Please add weather fronts (Warmfront and cold front)!!!

Wheats

@anthony10
what is even happening here...
It's showing an occluded front moving counter-clockwise with one warm front attached heading clockwise? This is why I still don't trust computer generated fronts - they make no sense.
Personally, I think it's a horrible idea to add computer generated fronts to Windy. But I also think it's a horrible idea to have "future radar" but hey users got that so maybe I'm the stubborn one lol

@anthony10 said in Please add weather fronts (Warmfront and cold front)!!!:

@Ondřej-Šutera I’d like to put my vote towards creating a algorithm that predicts basic weather fronts.

Ventusky has weather fronts with their free service.

https://www.ventusky.com/webview/help.php

“ Weather fronts
You can also display weather fronts. We have created a neural network that predicts the positions of cold, warm, occluded, and stationary fronts based on data from weather models. This algorithm is unique, and we are the first on the world who makes global fronts forecast available to users.”

cnhunt84

Bump. Please add fronts. Front algorithms are common and used on sources such as aviationweather.gov. Aside from the occasional small lows/highs that are sometimes not specified and that result in algorithms displaying short cold/warm front tails, the availability and frequency of updates allowed by algorithms would be a great addition. As seen on the above image but overall the fronts displayed make sense and are better than nothing. With understanding, the fronts displayed provide significant value.

Wheats

Windy - if you add computer generated fronts, please allow the user to turn them off.

stevegregg

@cnhunt84 @Suty

I'm always baffled by administrator response of, "we use weather models and their data, but fronts are made by metheorlogists and they are not a part of models that we have in our app." But Windy has a weather warnings map layer and the weather warnings data is NOT weather model data. The weather warnings are issued in real time by meteorologists and then that data is retrieved from wherever it lives and mapped to the windy UI (I realized I'm probably simplifying the data retrieval/mapping process but the point still stands).

I'd love to know if mapping weather fronts are either not a priority or if the issue is finding an appropriate data source/data sources that can be combined and mapped to the windy UI.

Wheats

@stevegregg My understanding is the CAP alert system (weather warnings) is an international cooperative system with defined parameters to ensure public safety. Not even sort of the same thing as those same meteorologists analyzing the position of a frontal boundary.

cnhunt84

@Wheats Do you know if the fronts on aviationweather.gov current observation page are computer generated or drawn by a meteorologist? They seem to be identical to their prog chart, which I always assumed (possibly incorrectly) were drawn by meteorologists. Surprisingly, they also seem to be identical to the fronts on MyRadar Pro. So maybe independent but nearly identical algorithms or maybe aviationweather.gov fronts are accessible?

Wheats

@cnhunt84
Looks like you're right and the prog charts available on aviation weather are from the WPC (Weather Prediction Center).

From the linked page:
Prog Charts: View the Weather Prediction Center produced fronts and NDFD precipitation grids with GFA.
https://aviationweather.gov/help/?tab=about#tutorial

I have absolutely no idea if they draw them to be honest.
My guess is they draw them - because they likely have a team of meteorologists there monitoring everything weather who wouldn't trust computer generated frontal boundary placement lol. But again, that's an entire guess and I'm not them haha.

You could ask them, I'm sure they have a "Contact us" link somewhere.

Wheats

@cnhunt84
I just confirmed my guess.
Check this out -

Some human named Dolan drew the surface analysis today at WPC.

stevegregg

@Wheats Right. They 'draw' them and then the front data is available as an image file (without the map) that can be retrieved programatically or also available in other forms...example: text surface analysis bulletins from the Weather Prediction Center tha can be parsed programatically. Front data is available and competitors to Windy are mapping it so I'm interested in knowing from the Windy team why they choose not to. The reason is not because Windy only maps model data.

Wheats

@stevegregg My guess is they are providing an application that covers the world - not just the US. So they'd need a global solution.
Might be a good to chime in @Suty I'm not a representative of Windy - I'm just a country boy hahah

My vote is to accept the idea that computer generated fronts aren't good enough yet and Windy shouldn't mislead the public and use them.