The Basics

As emergency managers, you know having reliable data & products is huge when it comes to detecting inclement weather. This page will help point you in the right direction.

  • Radar Program(s) - We recommend Gibson Ridge products, but others are avaible such as StormLab and RadarScope.
  • Reliable data provider(s) - We recommend AllisonHouse of course.
  • NOAA weather radio - We recommend Midland's WR300 AM/FM Alert Radio. As Im sure you know, you always need to be prepared during severe weather for power outages. Weather radios will help you stay notified.
  • First Aid kit - We recommend at least a Minimum First Aid Kit from the Red Cross. You never know when you may need it.

The Specifics

Gibson Ridge Products and others alike are not Mac compatible. This means you have to run Windows through a virtual machine onto your Mac. The necessary products/programs you need are:

  • Virtual Machine (Price Range: Free - $150)
    We recommend Parallels, but there are others to choose from out there, such as VMWare Fusion and the Free Virtual Box (not recommended). This is only required if you're running a radar program that requires Windows.
  • Data Providers (Price Range: Free - $300.00)
    We recommend a Storm Hunter Subscription from AllisonHouse ($26.99 per month OR $296.89 yearly) or check out any of our other packages. An AllisonHouse subscription is not NOT mandatory, there are free radar data providers out there for public use (Iowa State, National Weather Service, etc.). However Note: It is always a good idea to have a backup data provider on hand.
  • Desktop Radar Program (Price Range: $79.85 - $999.00)
    We highly recommend GRLevelx products. The best tool for analyzing a storm is GRlevel2AE.
  • Mobile Radars Programs (Price Range: $9.99 - $19.99)
    We recommend RadarScope, but there are plenty of them out there depending on your device and platform. Examples - PKLY3 (Android), Radar Alive! (Android), and MRLevel3 (Windows)
  • Web based radar programs (Price Range: Mostly Free)
    There are quite a few of them out there, but not recommended for detailed analysis.
  • Road Shapefiles (Price Range: Mostly Free)
    GRLevelX products only: Road shapefiles will really help you pin down the intersections that are being affected. There are also many other shapefiles you can load (i.e. Railroads, Stadiums, etc.). Here's a guide for Adding Shapefiles into GRlevelx Programs.
  • Weather Models ($14.99/per month - $164.99/year)
    Of course we recommend a subsciption to our Maps program.
  • Mosaic ($26.99/per month - $250.00/yearly)
    We recommend GRearth. This is a great program to use to get an overall view of what is going on coast to coast. Our GRearth guide area will walk you through all the possibilities you have with this wonderful program.
  • Data Feeds (Free - $26.99/per month)
    Adding data feeds & placefiles to your radar program can help when tracking any dangerous situation. e.g. - If you need to know which direction the wind is carring a hazoudous chemical you can use METAR, Mesonet, & CWOP feeds to find this out.