These are the latest weather links from Chapter 7 of DR. FRED'S WEATHER WATCH: CREATE AND RUN YOUR OWN WEATHER STATION by Fred Bortz, Ph.D. with J. Marshall Shepherd, Ph.D. (McGraw-Hill, 2000, ages 10-up) Paperback, ISBN#0-07-134799-2.

Learn about Dr. Shepherd's latest project.

Here's a web page describing a project by co-author J. Marshall Shepherd that shows how rainfall patterns change as cities grow. Dr. Shepherd's project used an orbiting rainfall radar aboard NASA's TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) spacecraft.

The web page was created by a high school student working with Dr. Shepherd for a summer.

And here's a NASA web page introducing Dr. Shepherd himself.

Now onward for the updated links from the book!

To learn more about Doppler radar, you can visit sites such as the USA Today Weather Topics Index and search for "Doppler radar."

For more information on weather satellites plus links to interesting satellite images, visit the GOES project.

At many other sites on the world wide web, you can find real-time radar and satellite imagery to help you forecast weather changes in your neighborhood by seeing the weather that is heading your way. You may have to explore those sites a bit to find the data, but exploring them can be both educational and fun. Some of the best sites include the following:

• The Weather Channel
• CNN Interactive
• The WeatherPost
• EarthWatch
• WeatherNet
• Intellicast

The best on-line locations to find and study surface weather maps are:

• WeatherNet
• USA Today
• The Weather Channel
• CNN Interactive
• National Weather Service (NWS)
• Weather Underground

Beyond Surface Maps: Weather patterns at the surface usually depend on conditions at higher levels of the atmosphere. Meteorologists also measure wind, pressure, temperature, and moisture patterns at different altitudes. For those, they use radiosondes, special balloons that carry instruments that measure the standard weather variables (pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction) and send the information back to the ground by radio signals.

This data from sites around the country can be used to create maps similar to surface maps for different levels of the atmosphere. This allows meteorologists to study the effects of upper air phenomena, like the high altitude wind called the "Jet Stream," on the surface weather. You can learn about the Jet Stream in the Weather Basics section of the USA Today on-line weather information pages.

Good sites for finding and studying upper air maps include:

• WeatherNet
• WeatherWorld

Other NWS Information: All neighborhood weather watchers should keep in touch with their local NWS office. These offices issue weather measurements, special weather statements, and other information that are intended specifically for their local area. Your skill as a neighborhood forecaster will depend on knowing how your measurements compare to those official local measurements. You can visit your area's NWS on-line service through the following sites:

• NOAA/NWS Sites
• Interactive Weather

Many of the sites mentioned her, but specifically the National Weather Service and WeatherNet sites, also include a variety of forecast maps and data generated by the weather service's large weather prediction computer models. How do those computer programs use real measurements to produce daily, weekly, and monthly forecasts? Visit NOAA's environmental site to find out.

• The Washington Post Weather Reference is an excellent reference site. It contains a weather glossary with over 600 terms and a valuable definitions/explanation page. It also provides a weather calculator to perform simple but essential calculations like: Fahrenheit-Celsius Conversion, Wind Speed Conversion, Heat Index (a measure of the discomfort level on hot, humid days), and Wind Chill (a measure of how cold you the air feels when the wind blows).
• The USA Today on-line weather information pages have one of the better sets of weather explanations and schematics. There is also a weather glossary and weather library.
• The Plymouth (New Hampshire) State College meteorology program site has a good set of cloud pictures to help the weather watcher understand and identify clouds. It also discusses what types of weather may be associated with different types of clouds. This is a highly recommended site for the amateur weather watcher.
• The University of Illinois meteorology guide is a very good site for tips on weather forecasting. It provides general forecasting methods and information on how to read weather maps. It also provides good education modules to understand weather and climate systems.
• This "Weather World" page is another excellent source of step-by-step guidelines for weather forecasting.
• The Washington Post weather history site provides historical weather data for over 2,000 cities worldwide. Information included in the database are statistics on temperature, rainfall, snow, humidity, and other variables.
• The Athena Earth and Space Science K-12 education program's weather page allows students to observe, track, chart and forecast weather systems interactively. Try it!
• The National Severe Storms Center site is probably the most complete sites for information on observing, tracking, and forecasting severe weather (such as thunderstorms, lightning, and tornadoes). If you ever wondered what "storm chasers" were looking for besides thrills, this site has the answers.
• The National Hurricane Center site is one of the best places to learn about hurricanes and how they are observed, tracked, and forecast. There is a wealth of educational material and downloadable hurricane tracking charts. If you are the type of weather watcher who loves to track hurricanes, be sure to blow into this site during the season.
• Weather World has links to live views from over 800 weather cameras around North America. If you want to see what weather is occurring in a neighborhood or town other than your own, this is the place to visit.
• Philadelphia's famed Franklin Institute science museum has weather activities and experiments that you can try at home. It also has a very comprehensive listing of all types of weather links.
• If you like facts, figures, and phenomena sections in this book, you will enjoy exploring the weather extremes pages of the National Climatic Data Center. It also has information about air and ocean conditions that influence the Earth's climate in important ways, such as the notorious "El Nino."
• Canadian Sight is Canada's leading weather related discussion website. They are looking to achieve high standards, so "Weather Weenies" are encouraged to join Canadian Sight's weather discussion. They offer American discussion as well.

Weather Stations: Commercially available weather stations range in price from a few dollars to thousands of dollars. If you decide to invest in weather equipment, first check with your parents about how much they are willing to spend. Then shop carefully, and don't buy anything without your parents' approval.

The first step is to show them what you have already done and explain to them why you are ready for better equipment. If you do that right, you may discover that at least one parent is a "weather weenie" just like you.

Weather Stations are also available at many hobby stores, museums, and gift shops. Before you go to a store, you might want to look at the following sites on the world-wide web to see what is available. We aren't endorsing any of these sites, but visiting them will help you understand what weather instruments and software are available in a variety of price ranges to expand or build your weather observatory. (Listed alphabetically)

• Ambient, LLC (AmbientWeather.com)
• American Weather Enterprises, San Francisco CA
• Columbia Weather Systems, Hillsboro OR
• National Search and Rescue, San Francisco CA
• RainWise, Inc., Bar Harbor ME
• Skyview Systems Co., Sudbury, England
• Technika.com
• Weather Information Systems, Amity OR
• WeatherShack.com
• Weather Systems Co., Santa Clara CA
• Robert E. White Instruments, Boston MA

The WeatherNet site at the University of Michigan has a very large selection of downloadable software and shareware for either PC or Macintosh computers. You can download weather conversion software, data analysis software, weather camera software, weather station software, gridding software, and numerous others. Most of the software is free. Before downloading anything from the Internet, get your parents' permission.

Note added 9 March 2001 from Dr. Marshall Shepherd to a weather weenie who has a Macintosh and wants to connect it to weather instruments.
Weatherlink Software by Davis supports Mac. Try:

• Maryland Nautical Sales, Inc. or
• Weather Systems Company or
• Scientific Sales, Inc.

The American Meteorological Society is the largest and most complete professional organization for people in the fields of weather and climate. Through AMS, weather watchers, weather weenies, and weather professionals can find the latest publications and booklets on weather and climate, information on careers in weather or meteorology, information on scholarships, local AMS chapter directories, and many other useful resources.

Return to Dr. Fred's Weather Watch main page.

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Text copyright 2001 by Alfred B. Bortz, all rights reserved

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