Chaser/spotter laptop weather programs

[Justin Turcotte]

I completely understand the dilema of the spotter. The Hallam tornado gave some spotters a significant scare. One watched a semi get flipped 50 yards away from what he believed was a satellite vortex. Others were about a mile north of the monster wedge. I don't know how helpful anything would be for the spotter in this situation except to get out of there if possible or seek shelter when the weather goes beyond your comfort zone. A NOAA Wx Radio is perhaps the best and cheapest solution as it usually highlights the most dangerous part of the storm. There is no reason why any spotter shouldn't carry one. Numerous cell phone companies offer various subscirption based weather products (MyCast, TWC, AccuWeather, etc). Of course these require the digital tower which may not be available in the "sticks". The spotter will need to know what he is looking at and some of them probably just see a red blob comming toward the county. Communication is another key to keeping spotters safe. Usually the EM center has radar data but the person looking at it needs to have some knowledge of what he is looking at. Just seeing red blobs doesn't do much. I was chasing the June 13 supercell north of Lincoln (the infamous Hollinshead pic). A volunteer fireman spotter was on the hill and pulled out behind me well after I knew the situation was getting very bad and had to get the hell out of there quick. Proverbial right mover caught me off gaurd. That guy didn't have much time to get back to dinky Ceresco before the core came munching. Perhaps this fireman wasn't getting all the info he needed to make the move faster.

 

[fplowman]

As I started out like I assume most of us did with just a weather radio and maps..
I now have a laptop with Delorme Street Atlas and Baron MTN. I like the system as now it has changed the dynamics of my chasing.. I toggle back and forth through Baron and Street Atlas constantly re evaluating my target, position to storm etc... Its quite the fun little challenge..

Although this data and these tools make it easier to catch severe storms while in the field.. It certainly adds a new challenge using a techno approach. I love it!

 

[Edward Ballou]

SwiftWX just came out with the 2.5 update. Many more cool features are in there. I definitely suggest you take a second look if you've passed it up before. SwiftWX Website

 

[Kurt Silvey]

Jason,

It sounds like the cell phone system would be the best answer for your situation. It really doesn’t matter which radar program you use or if you just get the info from the NWS sites. You just need data somehow. I use a cell phone connection through Verizon and have not had any issues around the greater Omaha area, and the download speeds are pretty good. I’d be happy to meet up and go over my setup, it really pretty simple. It also looks like Adam has some good things going too. Good luck and send me a PM if you want to talk.

 

[Johnathan Brouwer]

I/we at INCHASE use the interwarn product... Stormlab Pro 3.1 and Interwarn 4.1 We are extremely happy with both products. These give us the maps and radar we need, gps integration with location and dbz threshold warnings that allow us to look and a entire list of attirbutes....

which we use with a data to phone service. Verizon as primary and Cngular as backup. We have a buffalo card with a sweet radiolabs antenna which allows us to pull in wifi from the planet mars..

 

[Tom Burgess]

<_< I work both EM and Skywarn operations. We use interwarn and swiftwx 2.5. I have tried most all of the radar products and with the 2.5 update to swiftwx adding storm reports and mobile unit tracking allowing us to not have to have ham lisc. to track units in the field it has become the one peice of software I will tell those in our county to get. Useing this software allows me to free up a computer station that has been running APRS .It also allows me to include spotters which are not hams into the field tracking which is important in the overall safety of our spotters includeing storm reports which tend to get repeated over and over on the radio so that everyone is on the same page.

Just my dimes worth...

 

[Tim Vasquez]

My forecast services start tomorrow. What I use is my own Digital Atmosphere Professional, which with the TPC and JOG raster maps does a superior job of showing the storms in relation to the road network (especially the farm-to-markets). It also lets me load up old radar products such as archives from NCDC/HAS. However it's not complete either without GR3, which fills the niche for animation (which DA does not do, at least not yet). GR3 is also a good all-around viewing program. Its shortfall is I don't see anywhere to set the loop size, and having too many animation frames is very distracting. There's also Weathertap as a backup. I got that because COD (my favorite free radar source) packs too many frames in its animation, making for unwieldy filesizes and it distracts from interpretation.

Tim

 

[GPhillips]

GR3 is also a good all-around viewing program. Its shortfall is I don't see anywhere to set the loop size, and having too many animation frames is very distracting.[/b]

Not sure what version you are running Tim, but the latest version for registered users has animation settings under the View menu with options from 5 to 20 frames.