If you’ve ever been frustrated by the inaccuracy of a television weather report, in particular the graphics, there’s always been a way out — you could go to the National Weather Service website and look at the online radar images pulled straight off the actual radar. If you’re fishing, hiking or working outdoors, though, you’ll find the graphics don’t render all that well on mobile devices, meaning you can get wet. However, there is a solution: Purchase a dedicated NEXRAD Level 3 radar app. I took a look at one, PYKL3 Radar, and liked what I saw.
I'll take a minor exception to the note on GoogleMaps. They're pretty, but if you didn't like smoothing on your radar images, do you like smoothing on your maps? Because of the origins of the data for Google's map offerings, there are problems with edge matching and overlap that result in significant cartographic errors (assuming you're also a GIS geek). I'm happy with the provided Shapefiles that come with the data although they are admittedly sparse. But it's a tradeoff between pretty and better quality.
Overall, I love the app. I have it on my Toshiba Thrive and have it up in the office whenever we've got severe weather brewing, and it's in the car with me when chasing.
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PYKL3 Radar Is a Fine Foul-Weather Tracker
Posted by: Patrick Nelson October 5, 2012 05:00 AMIf you’ve ever been frustrated by the inaccuracy of a television weather report, in particular the graphics, there’s always been a way out — you could go to the National Weather Service website and look at the online radar images pulled straight off the actual radar. If you’re fishing, hiking or working outdoors, though, you’ll find the graphics don’t render all that well on mobile devices, meaning you can get wet. However, there is a solution: Purchase a dedicated NEXRAD Level 3 radar app. I took a look at one, PYKL3 Radar, and liked what I saw.
Overall, I love the app. I have it on my Toshiba Thrive and have it up in the office whenever we've got severe weather brewing, and it's in the car with me when chasing.