71 replies to this topic

[Ginxy]

Nice redesigned NWS page
http://preview.weather.gov/wtf/MapClick.php?lat=41.73737562993509&lon=-71.81419372558594&site=box&unit=0&lg=en&FcstType=text

[ETauntonMA]

Nice redesigned NWS page
http://preview.weath...n&FcstType=text

Was looking briefly at that last night. A little more eye friendly.

[am19psu]

Gonna pop this out on the main forum. Thanks for posting it, Ginx.

[isohume]

The best part. Lmao.

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[MGorse]

The best part. Lmao.

I did not notice that at first. Interesting sizing there!

[isohume]

I did not notice that at first. Interesting sizing there!

I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but it's pretty funny.

[MGorse]

I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but it's pretty funny.

Yeah probably not, but I did laugh once I saw it.

[das]

The best part. Lmao.

That's funny. I wonder if Dr. S. will let that go into production...

[Ellinwood]

I really like this version. In the last version of the preview site they had bled the blue background gradient into the main content area and it just killed the appearance. This latest version is cleaner and flow of the content is better, IMO.

The only criticism I have is the forecast icons (rain/clouds/etc icons)... they are re-sized larger from their original versions and look blurry. New icons (or at least fixing up the current ones to account for the re-sizing) would keep the images crisp and up-to-date with the more modern design of the page.

[ApacheTrout]

That's a pretty clean and attractive layout. The only feedback I gave was to move the radar & satellite images up higher on the page so you don't have to scroll down. Yeah, I'm that lazy.

[ApacheTrout]

The only criticism I have is the forecast icons (rain/clouds/etc icons)... they are re-sized larger from their original versions and look blurry. New icons (or at least fixing up the current ones to account for the re-sizing) would keep the images crisp and up-to-date with the more modern design of the page.

That's a sharp observation. Here's to hoping they update with new icons.

[MGorse]

For those who have not done so, don't forget to fill out and submit the online comment form (link at the top of the preview page).

http://preview.weath...edesigncomments

[Jonger1150]

Wow, a weather page upgrade that I like. I will never stop using classic wunderground.. I hate the new page.

[johnc]

I like it.

Just needs the new icons as was mentioned.

Would be cool to get some better radar graphics eventually.

[Ginxy]

I submitted my opinion, would like to see the local F-6, daily climate report more prominent, rather than clicking on the US to obtain it. Also hope local pages like BTV which are chock full of great links keep their links.

[earthlight]

Love the design, the icons are bad. That alone almost makes the page look bad.

[hm8]

Ehh..it's not showing up right for me for some reason. All I'm getting is the new header and then a chopped up version of the old design without any icons.

[eekuasepinniW]

Please don't take the point and click google map away from me.

[johnc]

Good change: "Convective Outlook -> Thunderstorm / Tornado Outlook"

[ctsnowstorm628]

I may just be stupid, but is there a true P/C interactive map like the current page has? Its good for varying terrain.

[icebreaker5221]

Love the design, the icons are bad. That alone almost makes the page look bad.

+1

I submitted my opinion, would like to see the local F-6, daily climate report more prominent, rather than clicking on the US to obtain it. Also hope local pages like BTV which are chock full of great links keep their links.

+1

Also, not completely related, but all WFOs keep track of all kinds of great info for record keeping, but only have it available internally. For example, in Miami, the only way you can see the daily rainfall record is by reading the daily climate report. If I knew heavy rain was coming tomorrow and I wanted to know the record, I would have to wait until the day of to actually see it (unless I wanted to dig through the archive to find last year's daily climate report, or look on NCDC). Also, we have no list of top 10 driest/wettest/warmest/coldest months/seasons/years, on the website, only the #1 wettest or #1 warmest.

If everyone did it like Albany, that would be perfect:
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/aly/Climate/Albany/SpecialData.htm
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/aly/Climate/Albany/NormalsExtremes.htm

[snowman21]

I did not notice that at first. Interesting sizing there!

I believe that sizing is a common theme across the redesigned NOAA sites. For example, on NCDC's redesigned pages, there's a full sized NOAA icon (since NCDC lacks its own) where the NWS one is, and in place of the little NOAA icon is a small Department of Commerce seal.

[isohume]

I believe that sizing is a common theme across the redesigned NOAA sites. For example, on NCDC's redesigned pages, there's a full sized NOAA icon (since NCDC lacks its own) where the NWS one is, and in place of the little NOAA icon is a small Department of Commerce seal.

Yeah the NOS did that too. NOAA just has to butt in everywhere. lol. Funny the NWS shunted them to barely identifiable tho.

[bowtie`]

I checked it out. Is it slick, no. It is different though. I can not believe all the crying about icons though. Especially on this of all sites. The icons are for little old sheltered ladies that call in and complain to the NWS when it rains on their wedding day. I figured that everyone here would read AFD's and the more in-depth stuff, not depend on little icons. Guess I was wrong.

[Superstorm93]

Adding higher-res icons would probably be a good idea due to their nature of being right in the viewers face...

Other than that, the new page looks great.

[Ellinwood]

I checked it out. Is it slick, no. It is different though. I can not believe all the crying about icons though. Especially on this of all sites. The icons are for little old sheltered ladies that call in and complain to the NWS when it rains on their wedding day. I figured that everyone here would read AFD's and the more in-depth stuff, not depend on little icons. Guess I was wrong.

FWIW, I never use the icons, but if you're going to revamp the whole site you might as well revamp everything to fit with whatever you're going for. The icons are blurred and don't fit with the new style.

Anyone who cares about the AFD and the more in-depth stuff can find it easily enough on their own. IMO, since this is a public service, the public is what comes first... not the weather enthusiast who's looking for more than the local forecast and a quick update on severe/snow/etc.

I can see what you're getting at, but in the end the site is (or at least should be) designed for the primary purpose of protecting life and property. AFDs and the like are important, but that level of discussion isn't the front line of how the NWS reaches the masses. On top of that, while not prominent, it is fairly easily locatable at the bottom of the 7-day forecast (if you know what you're looking for, that is).

[Digger]

My comment to them was that it's a BIG mistake to remove the "Quick glimpse at the weather" clickable map. I like being able to see the watches and warnings for my whole tri-state area, follow warnings progressively as they're issued when something severe is approaching, simply by a a glance at the map, and to be able to look at forecasts for a number of locations I'm interested in simply by clicking on the map. I don't want to have to enter a location by city or zipcode on my keyboard when all I have to do now is put the cursor over that location and click. Other than that, it's as good as what they have now...

On edit: Or am I still going to get that first when I go to my local NWS page, and the new product is what I'll see only after clicking on a location on the map?

[gtg947h]

Please don't take the point and click google map away from me.

Yes, the Google map needs to stay (and I have submitted several comments to that effect).

The picture icons are too large and blurry. Yes, they're silly, but I use them like an executive summary before reading the AFD and the hourly graph. Still, they don't need to be that prominent.

If only the AFDs were in plain English instead of all-caps and abbreviated...

[JamieOber]

Is this site available in a mobile version? Curious.

This is very important - by 2015, the majority of site access will be by mobile device. Many organizations are coming around to this. Hopefully the NWS will, if they haven't already. At a web content/design conference, this keeps coming up. In fact, some are designing their mobile site first then the regular site. It actually makes the site more user friendly.

[DaculaWeather]

I like it.

Just needs the new icons as was mentioned.

Would be cool to get some better radar graphics eventually.

I use the same icons with my forecast scripts, but with rounded corners and shadows. I hate those blocky flat forecast icons.

[DaculaWeather]

LOL!!! They took the old forecast images that are 55x58px and are displaying them as 86x86px... they didn't even keep the proper aspect ratio. So two reasons they look blurry.

[PSUBlizzicane2007]

LOL!!! They took the old forecast images that are 55x58px and are displaying them as 86x86px... they didn't even keep the proper aspect ratio. So two reasons they look blurry.

That was my big complaint in the comments I sent. I'm not sure why they did that. While I do like the current forecast icons (way better than those goofy cartoonish things they tried to replace them with a few years ago), I'm not sure why they thought doing that would look good.

[DaculaWeather]

My guess is that they might be planning to replace them with something else when they are completed. Any decent web developer knows you can't expand and image like that without making it look bad. There are about 400+ images that have to be created/updated so it's time consuming. It took me quite a while to apply a mask and shadow to the ones I have... and they all came directly from the NWS.

[isohume]

Man I hope they notice and fix the icons. I told them I rely on those.

[hm8]

Looks like they've switched the design officially now...at least I'm getting the new design automatically when I go to weather.gov

And looks like were stuck with the crappy stretched out weather icons

EDIT: lol....looks like the AFD pages are all broken...and a lot of the pages like CPC and HPC still have the old design...