Hey there. This one goes out to the storm chasers out there. Anyone using this program?
I found it online and downloaded the free trial. I was wondering if anyone uses this while chasing? Any pros or cons with it?
Just wondering. Seems like a good program but haven't had the chance to use it much. For those who are unfamiliar with this computer program, it gathers weather information from weather stations and radar site all over Canada, US, Europe and Australia and plots them on a viewable map. All info can be overlapped such as wind speeds, dewpoints, pressures and temperatures are just example.
I'd like to hear if anyone has used this. It will help in my decision on purchasing the full version.
Thanks for your time!
Hi prairiechaser, if nobody has welcomed you here yet, welcome to Canadian Weather! Do you have a link to Digital Atmosphere for more info?
I used it extensively for a time. Unfortunately for Canadians, the lack of raw data for our part of the world really kills many of the features this program can offer. The radar import feature is really just grabbing and overlaying images from the EC website, it is not ingested data like the US nexrad would be. You can`t really manipulate the imported radar in anyway.
It`s great for surface plots and the radiosonde (skew-t) plots is a nice feature too, fortunately we have enough stations in Canada to make those features worthwhile. For 80 bucks (is it still $80?) it`s worth a shot. Don`t know whether the grib side will ever work. As you know grib files can be huge, they tend to kill the application with memory run time errors. For that you`re better off with Gempak or GrADS.
Ps. I should add, if you live close enough to the border then you`re probably lucky enough to be within the nexrad "overspill".
Ok guys, I 'll asks the proverbially stupid question.
When you use the Digital Atmosphere program, do you use it before storm chasing, ie; at home before going out to get an overview of potential conditions or out on the road via laptop and satellite or cell phone?
Hey there. This one goes out to the storm chasers out there. Anyone using this program?
I found it online and downloaded the free trial. I was wondering if anyone uses this while chasing? Any pros or cons with it?
Just wondering. Seems like a good program but haven't had the chance to use it much. For those who are unfamiliar with this computer program, it gathers weather information from weather stations and radar site all over Canada, US, Europe and Australia and plots them on a viewable map. All info can be overlapped such as wind speeds, dewpoints, pressures and temperatures are just example.
I'd like to hear if anyone has used this. It will help in my decision on purchasing the full version.
Thanks for your time!
Well, I downloaded it and installed it. Not bad, but as kosh mentioned, the Canadian surface plots are incomplete, compared to the data that are out there. That's enough of a dealbreaker for me. Further, though, I couldn't get any satellite imagery--it wasn't an option. What kind of weather software doesn't display satpix? (Of course, that could have been my impatience.)
Either way, not bad, but I wouldn't drop the 80 bucks for it. The information is all out there, although not in integrated format...
CG, I'd use it for both. Although, of course, because of bandwidth issues I'd use it a lot less on the road. Having a nowcaster at home is the ideal setup. ;)
The more I play around with this program the more I think its useless ( in our great country anyway ). And if a meteorologist doesn't like it, thats good enough for me to give up on it. No use in spending money on useless stuff. I'll look into this nowcast thing now and see what its about. One side comment. I wish we had a storm prediction center like the NOAA has. Gosh I love that site!! Maybe if we did this Digital Atmosphere program would be more use.
Thanks alot guys for all the replies and help!
:beer:
One side comment. I wish we had a storm prediction center like the NOAA has.
We're working on it, my friend. :top:
That would be so great if we could get a Storm Prediction Center up. Not only for the weather fanatics but for people in general. People could learn more about the weather that effects us and have another warning system for exteme weather. Hope to see something in the future!
I posted the website for Digital Atmosphere just so everyone has a chance to give it a look over and see what we're missing haha.
http://www.weathergraphics.com/da/
It's still fun to goof around on.
Take care!