For years now, the Weather Underground has been my first choice for on-line weather. It's got a slightly 1998 ghetto web design, but it's chock full of excellent data that more mainstream weather sites (like the popular Weather.com) hide from the unwashed masses. And, for a small annual subscription fee, you can disable all ads on the site.
I recently discovered Wunder Blog, the Weather Underground's Weather Blog (specifically the West Coast Wunder Blog) and find myself wishing they'd post more often!
This is partly because I've always had more than a passing interest in how the weather "works" and partly because the more time I spend flying gliders and light airplanes, the more important it is that I understand what's going on in the sky.
On the Wunder Blog, they don't hesitate to give throw out an 850mb temperature and wind chart to illustrate their description of what's likely to happen. It's good training. I can read their analysis and then look at some of the data they used in forming it.
Good stuff.
Posted by jzawodn at March 02, 2006 08:15 AM
I'm a minor weather junkie, so I'll definitely check out the Wunder Blog. Thanks.
One of Boston's tv weathermen was recently ousted from his job, and he now maintains a weather website and blog here: http://www.toddgross.com/ . I enjoy reading it for his analysis of the computer models and charts. Of course, it's mostly Boston-oriented weather, but it's still interesting.
Wunderground is a great example of function and info trumping form. Not pretty but a great, great site.
At the recent Mashup Camp in Mountain View we previewed "WeatherBonk.com" which is a neat mashup of weather and mapping. I think it was the 3rd most popular mashup.
wunderground rocks and is regularly getting better. I've been paying the $5 a year for quite a few years now.
Wunderground is an excellent resource. I find it is turning me into a weather geek. By showing weather forecasting in all its messy detail, they are transforming our perception of the weatherman from a ridiculed often-wrong personality into a hard core data-wrangler.
Their Google map of local weather stations (run by regular folks) is an excellent tool -- and makes me want to join their ranks.
Hey, nice post Jeremy. I got a degree in meteorology from OU. I really liked the pics you posted a few days ago of the distant rain/thunderstorm. I am a sucker for thunderstorm photography.
