Ebiz247.com Guide To Weather Information

The Internet has brought weather information to your finger tips. There are two main sources of weather information. The government Web site is the National Weather Service and provides weather forecasts and weather warnings for the United States and its territories. There are also several private companies that provide weather information and weather forecasts. We have researched the weather Web sites that are available and have selected several sites that we feel are accurate, free and easy to use.

The National Weather Service is a component of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA is an Operating Unit of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The National Weather Service (NWS) provides weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy. NWS data and products form a national information database and infrastructure which can be used by other governmental agencies, the private sector, the public, and the global community.

The National Weather Service also provides weather forecasts including:
local forecasts
aviation
marine
hurricanes
severe weather
fire weather

They also provide excellent visual graphics which include:
radar (click and zoom on your area)
satellite imagery (infrared, visible and water vapor)
snow cover (new snow cover models that are animated)
surface weather information (high and low temperatures)
observed precipitation (experimental)

For public safety, NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from a nearby National Weather Service office . NWR broadcasts National Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day.
NWR includes more than 940 transmitters , covering all 50 states, adjacent coastal waters, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Pacific Territories. NWR requires a special radio receiver or scanner capable of picking up the signal. Broadcasts are found in the VHF public service band at these seven frequencies (MHz): 162.400 - 162.425 - 162.450 - 162.475 - 162.500 - 162.525 - 162.550
Be sure to check the transmitter frequencies for your specific area.

National Snow Analyses 3D Interface - This is a really cool site that joins Google Earth mapping with data collected from Natural Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS) automated SNOTEL sites. Essentially, you are able to look at snow cover overlaid on Google Earth 3D maps with SNOTEL stations plotted.

The "Snow Analyses Overlays" are small .kmz files which drape overlays of snow model input and output rasters over terrain. These files do not contain the imagery itself, rather they point to data available online. Go check it out!

Many of the private weather service companies get much of their data and images from the National Weather Service. They are popular because they offer easy user interface and allow you to put their search boxes on your Web sites and computers. The top weather sites that we use are:

The Weather Channel (weather.com) Web site - Consistently rated in the Top Five for News, Entertainment, and Information web sites by Media Metrix (formerly PC Meter), the Internet web site at www.weather.com features current conditions and forecasts for over 77,000 locations worldwide, along with local and regional radars.
Intellicast is a product of Weather Services International, which was founded in 1978 and is recognized as the world's leading source of weather and weather-related information, mission-critical systems,and presentation services.

Weather Underground - Known as the first Internet Weather Service and the most widely translated weather site in the world - over 35 languages. Media Metrix named the wunderground.com site as the #5 most used sites by kids.

University of Michigan (UM - Weather) - Providing access to thousands of forecasts, images, and the Net's largest collection of weather links, UM Weather is the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of weather data on the Web. UM Weather is brought to you by the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan.

UM Weather lists over 300 weather sites, city by city forecasts, weather maps including satellite and radar images and links to over 700 weathercams. Many of the sites are NOAA, Weather Channel, Intellicast and Weather Underground links.