WeatherBox Version 1.0 Coming out Soon!

[WeatherBox]

What: WeatherBox Tactical Weather Support Software

When: We hope to launch WeatherBox before the end of March.

Watch the version 1.0 video tour on our forum here:
http://weatherbox.proboards.com/thread/8/guided-tour-weatherbox-version-1

The subscription for the data flow will only be $9.99/month, with first 30 days free and can cancel during trial period. There will be no cost for the software itself.

There are too many features to list here, but one of the best features is the timeliness of the data. We have timed local radar images arriving 30-60 seconds faster than the other major software packages, as well as full size 1km resolution visible satellite imagery. Just watch the video to see what it's all about. It will turn your PC into a professional-grade meteorological workstation.

In addition to what you see in the users guide video, we will also have a very special feature called Time Machine (Coming soon). With Time Machine, you'll be able to set the date of your WeatherBox to a past date (We started archiving early this year, but will continue to accumulate with time). All the data you normally view in real-time will be available from the archive. With the click of the a button, your WeatherBox will populate with full 1km visible satellite, IR, WV, local and national mosaic radar, warnings, observations, VWP's and storm attributes from the chosen date. Time Machine will be a GREAT TOOL for learning about past events, or just to have fun loading up an interesting weather day. A WeatherBox including time machine will be $14.99/month.

Finally, we will also be adding a model page that will be accessible to subscribers. Just like our real-time data...we expect the model output to be produced lightning fast so WeatherBox subscribers will always have the first look at the new model output.

Join the forum to keep up with latest news, including actual release date. We hope to see you there!

 

[Skip Talbot]

We have timed local radar images arriving 30-60 seconds faster than the other major software packages

This app looks interesting and has a lot of features. Can you explain how you're getting your radar imagery faster than other apps such as Radarscope and GrLevelX? What's your source for the imagery, the public NWS FTP? I'm just curious as to how you can be consistently faster than these other applications if you have the same data source. Thanks

 

[WeatherBox]

The data source for WeatherBox is a NOAAPORT co-located with our server farm, which then connects to the world with a very big pipe. The only factor limiting how fast data gets from the NOAAPORT to your PC is your internet speed.

 

[Jeff Duda]

Certainly some impressive features in the software. Looks like this combines some of the unique features of WeatherScope, GRLevelx, and many websites. The video didn't say much about which radar products were available, however. All that was ever shown was reflectivity. Are velocity, storm relative velocity, SW, VIL, ZDR, CC, RHOHV, HCA available? I frequently use radar products for severe storm interrogation. How readily can that be done in WeatherBox? Does it offer multi-panel display capability? It seems pretty good, but it looked to run a little choppy in your video, and my guess would be that storm chasers would still experience performance issues and lag while out in the field, even if you were getting your data a little faster than other commonly used sources were.

Regarding your time machine...wow...if you really have the storage capacity to hold all those data for years to come, I'm impressed. Each time I download level II data from NCDC from one site in the post-dual-pol era, each 4-minute data set nears 10 MB when there is a lot of activity. A few hours of data during a big event can add up to a few hundred MB from just one site. Pretty cool, though.

 

[WeatherBox]

I'm pretty sure the choppiness you see is an artifact of the 15 fps used to make the guide video. The program itself is smooth so I do not forsee any issues in the field if the computer has enough RAM.

The most important thing to note here is that this is version 1. We plan on making many changes with time. In fact, we have a very long list of features we plan on adding. And, users will be able to submit suggestions on the forum. So that said...

WeatherBox uses Level III radar products, which are smaller and less bandwidth intensive especially for chasers. Same for the Time Machine feature. Here is a list of radar products currently available for Version 1.0:
-Local Base Reflectivity, Base Velocity, SRM, VIL, Storm Attributes/Track overlays.
-National Mosaic Reflectivity, Echo Top, VIL.

- Multi-panel display capability is on the future feature list.

Please note we plan on MONTHLY updates to the program, so you will always have something to look forward to.

 

[rdale]

Looking interesting, but a few questions;

This app looks interesting and has a lot of features. Can you explain how you're getting your radar imagery faster than other apps such as Radarscope and GrLevelX? What's your source for the imagery, the public NWS FTP? I'm just curious as to how you can be consistently faster than these other applications if you have the same data source. Thanks

Instead of just "telling" us it's faster - it might be nice if you actually showed GR3 with an AH subscription on the same view so we could see it over time. In the real world many of these claims end up being untrue, and it would be hard to me to fathom how AH's NOAAPORT system could be 30-60 seconds behind your NOAAPORT system but I'm always willing to be proven wrong

Also - is the satellite imagery downloaded at set intervals? Or will rapid-scan images also be available?

 

[WeatherBox]

rdale - I will just say that WeatherBox checks for new updates every few seconds. No timers.

Same for satellite...if a new images arrives (including rapid scan), it's at most 15 seconds old. So it could simply be a software difference, not actually data timing at the "source."

I do not have an AH subscription to check. But once we launch WeatherBox, get the free trial and do some timing comparisons for yourself, I'd be eager to see what you find out.

 

[rdale]

Excellent! Looking forward - I'll definitely be taking a look!

 

[WeatherBox]

Screenshots of Visible Satellite and National Mosaic Radar when WeatherBox is stretched over dual-23" monitors:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B1_-oPVNJkr3RzBNQUdWM2xIMms
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B1_-oPVNJkr3aE9yT19CQTEyTjQ

 

[rdale]

Nice! Is it making the mosaic from the downloaded BREF1 or is that a separate product?

 

[WeatherBox]

We make the composites as a separate product. They are composed of BREF Tilt1 and produced every 5 minutes.

 

[Thomas Dolmer]

Very interesting product !

Will it be possible to overlay a users GPS position on the maps in real time ?

(sorry if this was covered in the video, in that case i didn't pay close enought attention )

 

[WeatherBox]

We will launch Version 1 very soon without it. Then, GPS is our top priority for next version. We plan on monthly updates to WeatherBox.

The main reason it's not being added for version 1 is it's going to take some time to make sure it's working correctly, and we neither want to rush it nor stall the version 1 release any further.

 

[Joel Wright]

Wow, this looks like a very impressive product for a ground floor introduction, version 1. Looks like it has huge potential.

 

[L.B. LaForce]

Very cool! I will definitely have check it out when it's available.