Better surface map for the weather page?

[DimitriMilovich]

Craig, while I was sitting here lamenting my lack of transpo to Sulfur Creek today due to cooling system gremlins, I was thinking we could use a better surface map on the weather page, instead of the made-for-TV-viewers style of the one we have. It would help get the bigger picture of what's happening. Would help days like today, where the little front that came in wasn't to be seen on any of the sites we have on the weather page.

The mesonet used to have isobars on the Great Basin map, but those disappeared some time ago. Wish we had some local scale pressure bars to look at.

Anyway, here's a map I found that's pretty clean, but maybe you have another fav to put on there.

http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/sfc/usfntsfcwbg.gif

Thanks, as always, for all you do for us.

[Craig Goudie]

I'll put it in and thanks.

Really miss those pressure gradient maps myself.

-Craig

Craig, while I was sitting here lamenting my lack of transpo to Sulfur Creek today due to cooling system gremlins, I was thinking we could use a better surface map on the weather page, instead of the made-for-TV-viewers style of the one we have. It would help get the bigger picture of what's happening. Would help days like today, where the little front that came in wasn't to be seen on any of the sites we have on the weather page.

The mesonet used to have isobars on the Great Basin map, but those disappeared some time ago. Wish we had some local scale pressure bars to look at.

Anyway, here's a map I found that's pretty clean, but maybe you have another fav to put on there.

http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/sfc/usfntsfcwbg.gif

Thanks, as always, for all you do for us.

[Marty Lowe]

I'm not sure if everyone can access the "pressure/isobar fx"
forcast on Iwindsurf, without membership.
I find it to be another helpfull tool.

http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwhere.i ... meoffset=3

Does this link work for anyone without membership?

-Marty

[lesvierra]

ya, it works withouth membership. But what does it all mean. Is wind like water gradient maps. Perpendicular to gradient lines, only in the direction from low pressure to high?

[JimSouthwick]

More likely high pressure to low.

[Craig Goudie]

Oooh OooH, I like this one better also. I'll put it up as well. I think
I'm gonna kill the IR map. It's not that useful. Is anybody using that?

-Craig

I'm not sure if everyone can access the "pressure/isobar fx"
forcast on Iwindsurf, without membership.
I find it to be another helpfull tool.

http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwhere.i ... meoffset=3

Does this link work for anyone without membership?

-Marty

[Marty Lowe]

I like this one also,
if it works for free.

http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwhere.i ... meoffset=2

note thet you can pick the times, at 3hour intervals.


-Marty

[Craig Goudie]

Think of it as a topographical map and what would happen if you
poured water onto it (aside from all the colors running together ;*) )

-Craig

ya, it works withouth membership. But what does it all mean. Is wind like water gradient maps. Perpendicular to gradient lines, only in the direction from low pressure to high?

[lesvierra]

Ok, wind directionn, high pressure contours to low. Doesnt make alot of sense to me since you get wind with high or low pressure fronts moving in, especially low pressure fronts, but I'll log it in to the memory bank. Its just like water in the ground (peziometric head) or on the surface (perp to contours) just like craig said.
thanks.

[JimSouthwick]

Over relatively short distances, wind blows from an area of high pressure toward an area of low pressure. Over longer distances, the rotation of the earth compicates things, leading to the Coriolis effect, which causes the wind to spiral clockwise around highs and counterclockwise (the warm before the storm) around lows.

[Rick McClain]

The second link to a map that Marty sent requires membership. Without membership all I get is sample data.