Behind the Scenes

I am often asked what I am monitoring during a weather event or what I use to post the images, so I decided to try and explain my setup.

I am currently running Storm Lab radar software on one machine that uploads to to the web server for the JF-KS Radar. That radar is in composite mode with the storm motion indicators with hail and meso icons activated and I use it to get a general idea of where the cells are and where they are going. What you see on the JF-KS Radar page is what I’m watching on that screen. Interwarn is also running on that machine pulling in the EMWIN data stream from the NWS. The last program running on the 1st machine is Pidgin chat-room software that is logged into NWSCHAT giving me real time communications with the Topeka NWS office and local TV meteorologist.

My main machine is usually logged into facebook to the Situation Room page using my Firefox browser. I have yet to find a 3rd party tool to use with facebook that works the way I need it to, so I have to use the web application. On another tab I am usually on the Storm Prediction Center Page looking at the Mesoanalysis.  Another tab I am running is the back end of this site. I am also usually bouncing around on the browser looking at a vast array of products from the NWS. I run GR level 2 Analyst radar software on my main machine also, that is what produces the volume scans and radar captures that I post to this site and facebook page.

On my third machine I am running  a copy of GR Level 3 software with a Spotter Network overlay that I use to watch streaming video from chasers. I also run Tweetdeck on the 3rd machine to monitor Twitter post for more ground truth information and to access all of my twitter accounts at the same time.

I have all 3 machine connected together using Synergy so I only have to use one keyboard and mouse.

I also run a Windows Home Server in the background that ties everything together with automatic backups and remote access so that I can get to my files from anywhere with internet access.

In addition to this I have 4 radio transceivers and 5 scanners running for monitoring and communicating. The TV is usually going also watching for any updates from the TV stations. I’ll save the radio details for another post.

I have most of this setup duplicated using 3 laptop computers, a Mifi hotspot and portable radios that I carry with me most of the time so that I can continue to monitor the current situation no matter where I am at.

Worse case scenario, I have apps loaded on my smartphone that will facilitate most of these functions, but it is slower and harder to keep up with a rapidly developing situation using the phone.

This setup is constantly evolving as I try to keep up with new technology and software packages out there.

Doug