WEATHER program tips
Displaying bulletins is a two step process
- First, specify the bulletin group
- In menu mode,
- move the highlighting with the arrow keys
- In command mode,
- type: /group ENTER
- To see a list of valid groups, type: / ENTER
- Now, your prompt should be the group chosen.
- Second, specify the location issuing the bulletin and the time the bulletin was posted. NWS stations have specific assignments and each issues different bulletins according to a schedule.
- General examples of valid locations:
- * ...... all
- btv ... Burlington, Vermont
- wbc .. national prediction center in Washington, D.C.
- nhc ... national hurricane center in Coral Gables, Fl
- @vt .. state of Vermont
- show . lists available locations
- General examples of valid times:
- l ........ latest (l for latest)
- t ........ today
- y ....... yesterday
- 3 ....... last 3 hours
- 2-5 ... 2 GMT through 5 GMT
- To see valid choices for each group, check the online help for that group.
- To select a bulletin, type: location time ENTER
Groups with uncoded data, of general interest
- STATION Information
- To see information about all the NWS stations in Vermont,
- choose the STATION group
- type: @VT ENTER
- Each station may have a:
- station identifier, in the IATA column
- synoptic ID, 5 digit number
- latitude, longitude, and elevation (in meters)
- station type
- upper air stations have an X in column U
- surface station type is shown in column M
- 88D radars are indicated in station column
- Hydrologic Reports
- only observations from co-operative observers and utilities
- 12 GMT to 12 GMT summaries of:
precipitation, and maximum and minimum temperature
- 12 GMT observations of:
current weather, snow on the ground, river and flood stage.
- State Weather Summaries ........... summary of yesterday's weather at all surface stations
- precipitation and both maximum and minimum temperature
- summaries for Vermont come from Albany, New York!
- Climatological Summaries .......... detailed summary of yesterday's weather at forecast offices
- RECORDEvent Reports ...... new record summary
- HURRICANE/Tropical Weather Stmts ........... tropical discussion and hurricane advisory
- issued by the National Hurricane Center, NHC
- WARNINGS/WATCHES statements
- watches are issued by the appropriate national laboratory, MKC
- warnings are issued by local NWS offices.
- Ultra-Violet Index .......... index forecast
- issued by WBC
- ZONE Forecasts from NWS ......... local forecast discussion
- FORECAST DISCUSSIONS from NWS.... area forecast discussion
- STATE Forecasts from NWS .........state forecast discussion
Surface and upper air observations are available, but in coded form; thus, they will be covered later in MET131 and MET141.
Bulletin Header
- the first line of each bulletin includes the:
- WMO header identifier
- station issuing the bulletin
- day (DD) and time (HHMM), but not the month, the bulletin was issued
