Weather watchers are one of the most important resources a meteorologist has. Whether you work at the National Weather Service, or if you work at a TV station, weather watchers provide the eyes and ears we need to see in places we can't.

At any given moment we have tons of weather data spilling into our computers that we are able to pass along to viewers. But, this information only comes from a handful of weather stations.

On the map above, the red dots indicate where area weather stations are located.

With the variability of weather in this region, weather can be signifcantly different between these weather stations. Even though these stations DO give us a good idea of what is happening around the area, weather watchers are able to paint a more descriptive picture of the weather situation.

WSEE is always looking for weather watchers to help us provide the most accurate forecasts in the area. If you would like to help, feel free to send in your data by stopping by the section of our website dedicated to becoming a weather watcher. The web address is www.wsee.tv/become_weather_watcher.html

Posted By:
Ray Petelin

For the past few weeks, the Storm Team has been running with our new weather equipment. Let me tell you, we could not be happier, or more excited. You should be too.

With this new equipment, we are hooked into the most up-to-date, live information. That means as weather is happening, the information is coming into our system. We can access all of this information while we are on the air too, which means there is no lag when it comes to passing along important, life saving information.

We are the only station with four LIVE doppler radars. You can always tell if a radar is live by looking for the sweep (the white lines).

The most exciting piece of equipment in our system is Storm Track 4D Live Doppler Radar (4D means 4 LIVE Doppler Radars). This is the most advanced radar program on the market. With this we are getting LIVE radar information from Erie, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh. Another station in town has to wait several minutes for this same information to come to them. One way to tell if a radar is live, look for the "sweep", or update line. If you don't see one, that information is old. We have FOUR (yes we are bragging), the most in town.

This image of "Storm Cutter" shows a hail core aloft in this storm. It is the purple area towards the top of the storm. Looking at the storm in 3D is the only way to only way to tell if the hail is staying up in the atmosphere, or if it is starting to drop.

Also with Storm Track 4D Live Doppler Radar, we have "Storm Cutter" where we are able to actually slice into a storm and see what is happening inside. Sometimes you have to look inside a storm to see how it is transforming, and to see if it may become damaging or severe. With some programs, like another station in town, you can see around the storm, but looking inside is the best way to grasp what is happening.

Anyhow, we are very excited in the Storm Team Center, and we look forward to being your Severe Weather Station!