Weather Information

Most forecast sites focus on the sort of weather the typical person is interested in; i.e., should I take an umbrella today or pile on the sunscreen? When the weather announces says “clear skies” tonight, do you really have any clue what he means? The meteorologist definition of “clear skies” seem to be rather different from mine….

Astronomy Forecast

In November 2001, Doug Tanaka posted a message on sci.astro.amateur about the Clear Sky Clock. The underlying forecast is done by Canadian Meteorological Center (or jump straight to the astronomy forecast). The result is two measures of interest to every astronomer: what kind of cloud cover will I have and how transparent will the sky be.

If you find this image, or the underlying forecast maps, useful please drop Allan Rahill an email. He needs to show his bosses at CMC that his astronomy forecasts are actually being used.

Other Locations

 

Clock	Preview	Comments/Links
New York City		The greatest city in the world and where I happen to live.
Robert Moses State Park		A park on Long Island used by the Amateur Observer’s Society and the Astronomical Society of Long Island.
Narrowsburg, NY		Friend’s home on the NY/PA border.
Wawayanda State Park		A park near Highland Lakes. Used by the Rockland Astronomy Club.
Lake Taghkanic State Park		A park used by the Rockland Astronomy Club. Near Jackson Corners.
Hauppauge
West Point		In Orange County
Wilcox Park		In Milan. A site of the Mid-Hudson Astronomy Association (MHAA).

US Government Weather Resources

• National Weather Service, providing current official weather warnings, observations, and forecasts.
• Interactive Weather Information Network, extensive information, including hourly weather reports, state forecasts, warnings and advisories, and more. Includes weather radar and satellite images.
• National Warnings Area, access to all available warnings for the United States from the National Weather Service. If your location is listed here, it is a bad night for astronomy.
• Internet Weather Source, gateway to National Weather Service official warnings and forecasts.

The Usual Places

This is a short list of some major weather information sites. You probably already know some of these. If you want up-to-date weather links, you’re probably better off to check with Google or Yahoo.

• INTELLiCast, weather information from around the world, including radar and satellite imagery. Also contains the allergy alert forecasting pollen conditions for cities throughout the U.S.
• USA Today: Weather
• The Weather Channel
• AccuWeather.com, including radar images, satellite images, and 5-day forecasts for around the world and U.S. locations.
• America’s Weather, offers forecasts and current conditions for U.S. cities.
• Automated Weather Source, generates true up-to-the-second real time weather data from locations throughout the world.
• Cancellations.com, contains weather-related closings, school cancellations, and delays for organizations and businesses and offers email posting services.
• CBC Weather, provides weather forecasts for Canada and cities worldwide, in-depth reports, satellite images, and more.
• CNN Interactive: Weather, provides access to four-day weather forecasts for cities worldwide, and coverage of the world’s top weather stories.
• EarthWatch Weather on Demand, 3-D weather site that offers continuously updated satellite, radar, forecasts, and fly-throughs along with StormWatch advisories, watches, and warnings.
• ITV Weather, provides the latest national and regional weather forecasts for the UK, sports weather, and 5-day European forecasts.
• My-Cast, provides neighborhood level forecasts as well as severe weather information and satellite/radar imagery.
• Snow-Forecast.com, provides global weather reports including snow data and alerts, freezing levels, rainfall, and surface temperatures.
• United States Climate Page, easy-to-use map interface to climatologies (temperature, rain, and snow) for cities throughout the United States,
• USWX, general U.S. weather site, providing NWS forecasts, graphics, and severe weather info for localities in the United States.
• Washington Post Weather, forecasts for cities all over the world. Weather images, historical data, and more.
• Weather by E-mail
• Weather for You, offers independent stations, email reports, current conditions, weather computer, and more.
• Weather Underground, worldwide and national weather conditions and a network of K-12 school observations.
• WeatherClosings, posts school closings, baseball and soccer rainouts, and other weather disruptions.
• WeatherDesk.org, with local radars, weather maps, forecasts, warnings, and satellite images from all 50 U.S. States.
• Wild Weather, includes updates on severe weather around the world, links, and features such as meteorologist of the month.
• WxUSA, information for thousands of US cities.
• Yahoo! Weather, current conditions and forecasts.