FORECAST

The  FORECAST Section contains not only the latest Star Valley Zone Forecast produced by the Riverton WFO but the AFD(area forecast discussion) which is a meteorological reasoning that the forecast was based on.  The Zone forecast is updated by the Riverton WFO as needed.

There is much more to the FORECAST Section than the products issued by Riverton WFO. Below the  AFD is the latest 72 hour MOS(model output statistics) produced by the GFS(global forecast system) model. Jackson (JAC) is the closet site to Star Valley that the MOS forecast is produced. Additionally an extended GFSX MOS Forecast that extends out for 7 days is also included for JAC.

On the right side of the FORECAST page  from top to bottom are:

--Current Visible satellite loop centered over the Northern Intermountain region. The loop is 2 plus hours long.

--Composite radar imagery loop.  Left clicking on the loop will bring up the latest image overlaid with surface plots.

--Loop of PIH WSR-88D  reflectivity  image.  Loop is around 45 minutes in length.  Left clicking on the loop will bring up the complete radar menu among other options permitting the access of other radars.

--The most powerful diagnostic section available on the Star Valley Weather Page.  Left clicking accesses the Storm Prediction Center(SPC)  Hourly Mesoscale Analysis.  There is a myriad of choices in selecting diagnostic fields which can be used forecasting not only convection including severe thunderstorms, but winter and fire weather conditions..  There is extensive helps  built into the page. Also any questions I will be glad to try and provide an answer through the comment section.

While the area is centered over the Northwestern portion of the CONUS, it can be shifted to other  areas  along with a National area as well.

--This is the sounding section.  Left clicking on the map of available soundings will by default bring up the plot of Norman OK.  However any of the other soundings can be selected  by left clocking on the star over the location. The soundings closest to Star Valley are SLC, BOI, and RIW. Soundings for the previous 7 days can also be selected. Again there is an extensive help menu provided on the page describing all the computed parameters from the sounding.  Additionally any questions can be addressed on the comment section.