National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Powerful Winter Storm from the Upper Midwest into the Northeast; Severe Thunderstorms in the Midwest and Ohio Valley

A rapidly-intensifying storm is expected to bring heavy snow, blizzard conditions, and icing from the Upper Midwest through the Great Lakes and Northeast. Scattered severe thunderstorms may produce severe/damaging wind gusts and a couple of tornadoes across parts of the Midwest and lower Ohio Valley through the evening. Arctic air will expand across the central and southern U.S.. Read More >

 

We've listened to your feedback and made some changes to how we serve you radar data. In addition to performance improvements to the enhanced page (local Aberdeen, SD area), we've added a simplified version that allows for faster loading (local Aberdeen, SD area). Read more about the new pages and data here. A quick run-down of pros and cons for each are listed below. 

 

Standard/Lite Version

Pros: QUICKER load times (good for low bandwidth), can loop data (10 frames, about 45 minutes), automatically updated every 5 minutes, includes overlays for warnings (Tornado, Severe Thunderstorm, Flash Flood, Snow Squall), best for a "quick look" at what's going on. 

Cons: Only reflectivity data, fixed view (cannot zoom in/out or scroll to other locations), no additive overlays (other hazards, map backgrounds, forecast information for a point, etc.).

 

Enhanced Version

Pros: Multiple radar products available (reflectivity, velocity, storm relative motion, etc.), more frequent updates, 4x higher resolution compared to the Standard/Lite versions, multiple overlays (all storm-based warnings, other hazards, forecasts for a point, etc.), move anywhere (scroll, zoom in/out), customization, loop data, auto updates, extensive help menu, best for storm interrogation. 

Cons: Longer load times (higher bandwidth recommended), a lot of options - not necessarily "load and go."