High Resolution Graphical Forecasts

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High Resolution Graphical Forecasts

• Pacific Region Data Integration and Visualization
  Workshop
• October 17, 2007

Robert A. Ballard Science and Operations
Officer National Weather Service Honolulu, HI
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In the Past...

• Forecasts were text-based only
• Mostly fair except for a few windward and mauka
  showers, occasionally drifting leeward. Trades 10
  to 25 mph.
• What does that really mean? Im fixing my roof,
  will it rain on me today? How much rain will I
  get?

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In the Past...

• Forecasters had to find a balance between between
  precision and simplicity.
• Forecast details were often sacrificed in the
  interests of time and bandwidth.
• Analysis was limited by the amount of time it
  took to type the forecast!

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Advantages of Graphical-Based Forecasts

• Allows forecasters to be more specific about what
  they think is going to happen
• Forecasters can provide temporal detail as fine
  as hourly, and spatial scale as fine as 2.5
  square km
• Text formatters take care of the words
• Very useful for areas like Hawaii which see large
  changes in weather from place to place

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Graphical Forecast Elements Include...

• Sky Cover
• Probability of Precipitation (PoP) and amount
  (QPF)
• Temperature (including maximum and minimum)
• Relative Humidity (including maximum and minimum)
• Wind speed and direction
• Wind gusts
• Weather
• Significant Wave Height
• Swell
• Probabilities of extreme events (i.e. t.s. force
  winds)

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Examples Web Graphics
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Examples Web Graphics
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Accessing Digital Data for a point via our webpage
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Examples Point based text forecast
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Example Point Forecast Matrix
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Example Weather Element Graphs
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Example Weather Activity PlannerWhen will the
rain chance be less than 30 percent today at my
location?
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But What If I Want All the Data?

• National Digital Forecast Database provides
  access to these gridded weather forecast elements
• Allows customers and partners to get the
  information they need, when they want it
• Allows users to reformat the forecast data to
  meet their needs, or to multiple datasets to
  create new fields

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How to get NDFD data

• Anonymous ftp
• http
• Extensible Markup Language (XML)
• Graphics via web browser
• More info at weather.gov/ndfd

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Users/Applications

• Pacific Disaster Centers Hawaii Fire Danger
  System (fireweb.pdc.org)
• International Pacific Research Center
• U.S. Army Spot Fire Weather Forecasts

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National Digital Forecast Database

• For more information, you can contact our office
• E-mail W-HFO.Webmaster_at_noaa.gov
• Phone [phone]