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Weathertracker unsubscribe3/22/2023 iNavX does it but I am not overwhelmed with the iNavX implementation, external account required and extra button steps to recover and download requested file. I’m as excited as a kid in a candy store, great GRIB on the iPhone has been a long time coming. ![]() (The hot colors below map current speeds, even if they do correspond somewhat to the hot temps of the Gulf Stream.)… Tap on a location of interest and you can immediately go to a screen like the one below that graphs all of a file’s data for that point over time…Īnd I don’t think there’s another app out there that can access the RTOFS model of Atlantic Ocean currents and surface temps, even if you can only view one value at a time. On the other hand, WeatherTrack largely makes up for this with its neat meteogram feature. I find that a real shortcoming as it seems to help me understand what’s going on to see, say, pressure, wind, and precip inter-relate over a forecast period. (By the way, the Friday night showers predicted that morning stayed north of Camden while - to my amazement - the Sunday evening rain cell predicted Saturday morning did actually nail us, though a few hours later and with more intensity.)īut WeatherTrack does not let you mix data type overlays on a single map screen like 4D (and many other Web and PC GRIB viewers I’ve seen). You can see it above depicted as a somewhat vague blue overlay in 4D and more like multi-color NEXRAD radar in WeatherTrack. One exception I notice, though, is the presentation of GFS precipitation forecasts. In general, the WeatherTrack developer has put his energy into data versatility while the 4D guy went more for display and interface. CAPE, incidentally, stands for Convective Available Potential Energy, said to be a good predictor of severe weather, but I suspect you’re getting the idea. The left hand WeatherTrack screen below suggests all the models I’ve set up views of, and the middle screen shows all the GFS data points that can be downloaded…Īctually a couple of those data types, like Relative Humidity and CAPE, won’t be available until WeatherTrack 1.2 ships in a few days (I recently got a Beta version). Sure, both apps let you define custom download zones and control the forecast resolution, time interval, and data types in order manage the download sizes, but Weather4D currently only supports the five main data types generated by NOAA’s GFS model. There’s much more to Weather4D but suffice it to say that I don’t know of a weather app that takes advantage of an iPad’s speedy touch screen so well.īut the data Weather4D displays seems rather paltry once you’ve had a taste of WeatherTrack, “The Swiss Army Knife for Weather Enthusiasts!”, which costs $20. And when you are zoomed out as in the top screen, the Milky Way spins appropriately through the heavens. Note, for instance, the moon/stars “show night” icon, which is why it was getting dark in Nova Scotia Friday evening at 7:25 EDT. ![]() A tap on center screen brings up the overlay icons - with active layers outlined in blue - that I’ve cut and pasted to each side of the image. Then a tap on the lower right “Time Mode” button lets you swipe through forecast intervals, or you can use the top bar to play the animation, reset to current time, or pick a date off a calendar. On the main Weather4D screen above you just tap on that lower left “Orbiting Mode” icon to pan and zoom around the underlying Google Earth map. I tend to use GRIB visualizations mainly to understand the big forecast picture, but you can zoom in to more local conditions. ![]() ![]() You can almost feel what it’s like for a sailor underneath. Watching a deep depression cruise across the Atlantic with, say, wind barbs and precipitation shading also overlaid is a sight to behold. I think it’s truly earned its multi-dimensional title as it can not only give some 3D contouring to high and low pressure masses but it can animate them smoothly through the time dimension. Seen in the top screen is Weather4D, a $6 app that just went into its 1.1 universal edition with all sorts of slick improvements.
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