Phone apps for the 2019 chase season

[Marc R. O'Leary]

What is the advantage to allisonhouse for radarscope?

 

[Alex Elmore]

Social media is not an effective way for realtime since it would require someone monitor that.

While yes, there may be offices that don't monitor social media 24/7 for various reasons, and there are unique benefits to using actual reporting platforms, there are many offices that do monitor it and take the use of social media to relay and receive weather information very seriously. In the office I was at, monitoring and using social media was part of daily shift duties, especially during severe weather. Spotters, chasers, or anyone else can post images of whatever they're seeing which is extremely helpful to forecasters for so many reasons. Even if offices aren't able to monitor it for whatever reason during severe weather, they can still go back post event and use the social media reports for verification purposes. Some events can be poorly judged or measured, e.g., 6-inch diameter tree limbs down that are really 2-inches and dead, golf-ball sized hail that's really quarter-sized, funnel that's just scud, etc. Seeing images via social media can really help clear up those issues and give forecasters more accurate info. This isn't meant as an argument, but just FYI for those who read this thread: if you are able to, facebook or tweet info and footage to whatever office(s) you think you're closest to (even if you're wrong, they can still forward the info to the right one), and/or use the the state-weather hashtag combo (e.g., for Oklahoma: #okwx) for twitter. Offices that utilize social media will be very grateful.

 

[rdale]

You're right in suggesting that social media is a good way to document it. I just wouldn't suggest using it as realtime information - again, that's why SN injects directly into the chatroom

 

[Randy Jennings]

I'm only aware of 1 NWS office that encourages the use of social media for real time reports - Austin/San Antonio: https://www.weather.gov/ewx/vost

There may be more.

 

[B. Dean Berry]

You have a couple of apps that I am not familiar with and I'm curious how you use them with chasing. Those include WDT WeatherOps and Baron Critical Weather Intelligence. BTW, I still use Baron Mobile ThreatNet on my laptop.

Bill Hark

Baron CWI is a free smartphone app. WDT WeatherOps is available through WDT. Steve Miller (OK) can give you more information. It's a very robust platform.

weatherops.com

 

[Shane Eagan]

I didn't know Mping now takes severe wx reports. Are those monitored in real time for warning purposes? I'd say Mping would be a must-have app for all seasons if that is the case.

I think it depends upon those working that day; I definitely have it overlaid in GR and RS even when working warning operations. Out here in western SD and northeastern WY, we monitor everything during severe weather given our low population density. In the late spring and summer we'll keep an eye on the chasers that are up here. Often the only people near a storm are chasers and we will use your reports (and appreciate them!)

 

[Jeff Duda]

You're right in suggesting that social media is a good way to document it. I just wouldn't suggest using it as realtime information - again, that's why SN injects directly into the chatroom

I would think any respectable or reasonable WFO anywhere near the central Plains would have a setup where they are running GR and can see reports from all sources in real-time during the spring. Also, someone should be monitoring their FB and Twitter feeds during a severe weather event. I actually now prefer sending severe weather reports via Twitter because it's very fast, you get more-or-less direct access to WFOs (as far as getting their attention), and you can send images to corroborate your report (unlike SN or MPING).

During the "offseason" or in more remote locations, yeah, it might be better to use SN.

 

[rdale]

Probably not as much this spring if the shutdown continues...

 

[Ethan Lang]

I use radar scope, One weather, I have an SPC widget, chaser location, RadarX is a very cheap app similar to radar scope, Rapid Report, Satellite weather is a crude app the shows basic sat images, sea storm during cane season, and I extensively use Zello walkie talkie app to talk to my chase team.

 

[Jeff Duda]

Probably not as much this spring if the shutdown continues...

Well, yes, but that's a pretty obvious X-factor.

 

[adlyons]

Satsquatch GOES-16 with a paid subscription last season was great, I cant wait for wxbyte to get a proper mobile app developed for it.

Devin, we are working on it and hope to have it ready by spring of 2019. We have the bare bones in place, just finalizing things like IOS certification and subscriptions. oh and we are also adding full disk support for our Canadian and south american friends.

 

[adlyons]

I am using both Android Radar Scope and GR Level 2. I have a crappy windows table that can run GR (barely) and just use my galaxy phone to run radarscope and a free offline map handler called maps.me. I split screen them and that works really well. I also have an update on Satsquatch from WxByte for everybody. An app is coming for spring of 2019, we are awaiting approval from apple, but the basics of the app are ready. I've been transitioning away from the coding side of things and letting the better programmers take over. Tentative launch is March 2019 for Android and Possibly April for iOS.

If this shutdown ever ends and I get godamn paid I will be buying a 2 in 1 laptop (Hp Spectre X 360) with a touch pen to be able to do some analysis, edit video on the fly and have some radar capabilities.

 

[Michael Snyder]

The App: MAPS.ME needs more mention.
Downloads to your phone for the region you are chasing in so you dont need service for your map to work. Highly recommended.

 

[Jeff Duda]

The App: MAPS.ME needs more mention.
Downloads to your phone for the region you are chasing in so you dont need service for your map to work. Highly recommended.

Seconded. It has been my main mapping software for chasing for several years now. And you don't have to download entire states, so it won't necessarily consume all the storage space on your device.

 

[Quincy Vagell]

I haven't changed my app usage much over the past few years. When it comes to weather, I really only use RadarScope. Google Chrome is my mobile browser of choice when looking at satellite imagery, mesoanalysis, observations, etc.

RadarScope - always my go-to for radar, with pro subscription
Google Maps - navigation, but also for finding places to eat and rest at (with reviews)
Gas Buddy - great for finding gas in rural areas, as well as the lowest prices
Yelp - helpful with finding restaurants and other attractions, although Google Maps tends to have more reviews in the most rural areas.
Wyndham Rewards - I switched over to this app for booking the majority of my motel/hotel stays. Most accommodations in their chain are reliably clean/comfortable, especially once you do a quick scan of the reviews. Also, their prices are competitive with the app, especially if you travel a lot. I used to predominantly use Expedia, but I find deals that are just as good by becoming a Wyndham Rewards member. With every three stays (3,000 points), I get a discount that's usually good for 20-30% off my next stay.

For some quick photo/image editing tools...

PS Express - quick and easy to touchup photos on the go. When I want to share photos from my phone (which aren't the highest resolution), I can make a few quick edits in this app to get the photos looking sharp.
iWatermark - a great app for watermarking photos via iOS
Aviary - I still go back to this app when I want to draw/annotate on maps, either to share on social media or to send to other chasers.
InstaSize - a quick way to format panoramic photos for sharing on Instagram.