Reportstorms.com

[Andy Rice]

Andy,
thanks for the quick reply and I will check out the "terms and conditions" on the website.
As far as chasers using this product, I have to say respectfully, that I would not be willing to use if required to send any video or pictures to any affill.
For Joe public though....I guess it could be useful in gaining "ground truth" for a given area.
Thanks again for your quick posts.

Lanny,

I always like to hear all sides of it... so thanks.

Also keep in mind that people don't have to submit photos... just a severe weather report as text (Hail, Wind Damage, Tornado, Snow, etc).... so if that's all you wanted to send, It would still be valuable for a TV station to relay the information to could save lives.

Andy

 

[Clarence Bennett]

This may be a redundant question, so I apologize in advance if it is. If I am already using SN and the reports from SN are going to be used in your network, what is the need or benefit of actually using ReportStorms. Isn't that a bit redundant and just something else to keep up with in a hectic situation.

 

[Andy Rice]

Clarence,

If you have the SN client, I would say that you should use that because it would hit both databases.

Andy

 

[Ben Holcomb]

So do you plan on always using silverlight? It's not available for Linux, so the site is completely useless to me.

 

[Andy Rice]

I have heard some linux rumors for silverlight... but the dates on the articles are pretty old.

http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2007/Sep-05.html

The first phase of the site will be in Silverlight.... but later phases include a low-fi page (which will probably just be java script) and a mobile version.

Andy

 

[mikegeukes]

If the reports meet severe criteria, will they appear in the LSR's of the local
NWS offices.

Mike
http://geukesweather.blogspot.com

 

[rdale]

If submitted to Spotternet it can go right to NWS.

 

[Chris Nuttall]

If the reports meet severe criteria, will they appear in the LSR's of the local
NWS offices.

Mike
http://geukesweather.blogspot.com

SN reports do not generate automatic LSRs. It's still up to the WFO staff to generate and send the LSR. There are several reasons for this...first and foremost is quality control.

 

[Tim Shriver]

If submitted to Spotternet it can go right to NWS.

I didnt know all the WFO's were taking storm reports from SN?

Tim

 

[Tim Shriver]

While I like the idea,,,it makes me hold my breath a little.

We had a round of false reports last year that caused an investigation
by the FBI in some areas of the U.S. I hope this does not lend to this practice.

I still hold to the notion of "no report is better then a bad report".
Checking for accuracy, logging the reports and source is vital. You need to be
able to go back and find a report and get contact information.

I wish you luck with your effort and being that we are in Wx Centrals backyard
we hope to see positive results for the spotter community and the community as a whole.

Tim

 

[rdale]

I didnt know all the WFO's were taking storm reports from SN?

Tim

I'll let Tyler clarify - but I know they at least have them available. Not sure if it's automatically set up for all offices or if they have to do something on their side to have that happen.

 

[Tyler Allison]

I'll let Tyler clarify - but I know they at least have them available. Not sure if it's automatically set up for all offices or if they have to do something on their side to have that happen.

The SN has integration into the eSpotter system. However, the eSpotter system is not used by all offices. You can see a list of those that use it on the eSpotter website. Some of the offices use IEMChat, which the SN also integrates with. And some of the offices simply use the Spotter Network directly through the GR, SL, GoogleEarth or the website interface.

There is no single "in flow" system into each office, if that's what you are asking.

 

[Andy Rice]

While I like the idea,,,it makes me hold my breath a little.

We had a round of false reports last year that caused an investigation
by the FBI in some areas of the U.S. I hope this does not lend to this practice.

I still hold to the notion of "no report is better then a bad report".
Checking for accuracy, logging the reports and source is vital. You need to be
able to go back and find a report and get contact information.

I wish you luck with your effort and being that we are in Wx Centrals backyard
we hope to see positive results for the spotter community and the community as a whole.

Tim

Hi Tim,

Everything is logged. We know the ip and email address of anyone that submitted a report and we have people monitoring the data feed as its coming in. If you believe that a report is inaccurate, you can flag it as so (bottom right corner of the popup when you click on the event). This will notify our moderating team immediately to check the event for validity and take action with the submitter if needed.

andy

 

[Paul Hadfield]

I downloaded and installed the service. Very nice, easy to set up. I'm running Windows Vista on an HP Pavilion dv6000 without issue. I was just wondering if this is reserved for warm wx events or if winter reports will be accepted (i.e. snow/ice totals, real time depth measurements, precip types, changeovers, road conditions, etc.)?

 

[Andy Rice]

All of the winter weather categories are there. If you see a category type that you think should be added..... please let me know!

Andy