Wunderful Wunderground WunderMap
July 9, 2008
- I use Weather Underground (Wunderground for short) as my source for all weather-related info. Most of its weather info is free, and for a low low yearly fee of $10 you can get access to more services like longer animations, no ads, and a few other goodies.
I’m a freak for radar maps. I love checking radar maps and seeing if any storms are coming, trying to predict how long it would be before it starts to rain (or, heaven willing, snow!) in my area, how severe the storm may be, etc. etc. I’ve been quite disappointed with most of the radar maps out there, even on Wunderground … Until I came across a new Weather Underground feature: WunderMaps.
(Click on the image for a larger view)
This feature uses zoomable / moveable Google Maps as its underlying map. Since Google Maps is my favorite mapping application, this is already a big plus in Weather Underground’s favor. There are a good variety of options and settings with different animation options (and don’t forget, you get even more options and longer animations if you pay the low low $10 yearly fee), including:
- NEXRAD satellite data, with adjustable opacity, number of animation frames (up to 6 if non-paying, up to 15 if paying member), adjustable frame delay, and off/on storm tracks.
- Weather station data, with options for various weather-related information
- Severe storm warnings
- Webcams (nice!)
- More satellite data (I presume on the cloud cover versus NEXRAD data which only displays precipation info)
- USGS river information, including water flow, flood stage, and other info
- Model data showing pressure, accumulated precipitation, different models, and much more
- Hurricane data
- Fire data, including fires in the area as well as smoke cover
To find the WunderMap for your town, enter the zip code of your town in the search box at the top and then click on the “WunderMap” link.
If you think your favorite online weather radar gives better info, let us know in the comments!
Some trivia: Weather Underground, for some reason, took its name from a radical leftist organization from the 1960’s and 1970’s which incited at least one riot and bombed several buildings (including the U.S. Capitol, Pentagon, and U.S. Department of State). Don’t you love a website on the fringe? Uh, not …
Some screenshots of the various WunderMap options:
July 9, 2008 at 10:51 am
I am glad that you like the wundermap. Let us know what other features you think would be good on the map.
July 10, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Josh, maybe you want to become a doc person for Wundermap? :-)
July 10, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Doc? Hmm!
July 10, 2008 at 4:59 pm
check out the new wunderground.com/wundermap/fire
July 21, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Wunderground is my favorite weather page for a long very time ago. I am very happy for it.
From Chile, Southamerica