Caught in the Web
A new feature follows a meandering mouse across the Internet
When I ask myself, “Where did all the time go?,” it seems more and more like I have a ready answer. Surfing the Internet.
If you’re at all a curious person – and that’s one of the prime prerequisites for being a reporter – the Internet is an information superstore, a place where just about any innocuous or irrepressible inquiry can launch a journey of countless minutes.
Caught in the Web is FIRST SUNDAY’s guide to some of the way stations along those journeys.
The idea is to pass along some of the more interesting and unusual surfing stopovers made by staffers at The News as we research stories, or themed collections of Web sites, like this month’s look at Web sites dedicated to that Western New York obsession – the weather.
We also encourage our readers to participate by submitting suggestions to caughtintheweb@buffnews.com, although we ask that you keep in mind that this is a family newspaper.
Spend any time on the Web and you realize there is no shortage of places to get a weather forecast for Buffalo.
At The News’ recently revamped Web site, you’ll find the weather at www.buffalo.com/weather.
Or check out the forecasters at three local TV stations: www.wgrz.com/weather, www.wivb.com/global/weather.asp, and www.wkbw.com/weather/default.aspx.
But even the weather professionals in town make frequent stops at the site for the Buffalo office of National Weather Service (www.weather.gov/buf).
Although sometimes difficult to navigate, the site is jammed with area-specific information, including detailed information on our climate, and recent and current weather events. It even gives you access to the same forecast models the professionals run.
Every day, the meteorologists there post detailed forecast discussions (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/data/txtprods/BUF/AFDBUF ). They are filled with references the lay person might not understand initially, but with a little bit of familiarity, it’s not too difficult to follow the thinking behind the forecasts.
If you still have problems understanding the discussion, check out the weather service’s online weather course, www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream.
Buffalo’s weather service meteorologists are known across the country for their knowledge of lake effect snow - in fact one of the main models for forecasting precipitation nationwide is called BUFKIT in honor of its local origins.
So it’s not surprising their lakeeffect snow page ( www.erh.noaa.gov/buf/lakeffect/indexlk.html) has just about anything you’d ever want to know about our favorite winter precipitation.
If the lake-effect page didn’t fill your need for snow information, another weather service site, www.nohrsc.nws.gov, will. Headed west for some late-season skiing? It can tell you how much snow has fallen at a location and how much remains on the ground.
The Cornell-based Northeast Regional Climate Center ( www.nrcc.cornell.edu)
is a “big picture” place where regional weather past, present and future is analyzed. It’s part of the National Climatic Data Center (http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html).
The number of private companies in the weather business has ballooned, especially with the onset of the Web. Four of the better ones are AccuWeather ( www.accuweather.com), the Weather Channel ( www.weather.com), Weather Underground ( www.wunderground ) and Intellicast ( www.intellicast.com).
Each has its strengths. Accuweather is well-arranged and has easy access to a lot of data. The Weather Channel’s video reports, based on its cable programming, are solid.
The Weather Underground’s site can give you the forecast in Mali or the Maldives, but also has a connection to a variety of amateur weather sites across the country. Intellicast’s radar is among the clearest to read.
The Canadian equivalent of the National Weather Bureau can be found at http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/canada_e.html. A popular non-government site for Canadian weather is http://www.theweathernetwork.com/ It has some great road forecasts for Southern Ontario.
Finally, as we leave winter behind, one last snowy site. You’ve heard that no two snowflakes are alike. A man who demonstrated that with some fascinating photography was Wilson A. “Snowflake” Bentley, and you can see some of his work at http://snowflakebentley.com.
John F. Bonfatti is a staff reporter for The Buffalo News.
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