cyclone77 Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Seems like they took a perfectly good model site and ruined it. I'm sure some of you like it, or have become used to it, but I think it's not user friendly at all. Sure wish they could at least keep the old site active for us "old timers" lol. I'd be curious to see the statistics of their site traffic before and after the change. I'm guessing they've had a drop off in traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtlehurricane Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I agree. I've been relying on the UW-Madison in-house model page since the switch http://www.aos.wisc.edu/weather/wx_models/Models.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowman22 Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I have, its so un-user friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eskimo Joe Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I will never use that page. The previous design was excellent, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okie333 Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I have... I now use InstantWeatherMaps for GFS, TwisterData for NAM and RUC, and PSU E-wall for everything else. No offense, Raleighwx. I did use WeatherGeek Pro (a $5 iOS app which honestly is better than the MAG site, and that's saying something), but quickly regarded it as a waste of money due to the lack of many maps and the cluttered interface. InstantWeatherMaps's NCEP viewer app sounds very interesting though... if it's under $10 I'm buying it right when it comes out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone77 Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 A little while ago I decided I was finally gonna start to use it, but as I was clicking through the site I just got kind of pissed at how many different steps you need to go through just to see a certain map. Their old grid style system was so easy to use. IMHO if they wanted to add some things or change the look they should have just tweaked their existing format. Like many software programs, it probably makes perfect sense to the designer(s) as they build it one step at a time and get used to it. However, for the average person who uses it for the first time it's WAAAAAY more complicated than it needs to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Organizing Low Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 absolutey terrible the only site i ever used, and now i cant stand it ....wont be using it anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I liked the old version better, but honestly I think some of the negative reaction has been a little over the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kab2791 Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I have been using the new site alongside the old site for a long time now. Sure, not everything is laid out nicely as the old site, but it's not that big of a deal. Besides, I like the zoom in/out function and seeing 10m output for the NAM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okie333 Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I like the new version better. It took about a week to get used to it. I don't. You can't even open stuff up in new tabs because they use fancy Javascript. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baroclinic_instability Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I liked the old version better, but honestly I think some of the negative reaction has been a little over the top. I have been using the new site alongside the old site for a long time now. Sure, not everything is laid out nicely as the old site, but it's not that big of a deal. Besides, I like the zoom in/out function and seeing 10m output for the NAM. Yes, this. The negative reaction has been grossly over the top. Not to mention we have about 2-3 threads on this very topic in W/F. I understand losing a site that one was very used to can stink, but there are actually some benefits to the new one as well. 3 hr maps were one nice addition. That said, Ewall, twisterdata, and the ECMWF on wunderground work nicely. For the rare times I do need straight NCEP maps, that page works fine enough even if it is clunky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Yes, this. The negative reaction has been grossly over the top. Not to mention we have about 2-3 threads on this very topic in W/F. I understand losing a site that one was very used to can stink, but there are actually some benefits to the new one as well. 3 hr maps were one nice addition. That said, Ewall, twisterdata, and the ECMWF on wunderground work nicely. For the rare times I do need straight NCEP maps, that page works fine enough even if it is clunky. Who reads W/F anymore? I don't mind the new NCEP site. Sure it's a bit clunky, but it also has some good features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunder Road Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Wundermaps are actually very nice now. People have overreacted about the NCEP change. The only thing I wish they had was the ability to right-click (so I can open maps in a new tab - much easier to do a stare and compare between two runs that way) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I am definitely not a fan. Lots of bugs too as it seems a lot of images don't display properly with database error pages common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowstormcanuck Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Without question I prefer the old webpage design. I used it right until it was decommissioned back in late August. However, after a few days of getting used to the quirks of the new layout, I've pretty much adapted. I'll get complementary data from Earl Barker/PSU, but my primary source of NCEP suite model data will be the NCEP site itself. What is of more concern to me is that UKMET stopped providing freebie data to FSU. This site is no longer functional. No more intermediate UKIE model runs during the winter, complete with total QPF output. Not sure if you guys are aware of this distressing news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baroclinic_instability Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Without question I prefer the old webpage design. I used it right until it was decommissioned back in late August. However, after a few days of getting used to the quirks of the new layout, I've pretty much adapted. I'll get complementary data from Earl Barker/PSU, but my primary source of NCEP suite model data will be the NCEP site itself. What is of more concern to me is that UKMET stopped providing freebie data to FSU. This site is no longer functional. No more intermediate UKIE model runs during the winter, complete with total QPF output. Not sure if you guys are aware of this distressing news. Yeah I noticed that, but FWIW, Ewall has the 72 hr/144 hr UK albeit with limited data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kab2791 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Nice to see wunderground's format for the models, especially having Euro QPF. Yes, this. The negative reaction has been grossly over the top. Not to mention we have about 2-3 threads on this very topic in W/F. I understand losing a site that one was very used to can stink, but there are actually some benefits to the new one as well. 3 hr maps were one nice addition. That said, Ewall, twisterdata, and the ECMWF on wunderground work nicely. For the rare times I do need straight NCEP maps, that page works fine enough even if it is clunky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baroclinic_instability Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Nice to see wunderground's format for the models, especially having Euro QPF. Yeah I know, I am loving it. Free 3 hr Euro data including qpf, it is going to be awesome this winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kab2791 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Hmm, I wonder at what times the images start pouring in. Luckily I still will get Euro text data for the next year, and that starts to come out around 550Z every night/ 1750Z every afternoon. Yeah I know, I am loving it. Free 3 hr Euro data including qpf, it is going to be awesome this winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Analog96 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Stopped using it. Use a mix of Meteostar and Raleighwx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersnow12 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I usually only use it in the winter, used to the graphics more and partly due to superstition lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowstormcanuck Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Yeah I noticed that, but FWIW, Ewall has the 72 hr/144 hr UK albeit with limited data. Ewall has some decent freebie UKIE graphics, but that FSU site had 6z/18z UKIE runs, which as of this date I've yet to find elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InstantWeatherMaps Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I personally own a model site, but I have to agree with Hoosier that it's overblown. The old site had its faults too. For one thing the grids only updated every 5 minutes, and the images had horrible lag time (they still do have 10-100x the lag of my site, but it's much better than it was). I think the new site is better than the old one for these reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkeye_wx Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I don't mind the new format, and the 3 hr GFS and NAM maps are nice, but my problem is I have an ancient computer with a terrible video card and the loops slow my system to a crawl. The old site's loops ran fine. I really have to get a new system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoMo Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Not using it any longer, the site design is terrible and not something you would expect for this decade. Twisterdata for NAM, InstantWeatherMaps for GFS, Wunderground for Euro. EWALL for whatever else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okie333 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Not using it any longer, the site design is terrible and not something you would expect for this decade. Twisterdata for NAM, InstantWeatherMaps for GFS, Wunderground for Euro. EWALL for whatever else. I have insider info from a friend that you and I may end up dropping TwisterData altogether very soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebo Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 At this moment I use Twisterdata for NAM/GFS E-wall for GGEM/Ukie and Wunderground for Euro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phlwx Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Wundermaps are actually very nice now. People have overreacted about the NCEP change. The only thing I wish they had was the ability to right-click (so I can open maps in a new tab - much easier to do a stare and compare between two runs that way) To a point you're right. Some of the weeping and gnashing is a bit over-the-top. I don't think it really matters in the grand scheme of things -- there are a 100 places to the GFS or NAM for free. NCEP isn't catering to the weenie crowd. That being said, I think it's a lot less user-friendly...especially on the mobile side...I don't even bother going to NCEP now when I want to look with my iPad...I could in the past w/o any huge issues. I pretty much use e-Wall or txtornado.net for my model looking at this point when I'm on the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InstantWeatherMaps Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 To a point you're right. Some of the weeping and gnashing is a bit over-the-top. I don't think it really matters in the grand scheme of things -- there are a 100 places to the GFS or NAM for free. NCEP isn't catering to the weenie crowd. That being said, I think it's a lot less user-friendly...especially on the mobile side...I don't even bother going to NCEP now when I want to look with my iPad...I could in the past w/o any huge issues. I pretty much use e-Wall or txtornado.net for my model looking at this point when I'm on the road. If you're willing to part with $5 then you may soon be able to see all the NCEP maps and loops that you want on your iPad. Oh and for GFS data InstantWeatherMaps.com is fairly mobile-friendly. For everything else I agree that the eWall is the most mobile-friendly site around... New NCEP and TwisterData are both pretty bad on mobile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okie333 Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 If you're willing to part with $5 then you may soon be able to see all the NCEP maps and loops that you want on your iPad. Oh and for GFS data InstantWeatherMaps.com is fairly mobile-friendly. For everything else I agree that the eWall is the most mobile-friendly site around... New NCEP and TwisterData are both pretty bad on mobile. Downloaded it... second best weather app I've ever bought (RadarScope is first) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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