DMIS Tools Course Lesson 8 - Weather Features Welcome to the DMIS Tools Course Lesson 8 - Weather Features. At the end of this lesson, you will be able to work with the functional features within TIE relating to weather. We recommend you print out this course material as “Notes Pages.” That way, you can read along while you view the slides in Slide Show mode. You could also 3-hole punch the Notes Pages, place them in a binder, and keep it as a handy DMIS desk reference. DMIS Web Services Release 2.3

Viewing Weather Forecasts Converting Weather Forecasts to Observations Topics Viewing Weather Forecasts Converting Weather Forecasts to Observations Entering Weather Observations Editing Existing Weather Observations Weather Terms Viewing Weather in Posted Incidents Topics covered in this lesson.

Viewing Weather Forecasts (from TIE)   The DMI-Services Weather Forecast Tool allows you to view local weather forecasts based on the postal code that you enter.  The data is automatically updated at regular intervals Weather Alerts and the Radar view are also available. . The DMI-Services Weather Forecast Tool allows you to view weather forecasts based on the postal code that you enter.  The data is automatically updated at regular intervals through the service that provides the weather data (AccuWeather). To view weather forecasts: From the Incident Information tree structure located in the left pane, select the Weather Forecasts icon. NOTE: This icon will always be blank as the data showing here is not saved. Enter a postal code in the field provided, and click the Go button or press the Enter key. DMI-Services refreshes the screen to display the forecast for the entered postal code. NOTE: If the company generating the data does not have the postal code in its database, a message will show indicating there is no data available. Try another postal code. To view Radar data, select Radar from the WEATHER DATA tree in the left pane. To view current weather alerts, select Alerts from the WEATHER DATA tree in the left pane. NOTE: You can access the Weather Forecast Tool either from an Incident or from the Disaster Management Tools menu, located in the DMI-Services menu. This option is useful if you don’t want to open an incident to see weather forecast data.

Converting Current Weather to Weather Observations Operators who access Weather Forecasts from within an active incident have the option to convert data from the Weather Forecast to an On Scene Weather observation. To convert the forecast for the current hour to an On-Scene observation: Click the Convert button to convert the forecast into an On-Scene Weather observation. DMI-Services displays a screen that allows you to name your Weather Observation.  NOTE: The name defaults to a combination of the date, time, and ZIP code for which the Observation was recorded.  If you prefer not to use the default name, you can use a name that is more meaningful to your organization. Click Enter to create the Observation. DMI-Services displays a message confirming that the conversion was successful. Click OK to close the message box. Click the Save button to save the weather observations (or select Save from the File pull-down menu). CAUTION: To view the new weather observation, you must first close the incident and then reopen it.  After reopening the incident, click the On Scene Weather icon to view the Weather Observation just created. This applies to all Operators with the Incident open at the time of conversion. You may want to notify the other Operators about the conversion and remind them they will have to close and reopen the Incident to see the data. Operators who access Weather Forecasts from within an active incident have the option to convert data from the Weather Forecast to an On Scene Weather observation.

Entering New Weather Observations The On Scene Weather screen is used to capture observed weather data at one or more of the incident sites.  Use this function to record current conditions including temperature, wind, humidity, etc., that you obtain either by on-site instrumentation or other information sources.   From the Incident Information tree structure located in the left pane, select the On Scene Weather icon.   If no observations have been entered, then a message (image A) will be displayed and will offer a link to a screen to enter observations. Note: If observations do exist, click the Edit Data button. You will receive a message asking you to select an observation to edit. Select the New button to open the Observation Site Information data entry form. Clicking on the ‘here’ link will open the Observation Site Information data entry form. Enter the necessary information in the fields provided.  Site Name, and Date and Time are required fields. NOTE:  If you do not enter a postal Code, you must enter a city and state. Select the type of observation from the Property drop-down list. Enter a Value for the property. Select a unit type from the Units drop-down list. The units available depend on the type of Property; e.g., Fahrenheit or Celsius for temperature properties. Select the Save command from the File menu to save the information, or click the Save button. A message box opens, indicating that changes have been saved. Click OK. NOTE: If you close the Incident or move to another form without saving your changes, a message box will open asking if you want to save changes. Click Yes to save your changes, click No if you don’t want to save your changes, OR click Cancel to return to the form. The On Scene Weather screen is used to capture observed weather data at one or more of the incident sites.  

Editing Existing Weather Observations There are two methods to edit weather observations from the On Scene Weather screen: Method One Click the Edit Data button, or select Edit from the File menu. A message box appears asking you to select an observation to edit: Select the observation to edit from the drop-down list and click OK.  A table of observation data will appear. To return to the graphical view of weather observations, click the Edit Data button again. NOTE: If you need to enter a new observation, you can click the New button instead of selecting an observation to edit. To cancel the edit process, click Cancel. From the Observation Site Information screen, enter the necessary information in the fields provided. Select the Save command from the File menu to save the information, or click the Save button. A message box opens, indicating that changes have been saved. Click OK. To return to the graphical view of weather observations, click the Edit data button again. Method Two Click on the site name (which appears in blue text) to edit the weather information for the site. NOTE: If you need to enter a new observation, you can click the New button instead of selecting an observation to edit. To cancel the edit process, click Cancel. From the Observation Site Information screen, enter the necessary information in the fields provided.   Click OK. To return to the graphical view of weather observations, click the Edit Data button again. There are two methods to edit weather observations.

Weather Terms The following are valid terms for DMIS weather observations: Cloud Cover:  The amount of sky obstructed by clouds, measured in tenths of sky or percent of sky. Sunlight Intensity:  Intensity of the sun, measured in Day Low, Day Moderate, Day High and Night. Air Temperature:  The free air or ambient temperature close to the surface of the earth, measured in Celsius or Fahrenheit. Thermal Inversion: An increase in temperature with height, which is the reverse of the normal cooling with height in the atmosphere.  Thermal Inversion Indicated has the choices of “Yes” or “No”.  Thermal Inversion Height is the height where the Inversion begins, measured in feet or meters.  Thermal Inversion Description is a description of the thermal inversion. Surface Conditions Description:  A general description of the weather on land. Barometric Status:  Refers to the status of the barometric pressure, indicating if the pressure is rising or falling.   Barometric Pressure: The pressure exerted by the atmosphere at a given point. Its measurement can be expressed in several ways, such as millibars or in inches or millimeters of Mercury (Hg).  One millibar is equivalent to 100 newtons per square meter. Standard surface pressure is 1,013.2 millibars.  Inches Of Mercury (Hg) comes from the use of mercurial barometers, which equate the height of a column of mercury with air pressure.  One inch of mercury is equivalent to 33.86 millibars or 25.40 millimeters. Precipitation Description:  A description of any precipitation.  Precipitation includes all forms of water, whether liquid or solid that falls from clouds and reaches the ground, including drizzle, freezing rain, ice pellets, rain, and snow.   Relative Humidity (RH):  The ratio of the water vapor pressure or water vapor content to the saturation vapor pressure or the maximum vapor content at the temperature of the air or gas. The saturation vapor pressure in the air varies with air temperature, the higher the temperature, the more water vapor it can hold.  When saturated, the relative humidity in the air is 100 %RH.   Wind Consistency:  Refers to the consistency of the wind.  Valid values are “Steady” and “Variable”. Please refer to the weather terms section in your Operator’s Guide.

More Weather Terms More weather terms: Wind Direction:  The direction from which the wind is blowing. For example, an easterly wind is blowing from the east, not toward the east.  It is reported with reference to true north, or 360 degrees on the compass, and expressed to the nearest 10 degrees, or to one of the 16 points of the compass (N, NE, WNW, etc.). Wind Speed:  The rate of the motion of the air on a unit of time. It can be measured in a number of ways.  For observations, it is measured in Knots (KTS), or nautical miles per hour.  The unit most often used in the United States is miles per hour (MPH). Variable Wind Speed Range (minimum) and (maximum):  The range of speed of the wind when the speed is variable.  An example would be a range of “Variable Wind Speed Range (minimum) 2 mph”.  The associated observation (entered on another line) would be “Variable Wind Speed Range (maximum) 4 mph”.  You cannot have one entry without the other because they are parts of the same data element.  Valid units of measure are:  MPH, KPH and KTS. Variable Wind Direction (from) and (to):  The range of direction of the wind when the direction is variable.   In this case, the "from" and "to" are indicating that you are specifying a range of direction (such as "from x to y").   An example would be: “Variable Wind Direction (from) North”.  The associated observation (entered on another line) would be “Variable Wind Direction (to) North East”.  You cannot have one entry without the other because they are parts of the same data element.  Valid units of measure are compass points or degrees. Wind Measurement:  The height of the wind, measured in Feet or Meters. Weather Data Source:  Where the source of data came from.  Examples include Instruments, observation, Internet, etc. Please refer to the weather terms section in your Operator’s Guide.

Maritime Weather Terms The following are maritime weather terms that can be used in DMIS:  Tides:  Next Low Tide:  Time of the next low tide. Next High Tide:  Time of the next high tide. Water Temperature:  Temperature of the water in degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius. Water Current Speed: Speed of the water current, measured in Knots (KTS). Water Current Temperature:  Temperature of the water current, measured in Fahrenheit or Celsius. Wave Height:  Average height of the waves, measured in Feet or Meters. Wave Direction (from):  Direction from which the waves are coming, measured in compass points or degrees. Swell Height:  The height of a swell, measured in Feet or Meters.  Swells are ocean waves that have traveled out of their generating area.  Swells characteristically exhibit more regular and longer periods and have flatter wave crests than waves within their fetch (generating area). Swell Direction (from):  The direction from which the swells are coming, measured in degrees or compass points. Please refer to the weather terms section in your Operator’s Guide.

Viewing Weather for Posted Incidents Operators can view the weather conditions that were current at the time an Incident was posted. CAUTION: Only On Scene Weather observations are posted with the Incident. If a manual observation was not entered and saved, or if no forecast was converted and saved, there will be no weather conditions with the posted Incident. To view the weather observations for a posted incident: If you haven't already done so, retrieve the Incident List Select and open an incident – Version 1 or greater. DMI-Services displays the Incident Information screen. Select the On Scene Weather icon from the Incident Information tree structure located in the left pane. NOTE: If the icon is blank, no observations were posted with that version. DMI-Services displays a graphical view of the weather conditions as they existed when the incident was posted.   Operators can view any weather observations that were saved at the time an Incident was posted.

End of DMIS Tools Course – Lesson 8 Weather Features This concludes the DMIS Tools Course Lesson 8 - Weather Features