Wednesday Weather Whys: Model Forecast

Have you ever wondered where the meteorologist receive weather data, models, and other sources of information? Well, below I explain where some of these products come from and where you can find the products that we meteorologist use:

MODELS
There are hundreds of sites to find model data; however, most of the data comes from NCEP, the National Center for Environmental Prediction. Below is a link to the model data that I use in many of my forecast. The GFS and NAM models can be found on this site, but that is not where it stops. Other models can also be found on this site.
http://mag.ncep.noaa.gov/NCOMAGWEB/appcontroller?prevpage=index&MainPage=index&cat=MODEL+GUIDANCE&page=MODEL+GUIDANCE
You can also find other models on other sites, such at the European model and the Canadian Model.

MODEL OUTPUTS
You can find direct model output predictions for your area at the website below:
http://wxweb.meteostar.com/
This website shows the actual GFS model output for a specific area.

Coming up next week, I will explain MOS data so you can predict the temperature in your area. If you have a question that you would like me to answer in the Wednesday Weather Whys section, just post the question below, and I will answer it here on the blog.