Wednesday Widgets: Radar in Motion Computing Families.com

Wednesday Widgets: Radar in Motion

Summer can also mean thunderstorm season, when the heat and humidity come together in just the right way. It seems like we have been having quite our share of severe thunderstorms in the last few weeks, here in Pennsylvania.

I have been finding myself watching the weather carefully because of this. We have to plan our summer family activities around the weather, and be prepared at home in case we lose power (and therefore water, too).

There have been a number of weather-related widgets coming out, but I like Radar in motion. Rather than just giving me a forecast, as many of the other widgets do, Radar in Motion allows me to actually track the storms, so I can see where they are originating and where they are heading. So, while I may be hearing thunder starting at home, I can see that it will completely bypass our destination and the path to get to it, for example.

This sort of thing just happened last night. We were headed out to a concert with the kids when the sky got dark and the thunder started to roll. But by checking the radar, we could see that there was no need to cancel our fun.

Images for Radar in Motion are grabbed directly from either the Weather Channel or the NOAA. You can access the radar animation for one city in particular, or get a regional map. There is a handy little location highlight box. Several international maps are also available. Options include weather alerts, temporary storage of your map results and various controls to customizing the display.

Here are your download details: