Daily Weather Briefing

[B Ozanne]

I'm interested in a source for a free daily weather briefing. Just a broad overview of the nations weather for the day ahead. Technical or non-technical discussions are ok. Does anybody have any sources on this?

 

[Steve Miller]

Larry Cosgrove is probably your best bet for consistent US weather info. I have been a subscriber for years and he is generally right on. I have learned a lot from reading his reasoning for his forecasts as he goes in to great detail most of the time. If you want to get a look at the forecast up to 10 days out, this is probably what you are looking for.
Here are instructions directly from his website on how to subscribe:

Get a free subscription to the WEATHERAmerica Newsletter, published daily and dealing with severe/unusual weather around the U.S. and Canada. Send a post marked 'SUBSCRIBE' to:
[email protected]

 

[B Ozanne]

Thanks, do you have a link to his website or an example of one of the briefings?

 

[Steve Miller]

I e-mailed you today's forecast.
Larry's webpage is: http://hometown.aol.com/wxamerica/prof.index.html

Let me know what you think. As far as I know, there are not many chasers who subscribe to the newsletter. I wonder why? Again, I find it very useful.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

I've subscribed to it for several years now. Being that I'm not a scientist, I can't really speak to the science used in forming his outlook, as others might be able to. And while I have heard a few negative comments about it, I personally couldn't understand these, as I have always liked the huge 'big picture' view that his newsletter has. As Steve mentioned, I also find the outlook to be pretty dang accurate for the most part - particularly in the near term, and get a huge kick out of his obvious passion for weather - it comes through in almost every newsletter. It's also pretty helpful that he provides links to all graphical products used in his forecasts, explaining why one model might be favored over others. I like to get as many interpretations on the forecast as I can and then compare these to try and form some opinion of my own ... so Weather America will always have a place in my in-box.

 

[B Ozanne]

Looks very impressive. I need to thoroughly read through it, but from what I see its exactly what I need.

 

[rdale]

"And while I have heard a few negative comments about it, I personally couldn't understand these, as I have always liked the huge 'big picture' view that his newsletter has."

The problem is that he gets VERY specific for a broad overview, pinpointing severe areas well in advance and doing it on a national scale. He used to post his outlook to some of the state weather lists, then when someone would say "we aren't going to get severe in ... because ..." he would blow a gasket. So I agree his bigpicture is handy, but relying on (or questioning) his local stuff is another story.

 

[Glen Romine]

Maybe too technical at times - well, almost certainly so for a true layman, but the NWS does issue discussions of medium and long range weather - as well as discussing model inialization and trend issues (though is pretty slow to become available) that I like to read for a quick big picture. Perhaps you'll find them helpful as well. I give my typical access points below:

http://kamala.cod.edu/HPC/latest.fxus01.KWBC.html
http://kamala.cod.edu/HPC/latest.fxus02.KWBC.html
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/data/WNH/PMDHMD

 

[B Ozanne]

Originally posted by Glen Romine
Maybe too technical at times - well, almost certainly so for a true layman, but the NWS does issue discussions of medium and long range weather - as well as discussing model inialization and trend issues (though is pretty slow to become available) that I like to read for a quick big picture. Perhaps you'll find them helpful as well. I give my typical access points below:

http://kamala.cod.edu/HPC/latest.fxus01.KWBC.html
http://kamala.cod.edu/HPC/latest.fxus02.KWBC.html
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/data/WNH/PMDHMD

Are those hard links or will they change everyday?

 

[Glen Romine]

Originally posted by B Ozanne+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(B Ozanne)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-Glen Romine

Maybe too technical at times - well, almost certainly so for a true layman, but the NWS does issue discussions of medium and long range weather - as well as discussing model inialization and trend issues (though is pretty slow to become available) that I like to read for a quick big picture. Perhaps you'll find them helpful as well. I give my typical access points below:

http://kamala.cod.edu/HPC/latest.fxus01.KWBC.html
http://kamala.cod.edu/HPC/latest.fxus02.KWBC.html
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/data/WNH/PMDHMD

Are those hard links or will they change everyday?[/b]

They are links to the latest products - so should update if each of the sites are running properly.


Glen

 

[Jeff Snyder]

If the CoD site is down, you can access the discussions directly on the HPC website:

http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/pmdhmd.html --> Model Diagnostic Discussion
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/pmdspd.html --> Short Range Forecast Discussion
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/preepd/preepd.html --> Prelim Extended Forecast Discussion
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/pmdepd.html --> Final Extended Forecast Discussion
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/qpfhsd.html --> Heavy Snow and Ice Discussion
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/qpferd.html --> Excessive Rainfall Discussion

The HPC products are all national, though they do also issue South America forecast discussions. The Model Diag Discussion is a favorite of mine during the spring, as it's insightful to read about why the HPC favors one model over another, or just their general thoughts on which models to believe and which look farthest "off base". Unfortunately, the model diag discussion seems most prone to incredible inconsistencies in the depth of discussion. Some forecasters will write awesome, very in-depth discussions, while others briefly mention a few points... Drives me nuts...