Whether or not to discuss WEATHER

It's all around us. So often, we talk about it with our neighbors just to have something to say. It is the weather. And it will be a FREQUENT topic on this blog - let me put it out: I am a weather geek...I love reading about weather to the point where I could be compared to "foodies" - I sample weather sites as foodies do delicious and tantalizing dishes, appetizers, desserts, drinks, even ingredients. Foodies, by the way, deserve a blog of their own - look in my links for a fine food blog, Traveler's lunchbox...but please read it on a full stomach.

BACK TO WEATHER. I live in St. Louis, MO, USA - a GREAT place for weather geeks and meteorologists because we have four seasons (some would add "most years"), with winter, spring, summer and autumn/fall. What I've found helpful is the newer additions from NOAA's National Weather Service and their various related websites and organizations. For example, one of my favorite places during times of stormy weather - specifically THUNDERSTORMS - is NOAA's STORM PREDICTION CENTER, http://www.spc.noaa.gov/ which has helped me be the office keeper of the clouds. In my previous job as a reporter/editor and office manager at Metro Networks in St. Louis, I could look at two or three computers and watch storms cross Missouri on a known day where severe storms may develop. Everyone knew when it was an interesting weather day - I always warned people "...watch the skies today. We could have severe storms." THAT is certainly an example of how I am, personally, a weather geek. But I also regularly attend St. Louis County Police R.A.C.E.S. / SKYWARN Program weather spotter classes. This year, for the first time since I began attending several years ago, I did NOT become a Level 2 weather spotter. Well, that's okay - because the training is suggested every OTHER year...but I go yearly anyway. I'll give you an online link for information on that program: http://www.skywarnstlouis.com/ make sure to look for the CLASS training schedule posted regularly on a separate page off that website. Mike Redman, the coordinator for St. Louis County Police Emergency Management and the R.A.C.E.S. program and the coordinator for the classes, is thorough and helpful in the learning journey of many in the St. Louis area. There are many SKYWARN projects across the USA which help keep Emergency Managers aware of where severe thunderstorms and TORNADOS may be occurring - and it is vital that we keep training people to do weather spotting, especially in rural and suburban areas where there are fewer warning sirens and even modern DIGITAL DOPPLER RADAR is less likely to pick up actual tornados because the farther away from the RADAR site, the harder to identify the winds - it is a guessing quiz-like game that we humans can play with all our weather toys, but only GOD knows the answers. The national SKYWARN site is: http://www.skywarn.org/

Which of you needs to know about HURRICANE information? The National Hurrican Center is located online and has a great deal of information: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
I urge all readers who live in a hurricane prone zone to bookmark this site if they have never done so - it could save yourself quite a hassle.

Are you someone who has a bit of interest in seeing the RADAR somewhere in the continental 48 States? Here's the overview of the DOPPLAR RADAR sites and what they see: http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/

So many have been discussing the drought conditions across the US this year. The government has decided that an update to its websites was necessary, so they have given us the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and an interesting and interactive website: http://www.drought.gov/portal/server.pt

The California fires (Ed. note: my cousins in Escondido have been evacuated twice in the past four years due to fires - this year, the fire closest to their house stopped less than a 1/2 mile away and they were AGAIN spared the worst) were in the news again over the past few weeks, especially with the Santa Ana winds. Many use the National Fire Weather page as a tool: http://fire.boi.noaa.gov/

SOOOOO --- ARE YOU (too) A WEATHER GEEK??? Do you plan to help report precipitation because you purchased a full weather observation kit? Well, if this is one thing on your personal agenda, maybe you will enjoy: http://www.cocorahs.org/ The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) recruits volunteers across the country who monitor and report precipitation.

For my Canadien/Canadian friends, or travelers to Canada (NOT my "home and native land", but a beautiful country), here is the Weather - Environment Canada link: http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/canada_e.html

For those traveling south of the US border into Mexico, you'll want to use your Spanish language skills when browsing the site Servicio Meteorolocigo Nacional: http://smn.cna.gob.mx/
JUST A NOTE: I have no idea what it says, as I do not speak Spanish. It appears to me, a person of limited understanding of the Spanish language, to be a valuable weather site, but if you find out I am incorrect, PLEASE e-mail me and tell me!

I suppose the meaning, if there should be one, of today's blog is twofold: one, I must apologize for not blogging sooner as there have been a series of events which kept me from writing (read: publishing a started blog), which includes web browser problems at home. TWO, to give tidbits of information that may be used in traveling the USA and elsewhere in North America, as weather has a profound effect on your driving and flying trips year-round. Dare I end this blogpost without one of the most used sites for air travelers? Nah. I know you're already looking for links - here is the FAA site: http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp

Also, this one is quite interesting: http://www.airportandtraveldelays.com/ and they have a good piece of legal advice: http://www.airportandtraveldelays.com/policy.html
Check out their road conditions page, click on a state to see what is going on where you are going - note, I already detected a link that was not working. If the link is good, you'll usually find a state-run website with information on the highway conditions in that state.

I'll borrow some of the language from their legal advice page (policy page).

Information given on this blog is for planning purposes only and is not a substitute for any watch, warning or advisory information from any federal, state or local entity. Read the privacy policies of other sites you visit. Be informed.