The SPC site has free upper air maps (and some surface plots) back to late 1998:
http://w1.spc.woc.noaa.gov/obswx/maps/
http://w1.spc.woc.noaa.gov/obswx/maps/
A List of Learning Resources
- Thread starter Richard Dickson
- Start date
JImboden
Thanks for compiling such a great list of resources. It's really made it easy to figure out what I don't know (which is just about everything) and start learning it.
Juliann Reno
Kym Puga PhD
Hey all, awhile back someone posted a set of slide shows with narration. The web address for one is http://www.srh.noaa.gov/media/oun/spottertraining/stormtype/player.html, however I cannot get to the others, there were Five shows in all I think. If anyone has access to these please post again....Thanks so much!!!!
AndrewMoore
dragonmwt
I would just like to thank everyone that has contributed to this post. I have lots of new reading material to go through. I am very grateful. I will be reading everything that I can to learn and this is a great start.
Scott Houser
I have found what you were looking for. The web address is http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=onlinespottertraining
I have just updated the educational page on my Stormhorn site. Much of it you'll also find on this thread. I've simply aggregated and organized what I consider a few key resources for the sake of convenience, and I have written a few reviews as well.
I am making a new weather site. Only thing I have finished so far, is a extensive list of FORECAST MODEL LINKS
http://geukesweather.com/models.htm
http://geukesweather.com/models.htm
Here is an up-to-date list of popular upper-air sounding data sites > http://raob.com/data_sources.php
John
John
Hey, John, great to see you're here! You'll be an asset. This is a great forum, and I hope you enjoy it.
You're right ... this is a great forum. I'll try to answer any sounding related questions ... and any accordion playing questions (inbetween severe weather events of course).
I noticed a few weeks ago that RAOB can ingest the raw text from the point-and-click forecast soundings on the COD site. I was pleasantly surprised considering I didn't see it on your list.
Brian. I did not know that. I'm glad you told me ... and I have already updated the my sources page (http://raob.com/data_sources.php). After I loaded one of COD's sounding files, I went to the "Properties" option (under the File Menu) and saw that COD is encoding their sounding data in the standard and very popular PAOS format. PAOS = Program in Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, which is located at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Ah...that explains it. By the way, it also works for the point forecast soundings from the GFS, NAM, etc too. Just click a point anywhere on the map and it'll pull up the sounding. Then you can click the Raw Sounding Text link underneath the skew-t. It's pretty similar to how TwisterData works.
Brian, thanks again for the additional information. Let me know if you ever find that RAOB is not able to decode a sounding file ... and if the data is freely available, I can create a decoder for it. If the sounding file is not freely available to the public, but is widely used, then I can also add a new decoder.
When I prepared to start chasing on my own in the late ‘90s, one of the resources I used was Tim Marshall’s Tornado Forecasting Workbook. It contained a number of historical weather maps to practice forecasting the day’s events. Is anyone aware of a similar, updated resource that exists today, perhaps online? Direct practice like this, with feedback in the form of the “answer” being what actually happened that day, is the best way to hone analysis and forecasting skills. The SPC site has the past events page with all of the maps available for each day, but that contains only the most significant events so the problem is potential recognition of the date and existing knowledge of what happened. In addition, I believe Tim Marshall’s book also included some “null” problem sets, where nothing actually happened that day.
BTW, I happened upon this old thread while looking for someplace to post this. In browsing the thread, I noticed that Rich Thompson’s tornado forecasting video series is not listed on here. I don’t have the link at the moment, but wanted to at least mention it. Perhaps someone else can post the link.
BTW, I happened upon this old thread while looking for someplace to post this. In browsing the thread, I noticed that Rich Thompson’s tornado forecasting video series is not listed on here. I don’t have the link at the moment, but wanted to at least mention it. Perhaps someone else can post the link.
Even though I'm more of a spotter than a chaser, a good resource I had starting out (and I still refer to if I need to) is JetStream through NWS. There's a ton of information available that can help with understanding weather, including upper air charts, synoptic meteorology, and the various types of severe weather.
For those in Amateur Radio (myself included), Storm Spotting and Amateur Radio, 2nd Edition is another good resource, including some historical background regarding SkyWarn, basic severe weather background (complements Storm Spotter Basic Training) and even recommendations for additional resources.
Having taken a few meteorology-related courses in college, there are a few other resources I can recommend as well, though they're a little tougher to come by.
When I was taking Weather Analysis and Forecasting in the beginning of my senior year, a couple of resources I referred to were Severe and Hazardous Weather: An Introduction to High Impact Meteorology, 5th Edition and though this was an older book, Meteorology: The Atmosphere and Science of Weather, 5th Edition. Both of these are available through Amazon, though you'd have to be sure to catch them at a good price for it to be worthwhile, though the information makes the purchase worth it.
One final resource I've relied on is The Atmosphere: An Introduction to Meteorology, 13th Edition (now in its 14th Edition), which, again, can be bought on Amazon, but you'd have to find a good price for it to be a worthwhile acquisition, but the information is invaluable for the beginning level.
Hopefully this helps.
For those in Amateur Radio (myself included), Storm Spotting and Amateur Radio, 2nd Edition is another good resource, including some historical background regarding SkyWarn, basic severe weather background (complements Storm Spotter Basic Training) and even recommendations for additional resources.
Having taken a few meteorology-related courses in college, there are a few other resources I can recommend as well, though they're a little tougher to come by.
When I was taking Weather Analysis and Forecasting in the beginning of my senior year, a couple of resources I referred to were Severe and Hazardous Weather: An Introduction to High Impact Meteorology, 5th Edition and though this was an older book, Meteorology: The Atmosphere and Science of Weather, 5th Edition. Both of these are available through Amazon, though you'd have to be sure to catch them at a good price for it to be worthwhile, though the information makes the purchase worth it.
One final resource I've relied on is The Atmosphere: An Introduction to Meteorology, 13th Edition (now in its 14th Edition), which, again, can be bought on Amazon, but you'd have to find a good price for it to be a worthwhile acquisition, but the information is invaluable for the beginning level.
Hopefully this helps.
Hard to believe this SPC online workshop is nearly nine years old… Is there anything similar in scope and quality that is updated/newer? If not, how relevant does this content remain, after nine years of research, learning, new models / model upgrades, etc.?
There's more here Storm Prediction Center Severe Thunderstorm Forecasting Video Lecture Series
This was updated in 2017 and contains far more than just tornado forecasting. Some of it is pretty geeky, but one can pick and choose which videos you are interested in.
This was updated in 2017 and contains far more than just tornado forecasting. Some of it is pretty geeky, but one can pick and choose which videos you are interested in.
For those of us newer to chasing it isn't 9 years old.
)). I do notice that a lot of the links no longer work. But the basic info that remains relevant and up to date - Hope that can remain accessible.
Thanks, Gary