Weather links

General

The GOES Project -- "GOES" stands for Geosynchronous Operational Environmental Satellite. Very cool satellite images and movies from the NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center. Also has a huge links list.

University of Michigan Weather Underground -- "Here, you will find access to weather imagery, current conditions, forecasts and curriculum activities aimed at K-12 classrooms."

Virtual Reality Weather Page -- From Penn State University Weather Pages, "A QuickTimeVR movie of the current (well, OK, less than 24 hours old) weather pretty much everywhere on earth."

WeatherNet -- University of Michigan's weather site has access to thousands of forecasts, images and a large collection of weather links. They also maintain a weather software archive and have several hurricane tracking programs for DOS and Windows.

Institute of Global Environment and Society -- Great up-to-date maps projecting temperature gradations, dew point, etc.

Florida weather information

P.O.R.T.S. Tampa Bay (Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System) -- Current weather conditions (tides, currents, wind) as navigational aids to Tampa Bay mariners. Useful for conditions at The Pier in St. Petersburg, just inside the Skyway and at Tampa.

Interactive Florida Weather -- Clickable Florida weather map, leading to all sorts of National Weather Service information, including weather bulletins and storm damage reports.

Emergency preparedness

The Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Red Cross -- Serves 2 million residents of Hillsborough, Pinellas, and East Pasco Counties, with offices in Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg. The American Red Cross has served the Tampa Bay area for 80 years.

The National American Red Cross -- If there's a disaster, the American Red Cross is there. This site is packed with information (searchable database) about preparing and surviving disasters. One real gem: A virtual museum, showcasing the organization's work.

Preparing For A Disaster -- FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) preparation guide for weather and other natural or unnatural disasters (like nuclear power plant emergencies.)

Severe weather

Storm Spotter's Guide -- An illustrated guide to identifying severe storms and storm safety information from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

National Weather Service National Warnings Area
Be it thunderstorms or snow storms, the National Weather Service brings you immediate information on weather warnings issued for the U.S.

National Severe Storms Libray -- ". . .Dedicated to improving the nation's severe weather warnings and forecasts in order to save lives and reduce property damage." Check out the Severe Weather Reports data base in which the public is invited to report severe weather sightings.

Hurricanes

Dr. William M. Gray's Forecasts -- Very dry academic Web site from the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University.

WeatherNet Software Archive -- Download hurricane tracking programs for DOS and Windows from the University of Michigan's software archive.

McHurricane -- A storm tracker shareware program for the Macintosh that can be downloaded from the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science's HyperArchive.

Hurricane impacts on the coastal environment -- As people recovered from Hurricane Andrew, above ground, the USGS Marine and Coastal Geology Program was checking the damage below. The results: amazing.

Just for fun

Storm Chaser Homepage -- Or for the real thing, check out this site. It's designed by and for those sometimes crazy folks who actually spend their vacation (and even most of their lives) chasing around after tornadoes. Loaded with photos, stories and eyewitness accounts.

Today's Space Weather -- Heading to Mars this weekend? NASA forecasts the weather en route. A way-cool idea.

Official Twister home page -- Okay. So forget -- for a moment -- the movie trailers, celebrity interviews and endless self-promotion. This colorful Warner Bros. site includes lots of good information about, what else, tornadoes.

-- Compiled and reviewed by Times staff.