At www.weather.com and other weather websites you can view Doppler radar images that show your local weather. However, a single radar image doesn't tell you which direction the storms are traveling, how fast they are moving, or whether they are getting stronger or dying out.
Some weather websites have a "map in motion" option which allows you to view several radar images, one after the other, in order to get an idea of which direction the storms are moving. This is a nice feature, but the radar images are usually not up-to-the-moment. When you're watching the weather and trying to make plans, it's important to have up-to-the-minute information.
Weather Animator allows you to download the most current Doppler radar images from any weather website and then "animate" them by displaying them one after the other. This allows you to have the most timely information about the direction in which the storms are traveling, and the speed at which they are moving, and whether they are dying out or getting stronger.
For a demo of some radar images, click the Demo button.
The first step is to find some local Doppler radar images to download. Your local TV stations probably have their own websites (try their "call letters," such as www.KPRC.com), and they usually have radar images of their local viewing area. Click on their weather page, then click on the Doppler radar picture in order to bring up the biggest version of the picture. Also, www.weather.com allows you to view a radar image based on your city or zip code. Click on the radar picture, then select "Doppler Radar 100 Mile" (below the radar picture) in order to get a close-up view.
When you have found the radar images that you want to put into motion, right-click on the radar picture in your Web browser and then select "Save Picture As." Navigate to the directory which contains WeatherAnimator.exe, then type in a 1 in the Filename box, then click the Save button. This will save the radar picture as 1.JPG (all of the examples in this Help file will use the JPG filetype, but some weather websites use the GIF filetype instead. Weather Animator can handle both filetypes). Wait a minute or two, then reload the radar picture (most weather websites have a "Reload" button), then check the timestamp on the picture and make sure that it is different than the previous radar picture that you already downloaded. If the timestamp is different, right-click the picture and type in a 2 in the Filename box, then click the Save button. This will save the radar picture as 2.JPG. After a couple of minutes, repeat this process and save the pictures as 3.JPG, 4.JPG, 5.JPG, and so on.
After you have saved several radar images, you can put the pictures into motion by clicking anywhere in the Weather Animator window, or by pressing any button. Weather Animator will display every picture that it finds from 1.JPG up to 50.JPG, in numerical order. If no .JPG files are found in the Weather Animator directory then it will display every picture that it finds from 1.GIF up to 50.GIF, in numerical order.
Displays some sample radar images.
Sometimes you will find that you had saved the exact same radar picture more than once, or sometimes a radar picture will look garbled in some way (perhaps it didn't download properly). The Browse option is a quick and easy way to browse the Weather Animator directory in order to delete those bad files.
Pops up the "Display a Range of Weather Images" window:
None.
The look and feel of Weather Animator has changed in order to make it easier to use.
Earlier versions of Weather Animator had a feature which would attempt to download the Doppler radar images automatically. This feature proved to be unreliable, so it has been removed.
Consider visiting some of my other websites!
You'll find a Christian ministry with dozens and dozens of articles and answers to many questions that I have received over the years (please feel free to send me your questions and prayer requests!); plus a collection of some of the best self-working card tricks around (no sleight-of-hand required!); plus instructions and pictures which show you how to tie dozens of the most useful rope knots; plus a bunch of amazing/funny/fascinating/interesting videos from around the Web which are all clean and family-friendly; plus lots of reviews of numerous fun and educational (and free!) computer games that you can download; plus a huge collection of cool science tricks and other fun stuff to try (using things around the house), and more!
For a complete list, go to http://www.Layhands.com/DavesWebsites.htm.
Dave Root
Send e-mail to: dave@Layhands.com