GeekwithEnvy

Weather

Weather Underground

by 1 Comment

 

Are you a weather geek? If you are, chances are you may know about weather underground, but if you don’t your missing out on a great community of fellow weather enthusiasts.wunderground logo

Weather Underground gets its weather data from over 22,000+ personal weather stations which as you can imagine creates some of the most accurate and local weather data you can get. I have been in some locations where a PWS has been within feet of my location. The best part about these Personal Weather Stations (PWS), is that you can become a part of the network. You only need to follow a few simple steps to launch your own PWS.

1. Purchase Weather Station Hardware
2. Placing Your Weather Station to Report Accurate Readings
3. Installation and Configuration of Software
4.Upload Your Data to Weather Underground

For more detailed information on this click here.

Weather Underground offers many maps and different forecasts for just about any of your weather needs including a very customizable live map dubbed the Wundermap, which allows you to adjust things like base reflectivity for radar and live storm cell tracking. Your customized weather page includes lots of information including the ability to change the weather station you get data from with some stations providing updates every few seconds.

Weather Underground also pulls data from other major sources including (ASOS) or Automated Surface Observation Systems which are located at over 2,000 airports and (MADIS) which is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Add all this together with local web-cams, an amazing photo gallery, weather blogs and videos and you have one of the most complete weather sources on the net. You can find Weather Underground at wunderground.com. You can also get the weather underground app, which is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Hurricane Sandy Threatens East Coast

by Leave a Comment

As we move toward the beginning of the the week, hurricane Sandy appears to be on a path that will eventually lead the storm into parts of New Jersey and Long Island.

As we have seen over many years, most hurricanes in the Atlantic that are positioned off the East Coast over open ocean tend to steer away form the U.S. However, hurricane Sandy is predicted to do something quite rare and actually turn west towards the coast and eventually inland. This storm is powerful and the amount of energy this storm has built up is spread over a huge area. Hurricane Sandy has winds sustained at 75mph and  those hurricane force winds may reach up to 150 miles away from the storm’s center.

As we approach the middle of the week the storm is predicted to move deeper inland which will bring high winds and torrential rain as far west as Eastern Ohio and West Virginia.

Hurricane Sandy Rainfall
Hurricane Sandy Rainfall Prediction (source:NOAA)

Storm surge will be a risk factor for those along the East Coast including areas like Long Island Sound where a strong onshore flow may force water into the sound causing it to build up and produce flooding. As with any hurricane or depression that moves inland, we will likely see power outages, downed trees, and flooding across many states in the northeast.

You can view the projected track of Hurricane Sandy at Weather Underground.