B E T HE W EATHER G UY A guide to accessing and using public domain weather information via the world wide web by Dick Westergard Certified Consulting Meteorologist Presented to UCALL on October 14, 2009

The ultimate starting point for Public Domain Weather Information within the U.S.: From there, click the part of the country you want information for to get to the local forecast office for that area On the local forecast office page, let’s: Find a forecast for a specific spot Explore the forecast in various formats Look at the local radar Look at local historical weather information Check out a forecast discussion Look at the local river and flood forecasts Check for local weather warnings

For weather radar imagery within the U.S.: From there, click the part of the country you want information for to get to the local Doppler radar for that area On an active local radar, let’s: Look at the variety of precipitation images Explore Velocity images Look at ways to move to an adjacent radar Turn on AutoUpdate and do a manual refresh Discuss the intensity information Look at the color blindness tool Check for local weather warning and other overlayss

For satellite imagery from NOAA: From there, click a movie icon for the type of image you want to examine On a sample area of the U.S., let’s: Look at the variety of image types and discuss their uses Find high and low pressure systems Find moisture sources

To look at current hurricane information in depth: From there, click on the storm system you want to track to get to the latest bulletins and graphical forecasts for that system Let’s: Check the a text bulletin and any associated graphical forecasts Explore the Eastern Pacific section

To look at current forecast graphics from the National Hydrometeorological Prediction Center: From there, click on the type of graphic you want to explore Let’s: Check the graphical forecast for today over the contiguous 48 states Look at a loop of recent weather Loop the five day graphical forecast Investigate quantitative precipitation forecasts

To look at past weather graphics from the National Hydrometeorological Prediction Center: From there, select the date you want to see the weather maps for Let’s: Pick a couple of dates (12/25/02) to review the weather graphics Look at the types of graphics available

To look at the latest graphical output from the computer weather forecast models run at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction: From there, select the model and the resolution you want to review Let’s: Look at a loop of the near surface output for the next few days Look at some of the information that feeds the models

The National Centers for Environmental Prediction also offers a Meteorological Conversions and Calculations page at: From there, select the parameter you want to convert or calculate Let’s: Calculate today’s wind chill Convert the current temperature to Celsius

The National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service is another branch of NOAA. They archive weather information in a wide variety of formats for use by researchers, forensic meteorologist and climatologists at: Let’s take a look at cooperative observations at: and Local Climatological Data from a first order station at:

In cooperation with the University of Utah and the U.S. Forest Service the NWS Western Region maintains a database of current and past weather observations at: From there, select the place and time you are interested in Let’s: Pick a NWS office warning area and a location Check the weather there at an earlier date

NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center has current and past marine weather infomration at: From there, select the place and time you are interested in Let’s: Pick a coastal area and a location Check the weather there today and at an earlier date

Want to learn about many of the interesting aspects of meteorology at your own pace? Try the National Weather Service Southern Region JetStream course located at: Let’s: Look at their start page Look at their weather on the web page

Other web sites with interesting information:

Finally, Let me offer you a portal to the world of free weather information through my home page at: Among several useful links to other sites on my links page, ( there is a link to a copy of this presentation, ( The Weather Guy.ppt) The Weather Guy.ppt with all of the links we have looked at today. And, If you have questions, my address is there too.