Model and data source checkup for 2025

[Dan Robinson]

I find that I get into a rut in the weather data sources I use, and so I often miss new things that come onto the scene. It is hard to keep up with these even if you try to stay up-to-date. I thought it might be nice to get a refresh on all of the new sources that are useful for chasing.

I'll list my current go-tos. I know some of these are going to be out-of-date with better options available, which is what the purpose of this thread is. I'm excluding all of the obvious ones like the SPC, NHC and so on that everyone already knows.

Models:

HRRR, RAP, NAM NEST, GFS, GEFS, Euro:
The College of DuPage site has been my preferred one for these primary models. I like the ability to do point-click soundings and to have all of the frames load on the same page with the slider to move forward and backward. The issue is sometimes COD's model imagery comes in later than other sources, and many of the newer models are missing (RRFS for instance). Despite those relatively minor issues, I find COD's site easier to use for quick perusing of the main models.

ECMWF:
While COD's site is the one I primarily use to get a look at the Euro charts, the weather.us site has the most comprehensive data sets for this model. The drawback here is that only the 12z and 00z runs are shown, and the runs are significantly more delayed than other sites. Does anyone know which site has the fastest-updating Euro runs? I know that you have to pay to get the full Euro data set - which I'm willing to do. Any recommendations?

RRFS-A:
It appears that Pivotal Weather is the only third-party site with this model. I have run into the main NOAA RRFS site (rapidrefresh.noaa.gov/RRFS/) not updating while Pivotal Weather is. The NSSL site's charts are also only available as "Full Domain" with nothing zoomed in closer. Are there any better options for this model?

HRW/NSSL MPAS/WOF:
It appears that Pivotal Weather is the only other option for the NSSL CAMs (HRW/MPAS) other than the main NSSL site cams.nssl.noaa.gov/comparisons. I also am not aware of any other WOF (Warn-on-Forecast) displays other than the official NSSL one at cbwofs.nssl.noaa.gov/forecast.

Others?
Are there any other new(er) models I didn't list here? At the least, any that have shown any usefulness for chase forecasting?

Realtime data (Radar/Satellite/Obs/etc):

Satellite:
COD's satellite viewer has been the far superior one over anything else I know of. The ability to get zoomed-in views with realtime data & mapping overlays is something I don't think you can get anywhere else on a free site.

Radar:
I again use COD's in my web browser as my first go-to for radar. On a chase, I use GRLevel3 and Radarscope on my laptop along with COD radar running in browser tab(s). RS super-res is the best, but I have always had an issue with the lightning data going out after 5-10 minutes, requiring closing and re-opening the program to get it back.

Surface Obs:
My go-to for this has always been the UCAR charts. I like things like this, quick easy GIF image that requires no zooming or javascript. I also have a placefile pulling surface obs/METARs in GRLevel3, but I have had this stop updating a few times during a chase.

Lightning:
Blitzortung or RS, though the RS data has not been reliable on my PC or laptop. I have tried the GR lightning data placefiles that use Blitzortung data, but find that the icons are too large for each strike and they often overwhelm the display.

Warnings:
RS and GR both have this info, but I prefer GR as I can easily get the full text. I only read those to see what the storm speed is.

Soundings:
I've always used the UCAR site for observed soundings.

Tropical

I don't have a lot of these, but here are my main ones:

NCAR track and intensity guidance
Satellite floaters

 

[John Farley]

For lightning, I use lightningmaps.org - seems to update well. However, the display is poor on my phone, dots too small to see. Much better on computers, at least for me.

With Radarscope, I can easily get the full text just by clicking on the i (information) icon.

Agree on most of the rest, although my overall go to for models is Pivotal Weather.

 

[Harlan U]

RRFS-A:
It appears that Pivotal Weather is the only third-party site with this model. I have run into the main NOAA RRFS site (rapidrefresh.noaa.gov/RRFS/) not updating while Pivotal Weather is. The NSSL site's charts are also only available as "Full Domain" with nothing zoomed in closer. Are there any better options for this model?

I use the NSSL's CAMS site for the RRFS, and it seems to have the typical zooms for the various regions of the CONUS (Central Plains, Midwest, etc). I've also never had issues with delayed updates. The RRFS on this site is listed as the "RRFS-EMC" and not the "RRFS-A" so maybe it's a different version(???). (NSSL CAMs -)

I generally use most of the same models/analysis pages that you've listed, but there are a few unique sites I've found while digging around online. A lot of these pages are experimental and can occasionally be subject to disruptions/discontinuations.

Models:
I occasionally use a page for the experimental SHiELD model that could have some applications for chasing (SHiELD)

The SPC's HREF viewer is one of my favorites for chasing. It's a good way to compare different CAM outputs. (SPC HREF Ensemble Viewer - 500 mb wind/height, ens mean)

There are two experimental "plume viewer" sites, for the SREF and GEFS respectively, that I use occasionally to analyze dewpoint/CAPE/shear fields (NCEP SREF Plume Viewer), (EMC GEFS plumes).

It is Colorado specific but CSU's Department of Atmospheric Science has a great model page with some unique WRF runs and forecast soundings for Colorado (CSU WRF model forecasts: model comparison for Colorado; Russ Schumacher, Colorado State University Department of Atmospheric Science).
There is also a 4-km CSU WRF page that has forecast graphics for LCL height, something I haven't seen anywhere else. (CSU 4-km WRF model forecasts » Russ Schumacher, Colorado State University Department of Atmospheric Science)

CSU also has an AI severe weather model, which you can find at (CSU-MLP). The same forecasts are also available in a more high-res format at CSU's main weather page (Real-time weather data » Russ Schumacher, Colorado State University Department of Atmospheric Science).

Realtime Data:
Surface Obs:
I like to do hand-analyis of surface data. The SPC's mesoanalysis page can generate a printable PDF of surface observations over your chosen area. COD's analysis page also has some great printable surface maps with a greater station density than the SPC's map (COD Meteorology -- Analysis Data).

MesoWest has a surface data viewer that incorporates observations from a huge variety of networks, many more than are used officially by the NWS. (MESOWEST STATION INTERFACE) (use the bar on the left hand side of the website to "Change to Weather Map").

Soundings:
I use a site for ACARS (airline) soundings since Boulder hasn't had a balloon launch in 3 years. You can get data for airports all over the country. (https://wxster.com/acars)

I use two sites for hodographs derived from VWP data (VWP Hodographs | Autumn Sky), (WSR-88D VAD Hodograph) (edit the radar name in the website link to view different radars)

Tropical:
Tropical Tidbits has great hurricane-specific model data, along with real-time Hurricane Hunter data (Tropical Tidbits)

The SHiELD site I mentioned above has some hurricane-specific models (SHiELD).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii provides tropical cyclone forecasts for the pacific (https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/jtwc.html).

 

[Randy Jennings]

Model wise it can also be worth wile to look at Warn on Forecast WoFS when trying to make hard decisions on a chase. It doesn't run all the time and when it does it only covers the mesoscale sector they are running it for.

For surface obs on a chase, I use the Red Team Weather placefiles in GR GRLevelX Tools. However, my chase partner uses the Pro Tier Two level of RS and their latest version is amazing and I think I will start subscribing to it. For obs it shows them on the screen just like using GR does but when you click on it you get details like when the obs was. The even more detailed road maps are great too. I typically use SPC for obs before a chase.

I have typically used COD for satellite, but I have started using the free version of SatSquath on my cell. Only drawback is it doesn't save your settings on the free version and you have to re-add them every time.

Another cool tool is the NWS Weather and Hazards Data Viewer NWS Weather and Hazards Data Viewer. Really cool for surface obs and it also has radar and some other stuff.

I also should mention IEMBot Monitor. This is the original NWS chat client, although it isn't the instance the NWS used, it is a public one that posts all the products issued by/for a specific NWS WFO (a different "room" for each WFO). I run this on a chase with the audible alerts on and it is faster than anything else on giving me notice of new NWS products and also displays them in a log that shows very concise data in an easy to read format (for example a SVR TS warning will list hail size, wind speed, and if it is tagged tornado possible along with counties. This makes it really quick to see what got issued at a glace, and you can always click on it to see the full details.

One other thing to note on tornado warnings - GR makes observed ones purple and radar indicated ones red, where RS just makes them all red. I really like the way GR does it.