The Weatherstar 4000+ just got its biggest update in a while. Version 8.0 is live now. It adds Future Radar, redrawn maps, new music, and a redesigned settings panel.
The headline feature is Future Radar. The Weatherstar has always shown where precipitation has been. Future Radar shows where it’s headed over the next 6 hours, using forecast data from the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model. It uses the color scale that’s common to forecast model displays, so it looks a little different from the existing radar screen. That’s intentional, so it’s always clear whether you’re looking at what’s happening now or what’s forecast to happen.
Building Future Radar was also a good reason to redraw the maps from scratch. The radar and regional forecast maps are now drawn on a real Mercator projection. The previous maps were an approximation, which caused radar data and city positions to drift slightly out of alignment, especially near the edges of the map. Everything now lines up where it should.
Music is a big part of the Weatherstar experience, and v8.0 adds an entirely new Weatherstar album to the playlist: Latest Observations.
Finally, the settings panel has a new layout. The number of options has grown over the years, and the old panel had gotten harder to navigate. Settings are now organized into tabs, and there’s a new way to jump straight to any screen.
There’s more on the way, too. I’m working on some new screens that I hope to release later this year.
Please join the discussion on GitHub if you have questions or comments about the new features.