First Look

[Scott Bilyou]

I've been a member on here for a few years now, but still inexperienced. I am taking the MetEd online courses. What is the first thing you look at for the day's weather, Soundings, radar, etc.?

 

[Steve Miller]

@Scott Bilyou, first off, welcome to Stormtrack!
I imagine everyone varies on what they look at first based on the individual and the weather situation so this should be an interesting discussion as the thread builds.
On a typical chase day I start with satellite to see where things stand. If there was overnight convection I might take a quick look at radar but not typically. I then drop by the SPC site and read what they are thinking and then click to their HRRR products to get an idea of what the rapid refresh models are doing for the day. These update hourly so I return often. I'm a fan of WeatherBell.com so chances are pretty good I've been watching the longer range models for several days there. I might stop by there and look at the 4km NAM and see what it indicates.
Throughout the day I keep an eye on satellite and then as things get close to initiation, I watch radar for the first returns of the day and see if it matches my amateur forecast.

 

[Scott Bilyou]

@Scott Bilyou, first off, welcome to Stormtrack!
I imagine everyone varies on what they look at first based on the individual and the weather situation so this should be an interesting discussion as the thread builds.
On a typical chase day I start with satellite to see where things stand. If there was overnight convection I might take a quick look at radar but not typically. I then drop by the SPC site and read what they are thinking and then click to their HRRR products to get an idea of what the rapid refresh models are doing for the day. These update hourly so I return often. I'm a fan of WeatherBell.com so chances are pretty good I've been watching the longer range models for several days there. I might stop by there and look at the 4km NAM and see what it indicates.
Throughout the day I keep an eye on satellite and then as things get close to initiation, I watch radar for the first returns of the day and see if it matches my amateur forecast.

Thanks for the welcome, and thank you for your input.

 

[Bob Schafer]

I'll do this a little differently. Here are the first few links I will use the morning of a chase:

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_sfc_map.gif
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/compmap/
http://mp1.met.psu.edu/~fxg1/SAT_SC/vis0.gif

If I want a look at a 1km vis to check out "that awesome-looking outflow bdry", I'll use this (or similar for a different state):
http://climate.cod.edu/data/satellite/1km/Colorado/current/Colorado.vis.gif
http://weather.rap.ucar.edu/surface/displaySfc.php?endDate=20141201&endTime=-1&duration=0&region=ict
(change the ict at the end of the url to abi for a Texas chase, or pir for a Northern Plains chase)

Then I'll spend a pretty long time looking over the RAP forecasts on http://www.twisterdata.com/ followed by the HRRR.
Thanks to Skip's tip from last year, I check out the Lid Strength Index: http://www.wxcaster.com/smallfiles_central_svr.htm
Here's one time-sensitive link from that page just as an example:
http://beta.wxcaster.com/models/eta/central/CENTRAL_ETA212_ATMOS_LSI_09HR.gif
If my target has an LSI higher than 2 for initiation time I am concerned. Higher than 4 and I am really concerned. Thanks again, Skip!

SPC? Yeah, but always last. I want to form my own forecast first, and then when I feel comfortable (or not!) with having a handle on the day, I go see how the SPC is completely different, lol.

 

[Scott Bilyou]

I'll do this a little differently. Here are the first few links I will use the morning of a chase:

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_sfc_map.gif
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/compmap/
http://mp1.met.psu.edu/~fxg1/SAT_SC/vis0.gif

If I want a look at a 1km vis to check out "that awesome-looking outflow bdry", I'll use this (or similar for a different state):
http://climate.cod.edu/data/satellite/1km/Colorado/current/Colorado.vis.gif
http://weather.rap.ucar.edu/surface/displaySfc.php?endDate=20141201&endTime=-1&duration=0&region=ict
(change the ict at the end of the url to abi for a Texas chase, or pir for a Northern Plains chase)

Then I'll spend a pretty long time looking over the RAP forecasts on http://www.twisterdata.com/ followed by the HRRR.
Thanks to Skip's tip from last year, I check out the Lid Strength Index: http://www.wxcaster.com/smallfiles_central_svr.htm
Here's one time-sensitive link from that page just as an example:
http://beta.wxcaster.com/models/eta/central/CENTRAL_ETA212_ATMOS_LSI_09HR.gif
If my target has an LSI higher than 2 for initiation time I am concerned. Higher than 4 and I am really concerned. Thanks again, Skip!

SPC? Yeah, but always last. I want to form my own forecast first, and then when I feel comfortable (or not!) with having a handle on the day, I go see how the SPC is completely different, lol.

Thank you @Bob Schafer