Introduction

Howdy! This post contains all the websites that I use on an almost daily basis to look at current and forecasted weather. I will also include explanations of why I use them and what is on each website.

Not to mention, this list could be updated. So, keep an eye out!

Full List

Heavy Use:

1. Weather Prediction Center (WPC) Surface Analysis
2. National Weather Service (NWS)
3. College of DuPage (COD) Satellite and Radar
4. Weathernerds Radar
5. Storm Prediction Center (SPC) Hourly Mesoscale Analysis
6. WPC Hourly Surface Data
7. SPC Upper Air Maps
8. SPC Sounding Analysis Page
9. Pivotal Weather Model Page

Others:

1. NOAA Graphical Forecasts
2. NOAA National Hurricane Center (NHC)
3. NOAA Ocean Prediction Center (OPC)
4. NOAA Aviation Weather Center (AWC)
5. F5 Weather Meteorological Calculators
6. Cool Wind Map
7. University of Illinois Online Weather Guides and NWS JetStream
8. Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS)
9. Canadian Surface Analysis Maps

Heavy Use (Every Day)

Detailed explanations of each website and more websites that I use are below. This is the stuff I use I almost everyday.

• The first one I open when I want to look at the weather is the Weather Prediction Center Surface Analysis. This website contains a surface analysis (weather map) of the continental United States, updated every three hours. Around the world, every meteorologist uses UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). This is so observations can be made at the same time and accurate forecasts can be made. So that means, yes, some meteorologists have to launch a weather balloon at two or three in the morning. On the Weather Prediction Center website, the 12Z Surface Analysis is the same as 1200 UTC, 21Z is the same as 2100 UTC, and so on. Right now, the United States east coast is using EDT, which is 4 hours behind UTC. So, 12Z would be 8am EDT, 15Z would be 11am EDT, 18Z would be 2pm EDT, and so on. This will be important when looking at more websites listed in this directory.

• I also use the College of DuPage satellite and radar. This website includes many views and can even narrow down to localized sectors of the United States. On each satellite and radar view option, there is a information page for what the data represents. It is indicated by the question mark in the top left corner. You can also save a gif of the satellite/radar loop. There is also a product overlay option on each view. I often combine real time data with the composite radar view if I want to understand what is going on more quantitatively. I also use the Weathernerds website’s Level 2 radar option. Here I can choose any radar site around the nation in order to get a more detailed radar view. On the side, they have an option for data types. The “Base Velocity” option is good when trying to spot tornadoes or tornado warnings issued by the National Weather Service. One thing I really like about this site is that you can zoom in to certain locations. This is how I caught the Knightdale supercell that can be seen on the right side of my website.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has a lot of products as well. The main thing I use is their hourly mesoscale (weather in the 10 to 1000 km range) analysis page. At the top of the page, there are a whole lot of parameters, including upper air analysis, surface observations, and more. If you want to focus in on a particular section of the United States, there is an option to change sectors at the top of the page. Personally, I like to combine the 300mb analysis with the surface observations underlay (found on the right side of the page).
• One of the downsides with the Weather Prediction Center’s surface analysis is that each map is uploaded about 1.5 hours after the actual time of observations. Therefore, to get more real time data I use hourly surface data, also from the Weather Prediction Center. Unfortunately, these observations don’t include fronts or symbols for cyclones and anti-cyclones (low pressure and high pressure systems) that are found on a typical weather map. If you want even more frequent surface observations, I would use The National Center for Atmospheric Research’s (NCAR) real time surface observations. Here is the home page for their real time weather data. They also have a help page for understanding the observations in each category.
• Before I get into weather balloon soundings, I want to give a quick shoutout to the SPC’s upper air maps. They are for 00Z and 12Z (8:00 pm EDT and 8:00 am EDT respectively). Each has wind barbs, temperature, and dew point (which is a good representation of the amount of moisture in the air). observations over the Continental US (CONUS). The 300mb includes yellow lines for upper air divergence, which can be useful in forecasting strengthening low pressure systems on the surface.
• Now, for weather balloon soundings. Most of these are also for 00Z and 12Z times as well. The Storm Prediction Center has a sounding analysis archive page, on which you can select the time and location for your sounding. The University of Wyoming has sounding data in text files, found here. The College of DuPage meteorology program also has regional soundings. The main features of a sounding analysis are the hodograph and the Skew-T diagram. Now, all of these sounding analysis look scary at first, but it takes some getting used too. However, I have some resources that may help. Here are a couple websites that helps with understanding sounding analysis parameters and general severe weather parameters. Being able to properly read a balloon sounding analysis can really help in understanding why a certain type of weather phenomena is occurring. A general directory for understanding basic weather observations and parameters can be found here.
• For the last thing in the “Heavy Use” category, I am going to mention weather models. I use Pivotal Weather’s model page every time I look at the weather across the United States. I have linked is the main page, which includes the GFS (Global Forecast System) model as the one listed. At the top of the page, there is an option to switch between different forecast models. I mainly use the GFS and NAM (North American) models. At the side of the page, there are different parameters, sort of like we saw with the SPC hourly mesoscale analysis. There is an animation option in the top right for a loop. One of my favorite things to look at is the predictive sounding analysis from each model offered to view by Pivotal Weather. If you click anywhere on the map, you can see an predicted sounding analysis for certain hour. NOAA also has a huge directory of models. As per usual, the models use UTC.

Others

Alright, so I have mentioned the ones that I used almost every day when I look at the weather. Below are some that I also use, but probably not as often.

• I’ll start with the NOAA Graphical Forecasts. This one is pretty straightforward. You can view different forecast elements including Wind Speed and Direction, Chance of Precipitation, Type of Weather, Temperature, and more. If you click on anyone of the images (elements), you can skip forward and backward in time. I love to use the Sky Cover Graphical Forecast for when I am looking to schedule a time to stargaze.
• Next, I will run through the other NOAA websites. This includes the National Hurricane Center, Ocean Prediction Center, and the Aviation Weather Center. The National Hurricane Center does exactly what the name entails, they forecast hurricanes. You can click on a developing storm to read the text based discussion associated with that forecast. The Ocean Prediction Center offers similar products to the WPC Surface Analysis page. It’s a typical weather map, but for the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The goal of the Aviation Weather Center is to provide accurate weather information for the world airspace system. They have difference parameters for Turbulence, Ice, among other things.
• Now, I will cover the F5 Weather Meteorological Calculators, the Cool Wind Map, the University of Illinois Online Weather Guides, and the NWS JetStream. The F5 Meteorological Calculators has calculators for converting wind speed, time, distance, atmospheric pressure, and more. It is really useful when trying to understand observations in units that I am used to (as an American). The cool wind map is, well, see for yourself. It’s really easy to understand. The University of Illinois Weather Guides and the NWS JetStream websites are great places to learn about meteorology. I would definitely recommend these to anybody who is interested.
• Finally, we have the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) and the Canadian Surface Analysis Maps. The CoCoRaHS network consist of volunteers all around the nation who collect precipitation observations. It truly shows how meteorology is very collaborative and how passionate everyone interested in the weather really is. The Canadian Surface Analysis Maps are similar to the WPC Surface Analysis maps, but for Canada.