the same app version and Windows build show improved memory trends from launch through exit. More than a single 1.2GB reading, the figures that measure a built-in app's quality are how far memory drops while idle and how quickly it is returned after the app is closed.