Beta version of the new WZ

14-12-2015 20:52

A new design of the WZ website is in progress, which is currently in a beta version. Not everything works and there can still be periods of downtime or occasional error messages. In addition, the localization is not yet finished, so there is still a mix of German, Dutch and English text. But still I decided to release this beta version to get as much feedback from users as possible, before the final launch. The new version will operate parallel to the old version until all the functionality is duplicated. We hope for a lot of feedback so we can still improve.

The home page is accessible at the following URL: [ www.wetter-zentrale.de ]

largely changed is weather map section accessible here: [ www.wetter-zentrale.de ]

A few remarks on the usage: the drop-down menu in black on top of the page allows the selection of a range of models. The variable and region of interest can be chosen on the left side. For some models one can can also show the ensemble mean (AVG), the ensemble spread (SPR) or one of the individual members of the ensemble. The small house next to the model name brings you back to the standard page of the model, in case one gets lost on a certain region or variable and can't find the way back, because some variables are only available for certain regions.

Under "options" one can find a "hover"-button which will show the map when hovering with the mouse over a certain time step. The time steps are always shown above the map. To the right of the "hover" button one can adjust the interval at which the maps are shown. For example, it can be nice to select 24 hours to have a quick overview of the coming week. Furthermore, one can navigate between time steps by using the arrow keys. Left goes one step back, right one forward, up to the end of the time series and down to the beginning of the time series. This is particularly handy when one loads all cards in memory, by pressing the 'Load all maps' button. Above that button one can also navigate as described above but with real buttons. Double arrows brings you back to the first time step, single arrow one time step, etc. Pressing the play button will animate all available maps. There are now more models available, for example the French model Arpege (MeteoFrance), CPTEC from Brazil and HIRLAM from the Netherlands (KNMI).

Also new are the sounding predictions from WRF and GFS: [www.wetter-zentrale.de]

and forecasts diagrams of many models including Ensemble diagrams. The Ensemble diagrams are clickable, which brings one to the map belonging to the chosen time and member: [www.wetter-zentrale.de]

New are also the archives of weather data from the DWD and the KNMI. You can search in different periods, show records, summaries, etc.: [www.wetter-zentrale.de]

Extreme values in particular periods are also available: [www.wetter-zentrale.de] There is more new things that can be discovered by simply browsing the new site.

Any comments and or suggestions for improvements are welcome via the contact form: [ www.wetter-zentrale.de ]

Enjoy!