Name:National Doppler Radar Sites
Brief Description of the Site:
The home page is a blank map of the 50 states plus Puerto Rico covered with "dots," each representing a Doppler Radar site. Clicking on a dot brigs up a full-color Doppler Radar image with its color-coding (aqua through magenta) for intensity of precipitation. The user can start or stop the animation as well as select direction and speed of movement. Clicking the link for that station's home page (above the map) will bring up a page with an amazing assortment of weather data, including 7-day forecasts, satellite imagery, and more. The site, produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service (NWS) does everything "weather.com" can do, plus lots more.
How to use the site:
Of course teachers of science can find countless ways to make use of the many different types of weather-related data on this site. But Language Arts teachers, among others, can use it to help their students who are creating 'News" broadcasts. It will provide your 'weather person' with all the information he or she needs to create a weather report. Another possibility is to run a long-range project comparing the forecast versus the actual weather for a site near your town, allowing the students to evaluate accuracy of the weather forecast, discuss probability, etc. Also, the homepage map can help students strengthen their U.S. geography skills by attempting to guess the identity of a specific outlined state and then 'mousing over' the dot to see the correct answer.
