Weather Brief for August 7, 2013

Hello weather fans, it's been a while since I posted anything on here, I've just been enjoying the summer and doing other stuff, but it doesn't mean I haven't been tracking the weather, this brief won't be the usual posting of weather forecast maps like I usually do here, this will be about other weather related stuff,  I just used the weather brief title because I couldn't come up with a idea for a different title.
The National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen, MN put up a nice summary of yesterdays hail storm (8/6/2013) with radar loop, images of the storm and storm report as well, Click on the image below to check that out

I went up on the 4th floor at my job yesterday evening around 6:30 PM at the end of my dinner break and grabbed the following image below on my phone of the entire supercell while it was severe warned over Kandyohi County, my location of this pick was just a block east of Anoka, MN

While on the subject of yesterdays storms, I work the evening shift at my regular job which deters me to do any storm spotting or chasing that limits me to the weekend if conditions are right and I don't have any other important weekend activities happening, When I'm at work during the week I'm pretty busy to try and keep track of severe weather happening around the area, I do have a smartphone with weather apps, but my employers WiFi tends to block some notifications that get to my phone, including notifications from my iMap Weather radio app, unless I'm by a window and it pulls it in from the wireless net outside the building,
The image below with the radar image on a computer monitor from work that I was using for tracking severe while I'm busy working, I can't pay attention to it while I'm busy working, but this program via website has a alarm when the National Weather Service puts out any type of alert then I can take a quick look and see whats happening and have a quick look at radar then go back to my job tasks, This website program is called Simuawips and it's a nice back-up when I'm away from home and away from my computer, but it's also a nice complimentary program too use at home as well, It does require a subscription, but this subscription is FREE, that's right, FREE, nothing to download, this all via website, it has real time radar, satellite, model data and more stuff I can't think of right now, so if you're budget is tight and you're looking for something that doesn't cost you any money, this is a nice program to have. Click Here
You can see on the radar on the computer monitor that the supercell was severe warned and was about to enter the Twin Cities Metro.

Weatherbrains did a episode this past week about a new weather social network app called WeatherMob, basically it's a social network for weather enthusiast or weather geeks as some people call us, now this is more of nowcast type thing, people can take pictures of what the weather is doing outside and post smileys, basically it's a weather social network for the average person that has a interest in weather and it's worldwide, If you're big into the scientific side of weather and like to talk forecast model data or any other scientific weather stuff, this app may not be for you, but it's still a cool app from what it sounds like, Weatherbrains host and Meteorologist, James Spann thinks it's a really cool app, I can't get it because it's not available for android yet but it is available for iphone and I think ipad as well, The android version will be available towards the end of the year, This app does also give you a local forecast as well, but it's not perfect, use other resources for your local forecast as the creators of this app are still working out the bugs on that part of the app, WeatherMob does not have a social network website, but they do have a website on how you can get the app, check out the youtube video below of the Weatherbrains episode where they do get into detail with the creators of this app, I can't wait for the android version of this app to come out so I can play around with it.



Check out the WeatherBrains website for more information and links about the app even though I have the link available in the paragraph above, while I'm at it, WeatherBrains is a fantastic show/podcast for weather geeks, I try and watch or listen to it on a weekly basis, I tend to post these episodes on the chat on the left, but I haven't done it lately, I'll go and post them shortly, but I will also give you the link to the website where you check out past episodes, The audio version/podcasts are available there if you are interested in the produced version if you're not interested in watching the pre-show set-up on youtube, but I think that's the best part of the show where they joke around and just chat as James is getting the guest set-up for the Google+ hangout broadcast, but they have fun during the show as well, it's not always serious which is why I enjoy the show, good stuff. Click Here

Looks like a chance of showers and storms for tomorrow (Thursday) across the area, otherwise it looks quiet today and for the weekend, so get your butt off the computer and get out there and enjoy it

Have a good day, keep your feet on the ground and keep an eye on the sky,
J.T.