WeatherLCD iPhone / iPod Touch app Website

The images below do not represent current weather data!

Always consult more than one source of weather information before making economic or personal safety decisions.

Upon opening WeatherLCD, you will find yourself at the "Current" screen. Its purpose is to display current weather conditions for a location of your choosing.

There is even more than meets the eye. Touch the temperature display to obtain wind chill, and touch the humidity display to obtain dewpoint. Note: Windchill is N/A if the temperature is above 50°F or the wind speed is less than 3 mph.

Next to the pressure readout (lower right-hand corner) is the pressure tendency indicator (not available for stations west of the Rocky Mountains). A single arrow indicates the pressure is rising or falling, a double arrow indicates the pressure is rising or falling quickly, and a "--" indicates pressure is steady.

At the top left is the "Refresh" button. In order to save battery, WeatherLCD will only refresh data automatically upon startup and when switching screens. Just press "Refresh" for the latest information.

Immediately to the right of "Refresh" is the "Locate" button. Use this button to automatically find the weather for your present location. If you are using an iPod Touch, location will be determined by the proximity of WiFi hotspots. If you are using an iPhone, location will be determined by the proximity of WiFi hotspots, cell phone tower triangulation, or GPS. Note: You cannot use WeatherLCD as a geolocation/navigation app, and its auto-location functionality is deliberately disabled at sea and on the Great Lakes.

At the upper right-hand corner of the "Current" view is the search bar. Tap the search bar to enter geographic information. Do not worry about punctuation or capitalization. The following entry formats are acceptable:

miami fl
dallas texas
boston mass
edwards afb ca
63141

Note that if you enter a city without a state, you may not get what you expect. Also, in a few instances, there are multiple census-designated places with the same name in the same state. For example, the Burbank, CA most people know is an incorporated city near Los Angeles. There is also a "Burbank" neighborhood which lies partially within San Jose, in Northern California, and is also a census-designated place. In these situations, WeatherLCD will make a choice. Although you may never encounter this issue, always be on guard. If the weather station or conditions for a searched location do not look right, check the radar display. If it's not showing the correct location, do another search using a nearby city, or a zip code.

Below the search bar is a list of stored locations. Simply touch any stored location you wish to access, and its data will be retrieved. If nothing happens after you attempt a search, it means either your input is invalid, or temporary technical problems are preventing data access.

Now, back on the main screen, the weather station nearest your search location is top center. Below it to the left is your search location. Below to the right is the "Store" button. Use this button to add a location to the memory list in the search dialog. Up to 4 locations may be stored. Newly stored locations are added to the top of the list, and old locations drop off the bottom. There is never a need to delete a location. If the "Store" button is not displayed, it means the present location is already in memory.

You may notice that WeatherLCD remembers the last weather data location you accessed before shutting down, and brings it back up the next time you run the app. In the unlikely event WeatherLCD crashes, there is a small possibility this feature will cause app memory to become corrupted, preventing you from running WeatherLCD again. Should this situation occur, just delete WeatherLCD from your device and re-sync from your desktop or laptop. None of your other apps will be affected by a WeatherLCD malfunction.

The final feature of note on the Current screen is the "Forecast →" button. Simply touch this button to display an extended forecast for the current location. Forecasts may be displayed in graphical or detailed text formats.

At the bottom of the screen, the second tab will bring you to the "Lightning" view. This view presents the probability of lightning in the contiguous United States. There is a national view, and regional views with probabilities down to the county level. The time at the top of the map is UTC (UTC=GMT=Zulu for the purposes of WeatherLCD) and note the legend on the right hand side of each map. IMPORTANT: the maps are predictions, and do not represent actual lightning strikes. WeatherLCD is not a substitute for your eyes, ears, or common sense.

The third tab brings up the "Alerts" view which may appear with a badge specifying the number of watch, warning or advisory products available. The appearance of the badge does not always mean something horrible is about to happen, but pressing the "Alerts" tab and reading the products will, at minimum, increase your weather awareness for the present location.

A feature in the Alert view is a combined radar/warning display. It may be accessed by touching the "Combined" button. Please note that this display can only show tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood, and special marine warnings and is not a substitute for the text warning products. The radar is the most recent short-range, base reflectivity image available, and does not animate. The map may be panned and zoomed as needed. Note that sometimes warning boxes are very small, and zooming is required to examine them.

Now for the animated radar. Upon loading, you will be able to interact with the display by scrolling and zooming. The animation itself consists of four frames from the short-range (143 miles max.) base reflectivity product or four frames of the long-range (286 miles max.) base reflectivity product. Toggle between between the short and long range displays by cycling the "SR/LR" button. Please note that radar coverage does not quite reach the edges of the displayed map. The animated frames represent the most recent, as well as the third, fifth, and seventh most recent images available. The animation pauses for 2.5 seconds on the most recent image. The times at which the images were taken are shown above the display. You may notice that images are made more frequently during precipitation events than when no precipitation is present.

The colors you see in a NEXRAD Doppler radar display are a measure of "reflectivity." The idea is that the greater the amount of rain drops the atmosphere contains, the greater the amount of transmitted energy that returns to the radar. During precipitation events, use the table below to interpret displayed colors:

	Precipitation inches/hour.
Source: National Weather Service

Just because a splash of color appears on the screen does not necessarily mean anything noteworthy is happening. For example, examine the scenario below:

Amorphus blue and brown blobs in the middle of the frame are typically from ground clutter. Surface objects, such as buildings, located within 20-30 miles of the radar can reflect its beam.

Below is an example of a genuine precipitation event:

Here are some sites you can use to expand your radar knowledge:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/doppler/how.htm

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/radar/radinfo/radinfo.html

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/doppler/radarfaq.htm

WeatherLCD now enables you to access experimental marine point forecasts, as well as zone and area forecasts from the National Weather Service. These are computer generated predictions of marine conditions within approximately 60-100 nm of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf Coasts, as well as U.S. portions of the Great Lakes, the U.S. portion of Lake Champlain, and Lake Tahoe. To access these forecasts, select a coastal/shore city in the "Current" view, touch the "More..." button at the bottom of the screen, and then touch the "Marine Forecast" table cell. After a few seconds, a map of the waters near the city you selected will be displayed.

The map may be panned by dragging with one finger. It may also be zoomed-in and out by employing the same pinch gestures you use with the iPhone's built-in "Maps" app.

Once the map has fully loaded, tap on the water and allow WeatherLCD to determine the position you tapped. The distance to a shore location and, in most instances, the lake or ocean on which you tapped will be displayed at the top of the screen.

After reviewing the data to make sure you have your desired location, touch either the "Point" or "Zone" button (some locations will only display a "Zone" or "Area" button). On the resulting screen, icons and/or text will allow you to quickly grasp forecast marine weather conditions. Always scroll all the way to the bottom to make sure you haven't missed anything. Note to Mariners, while there is nothing wrong with consulting a point forecast, you should also consult the Zone forecast to become aware of marine weather over a larger area.

For some Pacific coast and Hawaii locations, the swell size (significant wave height) and period will be listed.

To return to the map to select another point, simply touch the "Map" button. If your next point will be a long distance from the current point, return to the "Current" screen and select a coastal city closer to that location.

Hazardous marine conditions may be accessed in two ways: either by touching the "Hazardous marine conditions" link at the top of the forecast page, or by scrolling down, past the text forecast.

***Important information for surfers and beachgoers: The National Weather Service's hazardous marine condition products DO NOT include high surf or rip current warnings. These are listed with the shore-based "Watches, Warnings & Advisories" products located under the "Alerts" tab. To check for beach/surf hazards, type in the city of the beach where you are headed, and then touch the "Alerts" tab WITHOUT going through the "Marine Forecast" view (if you pan the map you may forget where you started and miss a critical warning).

Although the WeatherLCD Marine Forecast is not a "surf report," it can provide surfers useful information which may be compared day-to-day with practical experience. What does a 2-foot swell at low tide mean for a particular beach? How about a 5-foot swell at high tide? Does the forecast 5 days out correctly indicate surf conditions?

Aviation Features:

Disclaimer: Aviation data presented by WeatherLCD is for information only, and is intended for airline passengers and aviation enthusiasts. It is not guaranteed to be timely or accurate. Under no circumstances is data presented by WeatherLCD to be used for flight safety or route planning purposes.

WeatherLCD includes a view which maps pilot reports of turbulence (primarily based on pilot reports called PIREPs). The severity of each turbulence report is coded by the color of the pin used to represent it. Green for light, purple for moderate, red for severe. There is a higher category, extreme, also represented by a red pin that fortunately does not occur very often. (Note: Occasionally, especially on routes to Hawaii, a pin may appear to be the "wrong" color. This could be due to an aircraft making separate reports from the same position. Tap these pins multiple times to toggle between reports).

At any given time, the vast majority of the pins will appear over the Contiguous United States, with a few more pins over Alaska, air routes to Hawaii, and Canada. Occasionally, a pin will pop up over Central America, the Caribbean, the North Atlantic, or the Western Pacific.

To obtain the data represented by a pin, just touch it. If there are many pins in a small area, pinch-zoom or double-tap the map until it is possible to select the desired pin.

Upon selection, an annotation window will appear. At the top of the window will be the "Flight Level." This is merely aircraft altitude (above sea level) in hundreds of feet. So, for example, FL220 = 22,000 ft above sea level, FL90 = 9,000 ft above sea level, etc. It is possible that pilots will report a range of altitudes over which they are experiencing turbulence. This range is represented by two flight levels, separated by a hyphen. It is also possible they will report two discrete flight levels, which will be separated by a "/" symbol.

The first element in the subtitle (second) line of the annotation window is the turbulence frequency. If present, it will be reported as either occasional or continuous.

Next is the intensity of the turbulence. For the first reported altitude (or altitude band), the intensity will be "light" or higher. However, the intensity associated with the second altitude (or altitude band), separated from the first by a "/" symbol, may be as low as smooth-light or negative (no turbulence).

Finally, the type of turbulence, if present, is displayed. "Chop," the most common type, is defined in the case of light turbulence as, "slight, rapid and somewhat rhythmic bumpiness without appreciable changes in altitude or attitude," and in the moderate case as, "rapid bumps or jolts without appreciable changes in aircraft altitude or attitude." (Source: National Weather Service Operations Manual Part D, Chapter 22, 5/22/91)

Clear Air Turbulence typically occurs above 15,000 feet, and is not associated with cumuliform cloudiness, including thunderstorms. (Source: National Weather Service Operations Manual Part D, Chapter 22, 5/22/91)

Low Level Wind Shear (LLWS) is a very dangerous form of turbulence because it may affect an aircraft on takeoff or landing, when airspeed and altitude are low. Wind shear is defined as, "any rapid change in wind direction or velocity." (Source: FAA Advisory Circular No. 00-54, Subject: Pilot Windshear Guide, 11/25/88). Following a number of high-profile accidents in the 1960's, 70's, and 80's, wind shear detection systems were installed at airports and, later, onboard aircraft, and crew training was improved.

The final type of turbulence is Mountain Wave. Mountain wave turbulence is generally encountered on the lee (downwind) side of a mountain range, and caused by strong winds passing over and perpendicular to the range. (Source: Mountain Wave Activity Over the Southern Rockies, Alberta Vieira, Albuquerque Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU), 4/1/05).

Starting with version 4.1, WeatherLCD displays full information from turbulence reports. Touching the detail disclosure arrow on a map pin annotation callout will reveal aircraft manufacturer/model or airline/flight no., depending on the data available. Below this information is the raw report text.

Reading the reports is an art, so let's use an example:

B737 APA UA /OV DVV180025/TM 0019/FL380/TP B737/TB OCNL MOD CHOP 380/RM AWC-WEBSWA

Decoding: APA = Centennial Airport, Englewood, CO (nearest airport), UA = routine report (UUA would be urgent), OV DVV180025 = 25 nautical miles south (180°) of the Denver International Airport (VOR station DVV), TM 0019 = Time 00:19 UTC, FL380 = Flight level 380 (38,000 ft), TP B737 = Boeing 737-700, TB OCNL MOD CHOP 380 = self-explanatory turbulence description at FL380, RM AWC-WEBSWA = Remark: Report filed through the Aviation Weather Center over the Web by Southwest Airlines.

Sometimes you will see other report parameters such as: SK = Sky Cover, WX = Visibility & weather, TA = Temperature (°C), WV = Wind direction and speed, IC = Icing. Please note that some reports (usually from commercial airliners) are in a somewhat different format.

Should you want more information about an aircraft or airline whose report you are studying, just touch the "Wiki" button in the upper-right-hand corner of the screen. You will be taken either to a list of articles to choose from, or directly to a specific article. In the event a list of articles does not include what you are looking for, you can always use Wikipedia's on-page search box. Touch the "Report" button to return to the "Report" screen.

Note: The alert arrow is turned off in the "Turbulence" view.

WeatherLCD presents snow accumulation data in graphical form over 5 frames, with each frame covering a 6-hour period. Ending times of the periods are specified at the bottom of each frame. Most frames are too large to fit on-screen, but they may be panned and zoomed to meet your needs.

To scroll through the frames, simply move the slider at the bottom of the screen back-and-forth. All data is loaded before the first frame displays, so frame-to-frame transitions are instantaneous.

Note: Snow accumulation data is not available for Florida, the Gulf Coast, or inland portions of Texas where it rarely snows.

Your Privacy: homedatasheet.com, Inc. takes your privacy very seriously. The following are some points to consider when using Weather LCD.

Since you will be accessing National Weather Service data, it is possible that your Internet Protocol (IP) address and the types and locations of weather information you have accessed will be recorded on their server logs. See:

www.weather.gov/privacy.php

for more information. (homedatasheet.com, Inc. is not affiliated with the National Weather Service)

WeatherLCD also uses Mapkit, natively coded Google maps on the iPhone. It is possible your IP address and locations viewed will be recorded on their servers. See:

www.google.com/privacypolicy.html

for more information. (homedatasheet.com, Inc. is not affiliated with Google)

Similar data is recorded by us, homedatasheet.com, Inc. We will use this data to improve WeatherLCD over time and develop exciting, new products. For the homedatasheet.com, Inc. privacy policy see:

www.homedatasheet.com/privacy

Thanks again for your purchase. We hope WeatherLCD will serve you well for years to come.

Lightning tab bar icon (also used above on this Web Page) was created by Joseph Wain (http://glyphish.com) and is used under the Creative Commons 3.0 United States License.