Archived radar of past storms

[David Hoadley]

Is there a source for old radar imagery of past storms? I would like to secure some, if they exist anywhere, for a storm I saw and photographed on May 20 at about 3:19PM MDT. I believe that I caught at least one (maybe more) suction vortices from a distant cell to the west of Exit 65 of I-25 or northwest of Chugwater, WY. Based on the structure of that storm base, those apparent vortices were just where they should have been --if real. I believe they were.

 

[Bob Schafer]

Try this page, where you apparently cannot immediately access the data, but you can order it:

http://hurricane.ncdc.noaa.gov/pls/...000&subqueryby=STATION&applname=&outdest=FILE

or this:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/nexradinv/map.jsp

 

[MClarkson]

The NCDC has all the data archived. And its free. The downside is you need to download a program(its free at least) to view that data format, and as of the last time I used it, the site is a bit clunky and not so user-friendly. But it is where I always go when I want archived data from individual nexrad sites.

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/radar/radardata.html

If you have questions about that process I(and other ST users surely) should be able to help.

 

[Rob H]

The motherlode of historical information:

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/sho...-(radar-observations-analysis-soundings-etc-)

There's a link in there to vortex.plymouth.edu as well, and they might have some of the really old stuff. I found surface data for the 1965 Fridley tornadoes, so it's rather extensive.

 

[David Hoadley]

Thanks for the help. I tried several sites over a couple of hours last night but without success. I know it is just a generational problem (mine). For example, I sent one request for radar imagery to Cheyenne and received the email below. However, when I typed ftp3.ncdc.noaa.gov last night, and tried to open it, all I got was a blank page with this title repeated in small case in the upper left corner. I can’t even get past the first step to “Logon” and go through the other steps to see their response. Why can’t they attach it with just one “ENTER” step to see it? I have very few intuitive computer skills and apparently only think in *linear* terms; i.e. If step one fails, then I am stuck.

I sent an email with several questions to the responding site (do I actually enter “anonymous” for my userid, what do I do that is binary -whatever the Hell that is, and the last line means less than nothing to me). I assume their reply was a programmed response, and that I never reached an actual person. Probably won’t hear back now for a long time, if ever.

Thanks, anyway. - - - David Hoadley (so near and yet so far)

- - - - -

Your request (HAS010445643) has completed. The procedure to ftp the data is as follows:

open ftp3.ncdc.noaa.gov - Logon to NCDC system
anonymous - login userid
user@internet - enter your e-mail address as a password
binary - changes transfer mode to binary
cd /pub/has/HAS010445643/ - changes to correct directory

 

[Dan Robinson]

David, that whole process was just as confusing for me the first time I did it. You first have to download the viewer program:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/wct/app/dist/wct-3.7.3-win32.zip

The program is in a ZIP file - you need to click on the file, then drag the whole "wct-3.7.3" folder to your desktop (or any other folder on your computer).

Then, go into the "wct-3.7.3" folder and click on the wct.exe to launch the viewer. Once the program loads, you enter the HAS job number into the field (in your case here it would be HAS010445643), and the program retrieves the data from there. Then, you select the time of the scan you want to load, then the program loads it into the map. Hope this helps.

 

[David Hoadley]

I tried twice to open but only got the following reply. I have Windows 7, so don't know why it doesn't work. But that's OK. I've about given up on this. - - - DH

Not Found

The requested URL /wct/app/dis....7.3-win32.zip was not found on this server.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Looks like the StormTrack forum truncated the URL - try this (hope this will work):

http://1.usa.gov/1oDPsmP

 

[David Hoadley]

I opened it but didn’t get “wct.exe.” What I got was a box with “wct-3.7.3-win 32” in the title line at the top. Down the left side were “Favorites” and “Libraries” etc. below “Organize“ and “Extract all files.” In the right inset box, was one line that read “wct-3.7.3 File Folder.”

I opened that and got a list of items but no empty lines to enter my HAS number. That list included, such as: Folder dist.; Folder lib; cdm-checker Windows Batch File; msvcr71.d11 Application Extension; etc..

I am ready to give it up, unless you have any other ideas (or can request radar on my behalf and then forward it to me for May 20 on or around 3:19PM MDT). All I was looking for was an indication of a hook in a radar scan. However, I don’t **have** to see that, since I am sure “beyond a reasonable doubt” this is what I saw. I will send you an email separately just for your FYI with those photos and a diagram sketch (haven’t yet figured how to post photos on Storm Track).


Many thanks. - - - David

 

[Jeff Duda]

Not sure why all the confusion in here. Here is the simple way to run the Weather and Climate Toolkit:
First, make sure you have Java installed on your machine. If you don't, a Google search for Java will help you take care of that pretty quickly.
-Go to this URL: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/wct/install.php
-At the top of the page, under "Web Start Installation", you should see a large green button that says "Launch". Click it. When a prompt comes up asking you what you want to do with the java-based file, click "open it" (or whatever similar option there is to open the file)
-A small window should open on your screen regarding loading the Java application. When it finishes, another window should open asking you if you want to run the application (the NOAA Weather and CLimate Toolkit). Click "Run".
-After a moment (there may be some downloading of base maps the first time you run it) the WCT should open up.
-A data selector window should open with the application. If it doesn't, go to "Data" -> "Load Data" in the menu across the top of the main window.
-Look for the tab that says "NCDC HAS Order". Click on it and insert your HAS order number into the text box. In your case, it would be 010445643. Either hit "enter" or "list files" and the data should pop up in that window.

Let me know if something didn't work. If your machine works like mine do, this will install a quick set-up version of the software on your desktop for you. This will make it much easier to run it in the future (just double click the icon).

 

[Rob H]

Thanks for the help. I tried several sites over a couple of hours last night but without success. I know it is just a generational problem (mine). For example, I sent one request for radar imagery to Cheyenne and received the email below. However, when I typed ftp3.ncdc.noaa.gov last night, and tried to open it, all I got was a blank page with this title repeated in small case in the upper left corner. I can’t even get past the first step to “Logon” and go through the other steps to see their response. Why can’t they attach it with just one “ENTER” step to see it? I have very few intuitive computer skills and apparently only think in *linear* terms; i.e. If step one fails, then I am stuck.

This is not a generational problem at all!

People who work with the weather for a living (please don't take offense to this anyone) tend to have a similar strategy when it comes to technology - every tool is a hammer, and it WILL fit damnit. They don't care when a new hammer comes out with some fancy steel and a carbon fiber handle, because that plain hammer from 1980 still drives the nail in. Fancy interfaces, efficiency, user friendliness, etc. all fall to the wayside. I understand why this happens, but as someone who architects high volume consumer software and web sites, this drives me nuts

So anyways... websites use a protocol called HTTP to serve up information, NCDC uses FTP (file transfer protocol) to serve up files. Complicating this is that your web browser can access FTP sites but is typically really, really horrible at doing this especially when you need to do anything apart from the defaults. The best way to get the data from NCDC is with an FTP client. Like your web browser is to HTTP sites, an FTP client is to FTP sites. Once you download the raw files, you probably need to un-tar/un-zip/un-gzip the files. Then you can finally either open them in the WCT viewer that Dan linked to, or you can convert them into a format GRLevel3 can read. Their steps assume a working knowledge of FTP, compression, and the binary format in a very generic sense.

The forums collectively can probably help you get up and running with these tasks, but if you just want the images:

http://i.imgur.com/6zT9u7M.png

http://i.imgur.com/ZM9VcgX.png

 

[David Hoadley]

Thanks all. I was finally able to open the ""NCDC HAS Order" site. However, when I entered the HAS number (trying both "HAS" with the number, and then just the number), then clicking on List Files, I got a reply "No valid data found..." I may have requested too much over too many hours rather than narrowing it to a smaller time period. I'll try again for a more constrained period, after the 7 days expires to void my earlier request. Thanks Rob H. for the two maps. That was just what I was looking for.

 

[Jeff Duda]

Thanks all. I was finally able to open the ""NCDC HAS Order" site. However, when I entered the HAS number (trying both "HAS" with the number, and then just the number), then clicking on List Files, I got a reply "No valid data found..." I may have requested too much over too many hours rather than narrowing it to a smaller time period. I'll try again for a more constrained period, after the 7 days expires to void my earlier request. Thanks Rob H. for the two maps. That was just what I was looking for.

I got that message, too, when I tried to enter the number you posted. Weird. I've used that process to pull data down probably hundreds of times and have never had that happen. You can try again before the 7-day period ends. You'll just get a new number for your order. It won't mess with anything to do that.