NWS - Virginia Area Forecast Discussion

Experimental Forecast Images
(This is VERY cool)

The National Weather Service is the government agency that makes your weather forecast. They take the readings, collect the data, generate the computer models, acquire the radar and satellite images and then interpret it all. Chances are, your local TV weather person uses this same resource. I get the most out of the "Area Forecast Discussion." The one thing you don't get in a weather forecast is the level of confidence a forecaster has in the forecast. This "product" helps you see whether the models are in agreement and look into the forecaster's mind :-) If you've had any basic meteorology and understand dewpoints, ridges, troughs and "shortwaves", you'll get more out of this than anything else. It uses a bunch of shorthand and here's what some of it means:
* LLJ = Low Level Jetstream
* S/WV= Short Wave (an area of lower pressure that is often a "triggering mechanism")
* QPF = Quantitative Precipitation Forecast
* POP = Probability of Precipitation