McGill Weather Homepage
Welcome to the McGill University WeatherPage! Here you will find the latest forecast model output, current observations, remote sensing products, and links to other useful meteorological pages. Some products that are unique to our server include model-derived forecast soundings, which may interest those participating in the National Collegiate Weather Forecasting Contest (NCWFC), and our tropopause map forecasts. To reach the McGill Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences page, click on the McGill emblem.

Please see What's New? to keep up to date on new additions to the page as well as (hopefully rare) disruptions.

McGill Forecast Products from NCEP Gridded Model Output

ETA model (0-2 days): 4-Panel Forecast Forecast Soundings Tropopause Maps
NGM model (0-2 days): 4-Panel Forecast Forecast Soundings .
AVN model (0-3 days): 4-Panel Forecast 500 hPa Anomalies .
MRF model (1-10 days): 1-Panel Forecast 500 hPa Anomalies .

What are Tropopause Maps?

At left is an example of a tropopause map during the Hurricane Opal event. The colors correspond to potential temperature on the dynamic tropopause, a quantity that is conserved under adiabatic, frictionless flow conditions. Because of its conservation, potential temperature redistribution is often due soley to advective processes. Click on this image for more explanation of tropopause maps and their utility, and be sure to take a look at today's actual and forecast tropopause maps.

Current Data, Local Forecasts, Radar, Profiler and Satellite Images

Raw Surface Data: Montreal Sault Ste. Marie Mackenzie
Raw Surface Data*: . Sault Ste. Marie .
McGill 2 km Doppler** ***: Velocity Reflectivity Animation
Profiler products**: Velocity Reflectivity Signal and Vertical Velocity
Other Radar Products: AES radar WSI radar(US) WSI radar(Burlington Vt)
Satellite Products: GOES AES Last SSEC IR Last SSEC visible
Local Forecast Links: AES Quebec AES Ontario .
Station Obs and MOS: Texas A&M Brockport .

* Surface maps and METAR reports appear in "frames" format that may not be supported by old browsers such as Netscape 1.0.

**Images by W. Brown and C. Page; see also The J.S. Marshall Radar Observatory, and UQAM Meteorology.

*** Environment Canada requires that we delay posting radar images to the Web by 6 hours. We are sorry for the inconvenience this will cause. Please contact AES at (514) 283-1101 if you wish to discuss this delay with them.

Selected Weather Links

Below are a few links to sites that contain useful forecast information. For a more comprehensive list of weather-related web and gopher sites, check out the University of Michigan's WeatherNet, or WeatherOnline! For a more select set of interesting meteorology links, see Dean's Meteorology Page or Dr. N-G's Weather Tool.

Data and Processing

The model forecast plots displayed on this page are generated at McGill with the GEneral Meteorological PAcKage (a.k.a. GEMPAK) running on a Silicon Graphics INDY workstation. The gridded ETA, NGM, and AVN model output used to generate these plots arrives via our Local Data Manager (LDM) here in the McGill Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. For more information on GEMPAK and the LDM, see the UNIDATA Home Page .

Disclaimer

McGill University and the McGill Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences do not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the images displayed on this World Wide Web site. All weather and forecast maps are produced by McGill University from gridded data originally generated by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction of the National Weather Service, NOAA. Note that these products do not represent the actual forecasts issued by the United States National Weather Service. The purpose of this site is to provide information for non-operational uses.

Always be sure to check the date on the plots to be sure that you are viewing the latest products. Occasionally, due to circumstances beyond our control, the data files are incomplete or do not arrive in time for processing.

The webcounter indicates that you're visitor number: since 23 April 1996. The webcounter as currently configured does not count multiple, consecutive hits by the same machine, and only counts hits on the main weatherpage. It's free, and very easy to install- just click on webcounter!

This page was initially developed by Gary Lackmann, a postdoctoral research scientist working with Professor John Gyakum in the McGill Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. Gary is leaving McGill to take a position at The State University of New York, College at Brockport as of late August 1996. Any comments or suggestions? Please send email to Werner Wintels, who will now be maintaining this site, by clicking here.