Some of the guys asked me to post some good links for weather forecasting, because they wanted to learn about weather themselves and not have to rely as much on the regular sources such as weather.com and intellicast. If you really want to learn 'real time' from other forecasters, I highly recommend reading the daily forecast discussions issued by local NWS offices. They can be found through IWIN by going here: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov Once there, click on a version, find your state data and then choose the 'forecast discussion' option. This is usually a good source of information, unless the forecaster is a dud.
Here are some of the tools I use on a daily basis:
The MRF model is helpful to watch and view forecast trends over a 3-10 day period, but must be watched closely because it's trends can vary significantly from one update cycle to the next.
MRF - Medium Range Forecast Links from various sources:
UCAR: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/model/index.php3?model=mrf
Unisys: http://weather.unisys.com/mrf/index.html
Nexlab: http://weather.cod.edu/forecast
The ETA and AVA models are also good forecasting tools for shorter term forecasting from 0-72hrs. The ETA is usually the preferred model of choice, but many forecasters tend to compare all of the models and base their forecasts upon a compromise between two models. When this happens, it is usually a comprominse between the ETA and AVN.
ETA Model (0-60hrs.)
UCAR: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/model/index.php3?model=eta
Unisys: http://www.weather.unisys.com/eta/index.html
Nexlab: http://weather.cod.edu/forecast
AVN (Aviation) Model (0-72hrs.)
Unisys: http://www.weather.unisys.com/avn/index.html
Nexlab: http://weather.cod.edu/forecast
Mesoscale Analysis (Surface, Satellite, Radar)
Surface: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/surface (updates hourly)
Satellite: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/satellite
http://www.goes.noaa.gov
http://www.weathertap.com (must pay for this service)
Radar: http://www.weathertap.com (must pay for this service)
http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar
US Warning/Watch Graphic from IWIN
http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/iwdspg1.html
If anybody needs other links or needs help understanding the models, I'd be happy to help. I'm not a weather expert, just a weather enthusiast that's been lucky to learn from my friends at the NWS.
-Storm
Here are some of the tools I use on a daily basis:
The MRF model is helpful to watch and view forecast trends over a 3-10 day period, but must be watched closely because it's trends can vary significantly from one update cycle to the next.
MRF - Medium Range Forecast Links from various sources:
UCAR: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/model/index.php3?model=mrf
Unisys: http://weather.unisys.com/mrf/index.html
Nexlab: http://weather.cod.edu/forecast
The ETA and AVA models are also good forecasting tools for shorter term forecasting from 0-72hrs. The ETA is usually the preferred model of choice, but many forecasters tend to compare all of the models and base their forecasts upon a compromise between two models. When this happens, it is usually a comprominse between the ETA and AVN.
ETA Model (0-60hrs.)
UCAR: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/model/index.php3?model=eta
Unisys: http://www.weather.unisys.com/eta/index.html
Nexlab: http://weather.cod.edu/forecast
AVN (Aviation) Model (0-72hrs.)
Unisys: http://www.weather.unisys.com/avn/index.html
Nexlab: http://weather.cod.edu/forecast
Mesoscale Analysis (Surface, Satellite, Radar)
Surface: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/surface (updates hourly)
Satellite: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/satellite
http://www.goes.noaa.gov
http://www.weathertap.com (must pay for this service)
Radar: http://www.weathertap.com (must pay for this service)
http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar
US Warning/Watch Graphic from IWIN
http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/iwdspg1.html
If anybody needs other links or needs help understanding the models, I'd be happy to help. I'm not a weather expert, just a weather enthusiast that's been lucky to learn from my friends at the NWS.
-Storm