Storm Station

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Forecast map / Forecast, hour by hour

Forecast sky cover map

Over Citizen station GW1431, Maryland, where the map opens. The whole country

How much of the sky cloud will cover, hour by hour: clear sky is the map itself, the brighter the thicker the cloud. How to read it.

Sky cover on the map

What the sky cover map shows

How much of the sky cloud will cover, in percent, hour by hour. Clear sky is the map itself; the thicker the cloud, the brighter it is drawn. Played, the cloud decks drift across the country.

How to read it

0 to 10%
Clear.
10 to 30%
Mostly clear.
30 to 60%
Partly cloudy.
60 to 90%
Mostly cloudy.
Over 90%
Overcast.

What it is for

  • Find a clear night for the stars, a meteor shower or an eclipse.
  • See where the sun will warm the day, and where cloud will hold it back.
  • Plan solar power and photography by the hour.

How it is made

The forecast maps are drawn from the national blend of the forecast models: the models joined into one forecast and corrected against what each place has measured, on a grid 1.6 miles across, the forecast the country’s forecasters start from. Each of its main runs, four a day, is read whole, laid onto the same grid of latitude and longitude as the radar at 2.8 miles a cell, and played forward from now.

A frame every 3 hours to 3 days, then every 6 hours to 7 days, played from now as a loop of 1 to 7 days. As data: /radar/now.json?show=fsky, the times of its frames.

Beside it

Forecast, each 12 hours

Thunder

For

The chance of a thunderstorm in each 12 hours for seven days: where storms are likely, before any radar sees them.

080%

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Forecast, each 12 hours

Chance of rain

For

The chance of rain or snow in each 12 hours, day and night, for seven days: when to expect it, and how surely.

0100%

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Forecast, hour by hour

Temperature

For

The temperature ahead across the lower 48, hour by hour, for seven days: warm and cold air on the move.

-20110 F

Open the map