Nowcast Chase Website?

[Jeff Miller]

I was looking at the Nowcast thread, and am really excited about the enthusiasm of chasers who will be available for Nowcasting. With that, I have an idea.

Could a website be developed that would be password-protected where nowcasters can "sign in"?

Signing in as a nowcaster, you then would have options such as "Available", "Nowcasting", "Break", or others. Then, a member in the network who needs help could see the phone number, and call for nowcasting at that time, choosing from the available nowcasters.

This would be an invaluable tool for chasers in the field, especially Rookie chasers, and could potentially be a lifesaver in the event of data loss and a chaser finds him or herself in an "uncomfortable" position.

Also, an integrated chat could be imbedded in the website where nowcasters can communicate with other nowcasters for split second advice if there is something they are unsure of.

I don't think it would be that much of a hassle developing the site. Ideas? Opinions? Rotten Tomatoes?

 

[cedwards]

I started working on something like that.
http://www.cloud9tours.com/nowcast/
A little chat script is an excellent idea. I think I will add that to it, although if you have internet available to view the chat, then you should be able to download your own data.

 

[Tony Laubach]

I started working on something like that.
http://www.cloud9tours.com/nowcast/
A little chat script is an excellent idea. I think I will add that to it, although if you have internet available to view the chat, then you should be able to download your own data.

http://www.coffeecup.com/live-chat/

Here is a good program that would make chat-setup very easy if someone elected to go that route.

 

[Jon Person]

I'd be happy to lend a helping hand on the programming for a web site like this. I had something like this written several years ago (like 1999) when I ran "stormchasing.net". It was a collage of weather maps which you could choose from a database for quick access. I've since lost the database, but with some help from the community to collect popular nowcasting map sources, I could ressurect this system, and I'd be happy to make it free for folks to use.

EDIT: Oops, I misread the "nowcasting" as "nowcasting maps," but I'm still happy to help nonetheless.