Using GeoJSON to Efficiently Deliver Geographic Information from the NWS National Forecast Chart

The Weather Prediction Center (WPC) produces a daily product called the national forecast chart, which displays large-scale weather features and additional weather information for the upcoming three days. This product is mostly targeted towards an audience with little to no background in meteorology and provides a general overview of expected weather conditions across the United States over the period. This product is displayed using static images, and although this certainly has the benefit of allowing the user to view the information quickly, the user currently does not have the ability to zoom across various regions or interact with the map in any way. Additionally, the WPC generates KML and Shapefiles, which contain some, but not all, of the products displayed on the national weather charts. Currently, there is no single file that contains all of these products, including frontal data, that can easily be integrated into and displayed using the variety of available GIS applications.

This poster presentation will serve two primary purposes, which include demonstrating the new interactive national forecast charts application that was improved upon as part of the NCEP summer internship program, along with showing why combining the forecast data into a single geoJSON file could prove beneficial to those particularly interested in producing their own forecast graphics for their audiences. The new forecast chart allows the user to zoom and pan across the United States and receive information about each forecast layer, which includes hazardous weather products from the WPC, the Storm Prediction Center, and the National Hurricane Center. The addition of these types of interactive weather applications and the production of user-friendly files that can be imported into already developed applications could usher in a set of new tools that could assist in improving the interpretation of existing weather products that are sometimes misinterpreted by the general public.