Weather Map Painting Software

[Tom Stefanac]

Hi guys,

Anyone know of some software that will paint traditional weather graphics on a map? I currently use front painter but when the map is bigger than my screen and I scroll down within the software it will usually toss the graphics off from the mouse location by 50 pixels or so but if the map fits the screen it is great software.

Thanks!
Tom

 

[rdale]

GEMPAK - http://www.unidata.ucar.edu and http://skywatch.org

 

[Tim Vasquez]

Sounds like I'll have to cobble something together. Digital Atmosphere's front toolbox does draw fronts but is not very forgiving if you make an error; it also doesn't do drylines.

Tim

 

[Joey Ketcham]

I too would like to see a software package for non-broadcast people who likes to create their own weathermaps and perhaps even a way to upload them for website use.

 

[Jeff Miller]

I too would like to see a software package for non-broadcast people who likes to create their own weathermaps and perhaps even a way to upload them for website use.
[/b]

Agreed. A simple, easy to use weather symbol generator and plotter would be very nice indeed. Im all for it.

Some suggested ideas:

1. The abillity to draw a front, in whole or in segments, with the ability to change the front from cold to warm, stationary, occluded with a click.

2. A *click on front* feature where when asked to input speed and overall direction of front will give ETA of FROPA in various cities (considering the variable does not change).

3. Rain, Snow and Thunderstorm Precipitation paint-sprays to show general areas of predicted precipitation.

4. Selection of Weather Symbols in Legend for drag and paste.

5. The ability to draw isobars and isotherms.

6. An assortment of user friendly sky-cover icons.

If I am correct in assuming that this is NOT nor is intended to be a modeling program, much of the emphasis would be on quality graphics over topographic choices. Sounds like something I would download in a heartbeat!

These are just some ideas I thought of for a simple to use weather map generator.

 

[Tom Stefanac]

Yeah, I have scoured the net for some good software but Tim's front painter is the ideal and only software I have been able to find for Windows.

Gempak is excellent, the only issue I hear people complain about is data and I like to draw all over weather maps I borrow from the net so that presents an import issue.

3. Rain, Snow and Thunderstorm Precipitation paint-sprays to show general areas of predicted precipitation.[/b]

I tend to play 'SPC' when I draw maps, so I will try to bubble in areas which are higher risk using the same bubbly zone styles that they do in their meso-discussions. These zones could be gradiently (I made that word up) filled or have some sort of solid fill with a variable opacity to represent precip or whatever when used outside of the traditional means.

The ability to draw in jet features like those below and arrows of variable size would also be nice

Heck why not have the ability to draw custom contour lines manually too, that would be nice and then have the ability to smooth them (now I am asking too much) :lol:

 

[rdale]

FYI all of SPC's maps are created with...

drumroll please...

GEMPAK.

 

[Tom Stefanac]

FYI all of SPC's maps are created with...

drumroll please...

GEMPAK.
[/b]

Yes they are, but it is a pain in the butt to jump out of Windows and into Linux to run GEMPAK, get all the data, draw the maps, save them as images, jump back into Windows, check email, send email with thoughts and so forth.

I think that's why a standalone piece of software for Windows would be nice. Also GEMPAK does not like to 'import' pictures if you know what I mean hehe. So pulling maps off the net and drawing all over them becomes a problem.

Otherwise though, if I was going to sit down and really do something I would work entirely in Linux with GEMPAK until the session was over. I was just looking for some good software to use on the fly. Also, it would probably be cheaper than GEMPAK right? **There are free versions of GEMPAK but data sources are required**
:lol:

 

[Tim Vasquez]

Here it is:

Front Painter for Windows
http://www.weathergraphics.com/dl/frontpainter.exe

- Does drylines too

There aren't any bells and whistles on this, but it's free for the time being and I'll work on it as time permits.

Tim

 

[Tom Stefanac]

Here it is:

Front Painter for Windows
http://www.weathergraphics.com/dl/frontpainter.exe

- Does drylines too

There aren't any bells and whistles on this, but it's free for the time being and I'll work on it as time permits.

Tim
[/b]

WOW TIM!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

I had the old version of Front Painter, V 1.0... this new version is great!!!!

THANK YOU!!

 

[Tim Vasquez]

I noticed a glitch in the Erase command (old fronts get redrawn once you start a new line).. I'll fix that shortly.

Tim

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Tim,

Any way to add those cool Ls and Hs?

 

[Tim Vasquez]

OK it's fixed... redownload and reinstall to get the change.

Tim

 

[Joey Ketcham]

That's awesome Tim! Thanks

 

[Dan Cook]

Awsome work Tim, but a little thing:

The save function doesn't work. It'll let you pick where to save the file, but doesn't actually do it.

 

[Robert Dewey]

GEMPAK user myself... Started using it at 16 years old, set everything up myself (including the data capture scripts). Yes, it has a learning curve ... But it was WELL MORE THAN WORTH IT! If you have a spare PC laying around, it never hurts to experiment.

 

[Jayson Prentice]

Tim! That is very impressive and I love it! I will agree with rdale that GEMPAK is an awesome thing to work with if you have a machine that can do it. But, with only being able to run windows, this frontpaint that Tim just came up with is an awesome program...

Thanks!

 

[Chase Studebaker]

anyway to get GEMPAK

 

[Chase Studebaker]

GEMPAK user myself... Started using it at 16 years old, set everything up myself (including the data capture scripts). Yes, it has a learning curve ... But it was WELL MORE THAN WORTH IT! If you have a spare PC laying around, it never hurts to experiment.

Yeah How To Download It Please Someone Tell Me

 

[Nathan Parker]

MetGraphics might have some good options as well.

 

[Nathan Parker]

RE Case: GEMPAK is an older utility replaced by AWIPS II. I had the instructions for installing it on macOS and Linux if you ever want them. GEMPAK cannot run on Windows without a Linux VM. Getting data into it is an issue as well (although it still can be used for drawing maps).

 

[Corey Ecton]

Yes they are, but it is a pain in the butt to jump out of Windows and into Linux to run GEMPAK, get all the data, draw the maps, save them as images, jump back into Windows, check email, send email with thoughts and so forth.

I think that's why a standalone piece of software for Windows would be nice. Also GEMPAK does not like to 'import' pictures if you know what I mean hehe. So pulling maps off the net and drawing all over them becomes a problem.

Otherwise though, if I was going to sit down and really do something I would work entirely in Linux with GEMPAK until the session was over. I was just looking for some good software to use on the fly. Also, it would probably be cheaper than GEMPAK right? **There are free versions of GEMPAK but data sources are required**
:lol:

This is done inside CAVE (AWIPS) these days, particularly inside PGEN. There is a source to get this. You would need CAVE D2D. The configuration is a bit 'tasky', but is do-able via the YouTube tutorial, which if you follow it verbatim, will get you up and running in about 30 minutes or so, give or take. Here's a screenshot of it. Pretty useful, especially if you have access to a good edex server. Hope this helps. I'm very familiar with AWIPS and it's use, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.