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I myself have taken quite an interest in weather lately. Each day, especially at work, I have a look at what's going on around the country and predict which airports will get various delays.
I've already gotten a few notes from people asking for a weather forum...which we may be able to pull off one day if there is interest and activity from enough members.
Anyone else here follow the weather? What do you use and what exactly do you check?
Yes, I am interested. I use a bunch of different general sites I use with radar but lately use my iPhone weather apps. You always need to be on your game if you try for lightning shots. It really sux when your at work and cant leave and you see a MASSIVE squall line heading thru!
http://www.longislandwallpapers.com/..._aJqMG-S-1.jpg
I used my old phone weather app for the F-14 Lightning tracking
http://www.longislandwallpapers.com/...71_LZ3rX-S.jpg
I was a meteorology major in college, which although had it's highs and lows :cool:, was a lot more work and not as fun as I initially imagined. Involved a TON of math/physics; I'm more of a "forecaster" type of person...
Basically, I will never use weather.com and when I see people using it, it pisses me off...
I generally use the National Weather Service's website (www.nws.noaa.gov), and if there's something interesting of note or I want more insight, I'll go to their "Forecast Discussion" page on the bottom right of the local homepage. This is where the actual forecaster, usually twice a day, writes what he/she is looking at and why he/she is predicting what he/she is.
Their radar products suck because they use simple doppler, but the Storm Relative Velocity products are really good and something I haven't found on most commercial sites. It's useful, especially in T'storms for determining rotation (i.e. tornado/possibility of a tornado). Most tornado warnings in fact are issued based on what forecasters are looking at not just on regular radar but primarily on the SRV.
For weather radar products I will use intellicast.com or wxunderground.com.
I love intellicast.com and I have been using weather.com only because it has current radar that works well. I am not a fan of weather.com but do not have your type of formal training and just use it for radar.
I am trying to find a good realtime lightning tracker online to use on my iPhone. Anyone have a good site to see realtime lighting hits...or close to it. All I have seen have been LAME!
I love weather... I am fond of convective weather particularly... Theroy behind thunderstorm development really takes my interest as well as wind.... Wind is a very interesting feature... It ties in with hydro and aerodynamics... It is quite facinating... There is nothing more awe inspiring that to pass by a towering thunderstorm from the comfort of an airplane looking UP at it from FL380.... That just blows my mind... I have had the pleasure to discuess thunderstorms to an indepth level with Bill Korbel on Facebook a few times.... He is certainly someone to talk to about these things.
I'm a convection guy as well. I use aviationweather.gov religiously, checking out everything on there and making my own forecasts before betting others on what will happen.
I do enjoy good wrath. As for weather service, NOAA.gov, always on target.
I use the Aviation Weather Center from NOAA. The radar side of it is a bit weak, WSI helps out here but that's a subscription thing. For aviation though, it's a tough site to beat.
Wunderground.com has the best free radar maps I've seen, and no annoying ads like weather.com: http://www.wunderground.com/auto/wxmap/
I use the same along with a few iPhone Apps. The only thing I think is funny about wunderground is the Panera Bread overlay. You have to be aware of those pesky bread showers.Quote:
Originally Posted by GothamSpotter
I usually use a combination of different sites. I'm fairly concerned about visability for aerial photography, so I'm always looking at Temp/Dewpoint spreads, and if there was a site that would predict those - it would be really cool.
Temp/Dewpoint is vital for my photographers-for a go/nogo mission. They always ask me, and I like to be as accurate as possible, because once the engine is running, time is money.
:)
And here all along I thought point spreads were make or break to the bank! LOL That is an interesting take though. I have never considered a factor like that in relation to visibility for shooting before.
I used to go by dew point spreads, but even that has messed me up. I find that wind direction has been most reliable for me....if they're coming from the north or northwest...we're getting cooler Canadian winds. East or south...moist (humid) air coming off the ocean.
Yup- Northwest winds are a plus - mainly because they make a larger temp/dewpoint spread. But next time it's foggy out, take a look at a local temp/dewpoint, and you'll notice there will only be a degree or two of seperation. In the fall, when you get a 15 point spread - you'll have excellent clarity! I guess you don't notice this as much when you're on the ground, but on days when you fly and you can see 45 miles, you know the temp/dewpoint is pretty far apart. :cool:
m.wunderground.com too for mobile devices. I have all the places that I normally fly to saved as favorites on my mobile. Great stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by GothamSpotter
You're right about that, but I don't know any other way of predicting spread without going by the wind.Quote:
Originally Posted by Altitude9
It pisses me off also when people use weather.com. Whenever I see people using it, I always tell them to try weather.gov (same as the NOAA national weather site) and they never go back to weather.com. Displayed are all watches and warnings for the country and I am fascinated by tornado warnings and severe t-storm warnings. Another favorite winter warning is heavy freezing spray warning usually affecting coastal Alaska. For radar, I also use duats.Quote:
Originally Posted by USAF Pilot 07
I've also been interested in the weather also lately.
I usually check the National Hurricane Center's website & Weather.gov every day. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ / http://www.weather.gov
Speaking of convection, we just bought a Convection Toaster Oven. I highly recommend it. Heats up food much quicker and reduced our stove use dramatically in the summer.
Trivia.....anyone remember Storm Field, meteorologist? And his father Dr Frank Field, also a meteorologist? His dad was originally an optometrist.
Good thread. I used weather.com since I really knew no other options. I'll now be using NOAA.org. Thanks!
I grew up watching Dr Frank Field! We always watched the Ch 4 local news, and he was on there forever! I think he was one of the first to do health and science reports on the local news as well.
Long Island NEws 12's Bill Korbel is the guy that taught me about weather in dispatch school at Flight Safety. Good guy.
Sorry guys , I go back even further-- Tex Antoine and Uncle Wethbee on Channel 7.or how about that crazy dude that was on channel 9 Lloyd Lindsey Young. Been following weather for a long time and known as the weather guru here at work. I dont even use weather.com any more and Im beginning to hate the weather channel but thats another thread. I like wx underground, and on my verizon phone,Weather bug ,imap weather for radar ,and also refrence aviation weather for easy to read term forcasts.
Huge Lloyd Lindsey Young fan. HEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Was not so much a fan of his son George. Saw a video of him recently on youtube. Still up to his usual weather sayings.Quote:
Originally Posted by bluejuice
Despite the relative calm up until now, AccuWeather thinks the tropics are going to go nuts in late August-September: http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/new...onnectio-1.asp
Weather, I thought most here only used weather to shoot or not to shoot. I have obsessively been into weather since college. And was/am an avid a Storm Chaser- especially when I was living in the Midwest/ Plains area. I also took several meteorology classes- Forecasting - witch I sucked at. I also took some storm structure classes at The College of Dupage in the Chicago Area and had Storm Chased with Several Storm Chasers at that college. I do have extensive knowledge about storm structure and development thought my classes and field experience. I have my personal site with links to Weather Data sites for several years now and I do use the site for my Storm Chasing but also for Flying and also Aviation Photography. I keep it simple so I can access anywhere. Weather is also one of my hobbies. I have many shots I'll post some when I can get a hold of them.
I had this Disk Handy,
Streator, IL Tornado 1999.
Obscured by dust. In unfortunately but the time I got tot he tornado the RFD-Rear Flank Downdraft had overtaken the tornado.
Probably the blackest storm I have ever seen.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/...718d2c164a.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/...24d2c27174.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/...423ac9fd13.jpg
Senga
I for the most part use this site for all my Local Stuff
http://www.meteo.psu.edu/~gadomski/ewall.html
Tropical Wise these are my tools
http://moe.met.fsu.edu/tcgengifs/ and
http://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/nwprod/analysis/
As Phil does I am a big Convection Person since I do live in the Convection Capital of the USA. There are many other factors that make up a convective prediction such as SKEW T'S, Lifted Index,Helicity,Hodographs,Wind profiles in all levels of the atmosphere and Temperatures at the 500 MB level.
SKEW T'S, Lifted Index,Helicity,Hodographs,Wind profiles. All of that brings back memories.
SP has a nice one that I like.
They Incorporated all of them into one place. It works for me.
http://w1.spc.woc.noaa.gov/exper/sou...00_OBS/OKX.gif
Senga
check out this anvil:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOX8BT3rAoA
That's a nice one. Those single cells are really easy to chase.
Senga
Hello everyone. In addition to the standard weather.gov website and associated NHC products, a great source of severe weather information is the Severe Storms Prediction Center site, an offshot of weather.gov. You can access it by clicking the "severe weather" link on the main weather.gov page, or via this: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/
I use that site at work to plan out how crazy our day is going to be. The single most useful section is the Convective Outlook Page which has a great deal of very detailed information regarding the potential of severe weather in general and, specifically, Tornadoes, Hail, and High wind. Enjoy the link..
Chris
Welcome NoGreen! Great first post.
While everyone's watching Hurricane Earl, this sick band formed up this evening in the midwest as a high front pushes through...
http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/a...v_tx090210.gif
Red peppered with purple...hope all of you folks from Michigan to Texas closed your car windows!
I used to track the hurricanes. The last one I tracked was actually Katrina. I actually didnt go to sleep untill after it made landfall at 4 in the morning. I was actually able to predict where these went better then the actual specalists. I havent been doing much as of late but am still interested in the subject. Phil thats actually the front that was supposed to push earl away. Looks like it stalled out and developed. Rats!
Is that the cold front thats going to cool us down? I love watching cold fronts on the radar as they come in usually after a particularly hot spell and filled with nasty, violent thunderstorms. Many times these T cells break down as they come through NJ and the city but lots of time they sneak through. I actually enjoy watching NEws12 Traffic and Weather and their radar. Most time its 10/15 minutes behind real time but still cool.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil D.
Well August has come and gone :biggrin:.Quote:
Originally Posted by GothamSpotter
Actually there were two more systems behind this but I think th:biggrin:ey have fizzled out.
Next threat? http://www.aolnews.com/nation/articl..._lnk1%7C168560Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerard
News 12's Bill Korbel is quite an aviation enthusiast himself. He was my weather instructor when I got my dispatch license...very cool guy. His facebook page is a good one to follow for weather conversation as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerard
THanks. I just "Liked" his FB page. :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil D.
Looks like some heavy weather heading this way from the West.