Obsessively Tracking a Blizzard This Weekend
A huge blizzard is hitting the eastern half and northern United States, and if you are nearby, here are the best tools to find out if you are in its path and how much snow you will get. These weather tools will come in handy even if you are not, or you are chained to the couch in search of storms.
The forecast map for the amount of snow falling on the east coast ranges from “light” to “snowy,” not to mention possible subsequent flooding . It’s not just us in the east; similar snowfall has occurred (or will fall) in the northern parts of the United States. While this may be the first big snow of the season, it certainly won’t be the last. With that in mind, here are a few tools you can use to play your amateur storm hunter from the comfort of your couch, office, or smartphone.
Find out if you are on the path of the storm
If you’re wondering if you’re in the path of this storm or another storm, the National Weather Service (NWS) interactive map tells you everything you need to know about your area. Just click on your region on the map and you will zoom out to a custom forecast for your region. Click again on the smaller new map that appears for an even more detailed forecast for your specific area, including current conditions, 7-day forecast, detailed forecast, and more.
You can also click to view specific weather reports from your local forecast department, which include temperature and conditions (including sky and precipitation) from weather stations at nearby schools, airports, or military bases. If all you need to know is whether this storm or any other storm is going to hit you, this is the quickest way to find out.
Bookmark only the best weather sites
If you need updated forecasts and more information, of course you can check out the weather sites willingly called storms, or watch videos of cars spinning in lamp posts. But if you really want to know how much snow you’re going to get and when, you need better sources. Here are our favorites:
- Weather.gov : We just mentioned this, but leave it open in the tab. This is one of our favorite weather sites and has complete weather forecasts, weather alerts as soon as they are published, and even weather reports for counties across the country. The NWS draws on the meteorological capabilities and science of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which means these are the people from whom everyone else gets their data, at least in large part. They also have a ton of useful information on staying safe in winter weather that is worth reading.
- Weather Underground : If you’re a weather fanatic and love more data than the National Weather Service provides, the Weather Underground is worth a look. The site offers live regional and national radars, weather alerts for your location and of course the always popular Wundermap , live, data-rich and absolutely complete weather map information. Wundermap can be customized with layers for the information you want, including real-time radar, current conditions and temperatures, regional precipitation, satellite data, severe weather, and yes, even rainfall start times so you know exactly when a storm will hit you …
- Forecast.io : Okay, all boring weather is not for you. In this case, Forecast.io offers a simpler and more direct approach to your forecast, using only the information that is most useful to you: current conditions, what the next hour will look like, your five-day forecast, and of course any serious or severe weather warnings. that you need to know about. If you’re interested in the details, just scroll down (the page automatically detects your location) to see detailed forecast graphs for your region.
There are tons of other weather sites and resources to check out, but these are our picks for both desktop storm chasers and concerned passengers. They won’t let you down, and you have three great options: the official option, the data-heavy weather and nerd option, and the simple fact-based option (in that order!)
Monitor the weather in real time
Even if you’re not a data fanatic, you might still enjoy watching the storm approaching, live, in real time. So do I. I refer to NWS for detailed forecasts and full text of weather and severe weather warnings, but I leave Wundermap Weather Underground in the tab.
It updates regularly as conditions change, and it’s great to see the weather in different regions change its area as it happens. I can also set up side filters (think Google Maps “layers” for traffic) to see satellite images and cloud cover, storm reports, moving air fronts, high or low pressure, and more. I can even tweak the radar view to show me the tracking of the storm, so I can see if this large purple drop of precipitation is heading towards my home, or somewhere north or south of me.
If you want something simpler, try LiveWXRadar.com . You can see weather overlays for Google Maps at a glance and scroll down to see NWS maps. On the left side of the page, there is a directory of TV channels in the United States, so you can watch through the radar that your TV meteorologists are proud of. Likewise, the real-time weather data center operated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research is another great resource if you are interested in constantly updated real-time satellite imagery from NOAA GOES weather satellites (in visible cloud cover, water vapor in the air, and even in informatics versions!), real-time radar data and much more. Again, most of this information is for the weather and data lovers, but if that’s you, you might get lost in the menus and viewing options.
Take your storm tracking with you on the go
If you sit at a table all day, you can leave the weather site or active map open in the tab. If you’re running around and trying to get to the store before everyone else has bought all the milk and toilet paper before the storm, you’ll need something to take with you on your smartphone. Dark Sky is our favorite for iPhone , and 1Weather is for Android . Both apps offer real-time radar, push notifications in case of severe weather or other weather alerts, current conditions and forecasts, and much more information than you might need when you’re on the go, but all the features you need to stay in the know. on the run.
Since we recommended it for desktop, Weather Underground is also available for both iOS and Android if you’d like to continue the theme. Of course, all the other contenders are available: Weatherbug , Accuweather , The Weather Channel, and so on. These are useful options too, but not our favorites.
If you like it when your mobile weather comes from a source, the National Weather Service’s mobile site is great, ad-free and mobile-friendly. Check out their step-by-step instructions for use here . That being said, there are no push notifications in the event of an emergency or warning, so keep that in mind.
Follow together on social media
One of the best advice I can offer to anyone interested in local weather is to keep up with the reliable meteorologist (or their team) on social media. This way, you will have up-to-date information that does not require you to download or check a special application or even keep the weather map running in your browser (even if it’s a pretty cool map).
The National Weather Service manages social accounts for its national headquarters and for certain areas (such as the NWS Twitter account for New York) that are also worth keeping an eye on. Here you can see all NWS social media accounts and enter your zip code to get personalized results for your region.
However, in addition to the NWS, also check with your local newspapers or TV channels. For example, in the Washington area, we have the Capital Weather Gang , which has a great blog in the Washington Post but even better on Twitter .
If this storm hits you as hard as it does me, you might be obsessed enough to keep the radar map open in a tab and display it full screen like a splash screen (although I would never do that, of course .) If you are reading this in a warm and sunny place, I envy, but take note anyway – after all, your forest is going to have harsh weather and these services can help you keep an eye on it and stay safe.