Atmosphere and Ocean Observations
Satellite Imagery
NOAA Satellite Services Division (GOES Western U.S. view)
Naval Research Lab (East Pacific imagery)
Radar Imagery
National Weather Service NEXRAD
Surface Station Data
MesoWest (Official NWS station data)
Wunderground (Unofficial, high-density personal station network)
Western Regional Climate Center Archives (archived maps of temp/precip anomalies)
Upper Atmosphere Soundings
University of Wyoming (official NWS radiosonde data)
GOES Satellite-derived vertical profiles
Lightning Detection
Blitzortung (crowdsourced real-time lightning sensing)
Vaisala Lightning Explorer (time-lagged free product)
World Wide Lightning Location Network (global lightning detection network)
Weather and Short-Term Climate Forecasts
National Weather Service
California Technical Forecast Discussions
Atmospheric Models
National Centers for Environmental Prediction (access to GFS, NAM, HRRR, etc.)
Climate Prediction Center (access to CFS)
Levi Cowan’s tropicalditbits.com (comprehensive, well-plotted model & obs data)
El Niño / Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
Observational Data
NOAA CPC ENSO (landing page with many options to view real-time data)
TAO Buoy Array (in-situ observations from buoys in tropical Pacific Ocean)
NASA Sea Level Monitoring (remotely-sensed sea surface height via NASA satellite)
Real-Time Global SST (NOAA’s ocean temperature assimilation)
Operational SST Anomalies (NOAA’s operational ocean temperature anomalies)
NOAA Coral Reef Watch (nice presentation of oceanic data)
ENSO Model Forecasts
North American Multi-Model Ensemble (forecasts from variety of North American dynamical models)
International Multi-Model Ensemble (forecasts from variety of international dynamical models)
NOAA’s CFSv2 (American flagship short-term climate model via CPC)
ENSO Discussion and Official Forecasts
NOAA ENSO Blog (extensive discussion of real-time El Niño/La Niña conditions)
IRI ENSO Resources (discussion of ENSO and impacts from Columbia University)
CPC Weekly Update (weekly narrative on ENSO conditions)
Climate Change Resources
Track changes in the Earth’s climate system in real time
NASA GISS Global Temperature (maps, graphs, and data to the heart’s content)
National Snow and Ice Data Center (maps, graphs, and narratives on the cryosphere)
NOAA NCDC Climate at a Glance (near real-time data plotter for U.S. climate data)
Climate Central (timely articles on climate change and extreme weather)
Learn more about why the Earth’s climate is changing
Skeptical Science (climate science for the informed skeptic)
Real Climate (climate science from climate scientists)
National Climate Assessment (U.S. federal government report on changing national climate)
IPCC Reports (light to heavy reading on climate change, its causes, and its impacts)
Weather, Climate, and Water-Related Blogs
Jeff Masters’ Wunderblog (Jeff Masters & Bob Henson discuss weather/climate events of global significance)
Christopher Burt’s Wunderblog (real-time weather/climate from a statistical and historical perspective)
Rivers and Sky (Mike Dettinger’s personal thoughts on California hydroclimate)
Weather and Climate (Adam Sobel’s thoughts on science and science communication)
Neven’s Sea Ice Blog (great source for real-time Arctic sea ice and cryosphere discussion)
Maven’s Notebook (all there is to know about science, policy, and mythology surrounding water in California)
Wildfires, Earthquakes, and Other California Natural Hazards
Wildlandfire Hotlist (real-time source for late-breaking wildfire information)
Wildfire Predictive Services (fuels, fire weather, and narratives on fire risk from GACC)
Wildfire Map Data (track boundaries and hotspots via MODIS in real time)
USGS Real-Time Earthquake Information (track global earthquakes)
Western Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (home of NOAA’s official tsunami advisories)
USGS California Volcano Observatory (overview of California’s volcanoes and real-time risk monitoring)
Other Pages of Interest
UC Davis Department of Atmospheric Science
Climate and Earth System Dynamics Group, Stanford University