I agree that animating the icons just for the sake of animation isn't useful. However, the precipitation rate of the rain and snow animations could change in response to the forecast.
Yes, spatial v object based attention. The use of animation could be used to convey information and draw the visual attention.
So for example a rain cloud for it's raining. An animated rain cloud for thunderstorm warning, draws the attention to a piece of text that might be overlooked.
So for example a rain cloud for it's raining. An animated rain cloud for thunderstorm warning, draws the attention to a piece of text that might be overlooked.