Product Spotlight

Product: Short Term Forecast or Nowcast

• What is it?: Short Term Forecasts provide the public with detailed weather information during significant and/or fast changing hydrometeorological conditions.
• What information does it contain?: Short Term Forecasts are a non-scheduled, event-driven product. The Short Term Forecasts are written in non-technical terms with the highest priority information first. It is written in a future tense, focusing on location, movement, intensity, timing, precipitation amounts and duration. Short Term Forecasts may mention threats to life and property.
  
  
• What type of weather elements could be included in the Short Term Forecasts?:
  • Thunderstorms
  • Localized flooding
  • Any convective or stratiform precipitation
  • Fog reducing visibility to less than 1/2 mile
  • Rapid changes in temperatures
  • Strong wind gusts (> 30 mph)
  • Visibility reduced in blowing and drifting snow
  • Blizzard conditions
  • Lake Effect snow bands
  • Heat indices above 100°F
  • Wind Chill below 0°F (Bitter Cold)
  • Any other conditions operational staff deem as significant
  
  
  
• What does a Short Term Forecast look like?:
  
  Example:

  FPUS71 KBGM 052356
  NOWBGM
  SHORT TERM FORECAST
  NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
  756 PM EDT SUN AUG 5 2007
  
  NYZ022-024-PAZ038-043-047-060200- STEUBEN-CHEMUNG-BRADFORD-WYOMING-LUZERNE-
  INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CORNING...HORNELL...ELMIRA...TOWANDA... SAYRE...TUNKHANNOCK
  ...WILKES-BARRE...HAZLETON
  
  756 PM EDT SUN AUG 5 2007
  
  .NOW... LIGHT SHOWERS WILL BE SLIDING ACROSS PARTS OF THE TWIN TIERS...
  ALONG WITH THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS THIS EVENING. LOOK
  FOR THE LEADING EDGE OF SHOWER ACTIVITY TO REACH A WAVERLY...ROME...
  TUNKHANNOCK...WILKES BARRE LINE BY 10 PM. ONLY A FEW HUNDREDTHS OF
  AN INCH OF NEW RAINFALL IS EXPECTED THROUGH MIDNIGHT...THEN SHOWERS
  WILL BECOME A LITTLE STEADIER...AND HEAVIER OVERNIGHT.
  $$
  JAB
  

  
  
  
• Where can I find it on this web site?: When a Short Term Forecast is issued the map on the front or main page of this site will paint the counties in the forecast a light green. As show in the image below.
  
  
  
  If you click on the highlighted county, a forecast for that location will appear. This is shown below, and notice that a link to the Short Term Forecast is displayed just above the forecast.
  
  
  
  You can also click a link just to the left of the map to view the Short Term Forecast (shown by the red arrow on the map).
  
  Another location for getting the Short Term Forecast can be found via our Text Product page. To go to the Text Product page, just click on the word text in the blue field on the left hand side of the web page. This is shown on the graphic to the right. Many other Text Products can be found here as well.