Welcome to the Tampa Bay Weather and
Storm Chasing Page
The weather in this area of Florida can change
very fast.The purpose of the web page is to provide direct
links to the live weather data specific to this area.
Tired of the same hohum weather links. You
wont find any of those here.
I have only links which are not widely known
to the pubic here.
The links below will allow access to radar,storm
velocity,lightning and weather warnings in real time.Why
use this site as your resource? I have done the compilation
work for you, some of the data resources are not very well
know to the public. Ok enough talk lets get started!
Don't know what the above radars mean here
are the answers....
Reflectivity - The amount
of power returned back to the radar from airborne particles,
insects or other objects. Units are logarithmic (dBZ). Values
can range from -28 to over 75, and different scales may be
used depending on whether the radar is in clear air or precipitation/storm
mode. Particular values do not necessarily correspond to
different precipitation types (rain, sleet, snow, etc...)
and many atmospheric conditions can provide a variety of
phenomena to appear.
Composite (Reflectivity) - Same as above,
except instead of viewing the reflectivity at one radar tilt,
this image displays the MAXIMUM dBZ value at any elevation
tilt for a given location. Basically, if you were standing
30 miles east of the radar, and above you, the radar sampled
dBZ values of 5, 25, 30, 34, 52, 40, 37, and 22 at different
heights...the image would display 52 dBZ for your location.
Used to show the most intense storms and hail cores aloft.
Used by radar operators as more of a "catch all" as
it is the last product received per volume scan (one complete
radar sweep of the atmosphere).
Velocity - Doppler radar can detect winds
blowing toward or away from the radar, called Radial Velocity.
NOTE: the radar can again only detect that portion of the
wind which is blowing along the radar beam. For example,
if you are looking south from the radar, and the wind was
blowing from the west or east at even 80 mph, the radar would
see 0 knots because the wind is blowing perpendicular to
the beam. Also note that the radar beam extends higher and
higher the farther you go from the radar. Novice users often
mistake high winds aloft (fairly common) for strong winds
at the surface. Velocity imagery can take years of experience
to master and can fool even the most experienced.
SRM - Stands for "Storm Relative Map".
Same as above except the motion of the storms (entered by
the radar operator) is subtracted out. Therefore, the wind
field relative to a storm of interest can be observed. This
is used to detect storm scale rotation or other features
which could signify the onset of very large hail, a downburst,
or possibly a tornado.
Precipitation - A great benefit of Doppler
radar is its ability to estimate fallen precipitation, in
order to fill in the holes left by observation networks,
automated rain gages, and other sources of data. Measured
in inches, Doppler Radar can estimate precipitation that
has fallen over the past hour, three hours, and storm total.
Note the beginning and ending times on the storm total imagery.
The radar requires several hours of no precipitation before
resetting, and areas that receive a lot of rainfall can have
this image piling up for days if not weeks! Also note that
precipitation can be severely overestimated due to storms
which contain hail and the freezing level, as partially melted
ice returns an extremely high reflectivity.
Layer Reflectivity Maximum - More of a
use for pilots, this product is a coarse resolution image
(4km) which provide the maximum reflectivity at different
layers in the atmosphere: lower, middle and upper.
VIL - Vertically Integrated Liquid. A coarse
resolution image that is basically a measure of the total
liquid in a vertical column, in units kilograms per square
meter. Most used to identify storms with heavy rainfall or
large hail. Can also be used in combination with other products
to predict the onset of wind damage.
Echo Tops - Simply image depicting the
estimate of storm cloud tops. Note that depending on the
tilt of the radar beam and distance from the radar, these
can be severely over or under-estimated on the order of 5-10,000
feet or more.
In addition to High and Low centers, you may see one or
more of these seven features on a surface analysis or forecast:
Key to Features
1 -- Cold Front
2 -- Warm Front
3 -- Stationary Front
4 -- Occluded Front
5 -- Trough ("TROF")
Also used to depict Outflow Boundary ("OUTFLOW BNDRY")
6 -- Squall Line
7 -- Dry Line
8 -- Tropical Wave ("TRPCL WAVE")
Each surface front and squall line (1, 2, 3, 4, 6 above)
is accompanied by a 3-digit label that has a bracket either
before or after it. Using the example "[ABC", here
is how to translate the label:
A: Type of Front
0 = stationary
2 = warm
4 = cold
6 = occluded
7 = squall line
C: Other Characteristics
0 = none
5 = forming
6 = quasi-stationary
7 = with waves
8 = diffuse
Sample Station Plot
WEATHER
A weather symbol is plotted if at the time of observation,
there is either precipitation occurring or a condition causing
reduced visibility.
Below is a list of the most common weather symbols:
WIND
Wind is plotted in increments of 5 knots (kts), with the
outer end of the symbol pointing toward the direction from
which the wind is blowing. The wind speed is determined by
adding up the total of flags, lines, and half-lines, each
of which have the following individual values:
Flag: 50 kts
Line: 10 kts
Half-Line: 5 kts
If there is only a circle depicted over the station with
no wind symbol present, the wind is calm. Below are some
sample wind symbols:
PRESSURE
Sea-level pressure is plotted in tenths of millibars (mb),
with the leading 10 or 9 omitted. For reference, 1013 mb
is equivalent to 29.92 inches of mercury. Below are some
sample conversions between plotted and complete sea-level
pressure values:
The pressure trend has two components, a number and symbol,
to indicate how the sea-level pressure has changed during
the past three hours. The number provides the 3-hour change
in tenths of millibars, while the symbol provides a graphic
illustration of how this change occurred. Below are the meanings
of the pressure trend symbols:
SKY COVER
The amount that the circle at the center of the station
plot is filled in reflects the approximate amount that the
sky is covered with clouds. Below are the common cloud cover
depictions:
