Significant Severe Weather Strikes the US

Just about every type of weather happened somewhere in the US over the past weekend. Heavy rains, tornadoes, blizzards, flooding, and even a typhoon near Guam caused, and continue to cause automobile accidents, flooded land, destroyed homes, and three fatalities. At 520 PM CST, a confirmed large and extremely dangerous #tornado was located over Columbus, moving

Have You Ever Experienced Thundersleet?

On February 5, some lucky people along the Iowa and Illinois border were treated to an unusual winter phenomenon. As an ice storm moved in, not only were they getting sleet, but they also were observing lightning. This type of weather is known as thundersleet. Our view out of the office this evening. It's not

Here’s What Determines the Type of Winter Precipitation That Falls

All precipitation develops in the same way, but in winter there can be quite a variety of types. Freezing rain, sleet, snow, are all possible when it gets cold outside. Freezing Rain Freezing rain forms when the air higher in the atmosphere is above freezing while the ground  temp is below 32°F. Warmer air will cause falling snow to

Freezing Rain and Its Effects on Power Lines

Freezing rain occurs when precipitation falls through a warm layer, completely melts, and lands on a surface with temperatures below freezing. All forms of transportation are affected, trees are damaged, and extensive power outages can occur. Power lines can be affected in three ways (or a combination thereof); the weight of the ice, tree branches

Weather Risk: How the Oil and Gas Industry Saves Billions

Most people understand the value that weather forecasts bring to the general public. They tell us whether it will be a good beach day, how much to bundle up at the football game, and if it’s necessary to bring an umbrella to work. However, the benefits of weather information provided to businesses by the private

Short-term Weather Modeling Available in ArcGIS

Advances in weather modeling in recent years have placed focus on high-resolution, short-term weather forecasts. There are forecasts that cover the following 18-36 hours. The forecasts provide a detailed prediction of hazardous weather threats including mapping future radar imagery over the next 18 hours. WDT has created the ability to serve this data to users

Hurricane Data for GIS Users

With hurricane season once again underway in the Atlantic Basin, we are hoping this season is less active and intense than 2017. Should Mother Nature decide otherwise, WeatherOps is prepared to help and assist. For GIS analysts and developers with assets that could be threatened by a tropical activity, WeatherOps has multiple data streams available

What Are Upper Air Maps and How Are They Used?

The location of troughs and ridges can play an essential role in a region’s weather. Weather observations above the ground are collected by weather balloons. Data from one a single site are plotted on a sounding, but an upper air chart can show information from multiple observation sites. Most upper air charts are plotted in