How to View The Best Weather Radar and Forecast

Hands down, the best weather radar and forecast provider is through the National Weather Service.
Their site offers FREE local weather for every city and region in the nation, and provides a full resolution version of the entire US.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Internet
• No registration required

1. There are many weather radar and forecast sites, but most of them require you to register or otherwise enroll for a membership.
   Sites such as Intellicast and Weather.Com only offer a trial period with limited program access unless you are a paying member. However, the National Weather Service offers Free weather radar and forecasts for every city and geographical location in the United States.
   I have included the link below, as well as some basic steps to help you navigate their site.

2. Click on the respective link below to go to the National Weather Service site. (* Please note that this link is for the Central Great Lakes Sector, so if this is not your geographical area please see the following steps.)
   Once at the site, you can view local radar or see the local 7-day forecast for your region.

3. 
    
   LOCAL WEATHER RADAR SECTORS

   LOCAL WEATHER RADAR
   
   To view the local radar for your city and state, look in the left column where they list the "Sectors". The Sectors are broken down into "Northern" and "Southern", and each of those are broken down into smaller geographical sectors. Click on your respective sector and the page will load to that sector.

4. 
    
   LOCAL WEATHER FORECAST

   LOCAL WEATHER FORECAST
   
   To view the local weather forecast for your city and state, look at the top of the window in the narrow, dark blue bar where it states "Local weather forecast by "City, St". Type in your city and state and hit return/enter on your keyboard, or click the "GO" button.

5. 
    
   FULL RESOLUTION VERSION LOOP

   FULL RESOLUTION VERSION LOOP
   
   My favorite feature is the full resolution version loop! This loop is a radar image for the entire US and you can navigate around to view and track current weather, storms, etc.
   To view the full resolution version loop, simply click on the link as depicted in the illustration.

Tips & Warnings

• Once you chose your local region be sure to book mark it to your tool bar or add it to your favorites for easy future access.

Resources

• National Weather Service

[busymommy2]

on 10/3/2009 Good information. I'll check this out coz weather here in seattle is a little crazy..

[hnatalieann]

on 10/2/2009 Great article! 5*'s

[jaredsgirl]

on 9/27/2009 Great and unique article on viewing the best weather radar and forecast. Thanks for sharing a different article idea! 5*

[sonni57]

on 9/26/2009 Great info on viewing the weather forecast.

[waters]

on 9/26/2009 Good information on how to view the best weather radar and forecast. 5*