Worldwide Weather Watcher
Kevin G. Ahern · Science · 2000
A mateur meteorologists wanting easy access to global weather conditions will find that the WeatherTracker program meets their needs at an affordable price. Using resources from Internet sites around the world, WeatherTracker samples current weather information for specified locations and displays it in several formats. The software is easy to use and works without a browser. The program can access an impressive number of weather stations—more than 8000 worldwide. The data supplied by the stations—temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind direction, and current conditions—are the figures most commonly sought by amateurs. This information can be shown in small “digital” windows or larger “analog” windows, and users can choose from English and metric units. In addition to standard measurements, WeatherTracker can also retrieve the local forecast, climate data (such as time of sunrise and sunset), and marine data, as well as the dewpoint, wind chill, and heat indices. Information availability, however, varies considerably among sites. Unfortunately, the software cannot provide live data, so users can only get hourly updates, and access to information on cities outside North America may have a lag time of several hours. Also, the program is unable to provide a simple interface for tracking and displaying climate data over time. With the default mode of the program, the user will see current conditions only. However, the program will track data if the preferences are set to “data logging,” which will file data in a log folder. This folder is stored in the same location on the computer as the program, but the WeatherTracker cannot directly access the data. The data are saved in a comma-delimited format, which must be imported by a spreadsheet program for analysis and plotting. Adding a spreadsheet function to WeatherTracker would certainly simplify data analysis. The WeatherTracker is handy for monitoring weather conditions at remote sites, and amateur meterologists will welcome this comprehensive, easy-to-use, inexpensive program. Professional meteorologists, however, will not find WeatherTracker useful because they have access to more climate information than this program can provide. WeatherTracker is available for both Macintosh and Windows-based computers. WeatherTracker Trexar Technologies, Inc., Alpharetta, GA. $24.95. 770-442-8045 [www.trexar.com][1] [1]: http://www.trexar.com/