WeatherCaster Gold Version 2.0 Weather Forecaster, Database & Analysis Program Copyright 1996, 1997 Jerry Woody and CompuLink TABLE OF CONTENTS Upgrading and Multiple Licenses.....................Page 1 Licenses Agreement and Disclaimer ..................Page 2 Support.............................................Page 2 System Requirements.................................Page 2 Included Files......................................Page 3 Installation Instructions...........................Page 3 Common Questions and Answers........................Page 4 Configuration.......................................Page 6 ForeCast............................................Page 7 DataBase............................................Page 8 Yearly Comparison Graphs............................Page 15 Monthly Graphs......................................Page 16 Daily Graphs........................................Page 18 Meteorological Conversions..........................Page 19 Meteorological Utilities............................Page 20 Severe Weather......................................Page 22 METAR Observations..................................Page 23 Archives............................................Page 25 PAGE 1 UPGRADING FROM VERSION 1.0 TO VERSION 2.0 If you are running version 1.0 there are a number of different ways of upgrading to version 2.0. Always remember, before upgrading to BACK UP YOUR DATA FILES OF WEATHER DATA YOU'VE ALREADY ENTERED TO A SAFE PLACE! Almost all file structures have changed with version 2.0. One way of upgrading is just copying all the new WeatherCaster Gold files into your WeatherCaster Gold directory. It will leave you're WeatherCaster Gold directory somewhat cluttered, but is the easiest route to go. Another way of upgrading is to delete All files in your WeatherCaster Gold directory EXCEPT THE FOLLOWING: ANY *.DAT files and ARCHIVE.REC file. These are your old Weather Data files and any Archived Weather events. Then just copy the new WeatherCaster Gold Exec and Support files into your WeatherCaster Gold directory. Then, run the 1to2.exe file to update your *.DAT files to the new format. Compulink offers one free major version upgrade. If you have registered WeatherCaster Gold BEFORE March 4th, 1997 you are eligible to receive a free upgrade to WeatherCaster Gold 2.0. You must still pay the shipping and handling charges and if you wish a new printed manual include an extra $3.00 . Locate the orderfrm.txt file in this directory. Mark WeatherCaster Gold 2.0 and for price put UPGRADE . Indicate if you want the new printed manual and include the shipping & handling price. Be sure to fill out the rest of the orderfrm.txt (note you cannot upgrade with your credit card but must be in the form of a check or money order) and send it and the correct amount to CompuLink. ABOUT RUNNING THE 1TO2.EXE CONVERSION UTILITY WeatherCaster Gold 2.0 comes with a Data utility program call 1to2.exe which will convert your old data files into the new format. REMEMBER TO BACK UP YOUR DATA FILES OF WEATHER DATA YOU'VE ALREADY ENTERED TO A SAFE PLACE just in case! When running 1to2.exe it will prompt you for a file to convert (for example 1996.dat). Once converted, a file call *.DAL (for example 1996.dal) will contain the data instead of the *.dat file. Run 1to2.exe for all previously entered data files. The conversion program will convert most data correctly; however some things it will be unable to convert such as if you enter the amount of sun as a % it will not be correct in the new version as sun is counted in Hours of Sun. So some data you may have to go back and edit by hand for it to be correct. PAGE 2 LICENSE AGREEMENT WeatherCaster Gold and its Accompanying files are copyrighted works protected by U.S. and international copyright law. You are granted a license to use your copy of WeatherCaster Gold only under the terms and conditions specified in this license agreement. WeatherCaster Gold is a commercial software product. It is not free, nor is it in the public domain. Registration / License is 1 per physical site. Multiple sites require multiple licenses. USERS OF WEATHERCASTER GOLD MUST ACCEPT THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: WEATHERCASTER GOLD IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE IS WITH YOU. COMPULINK NOR THE AUTHOR ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES, DIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL, WHICH MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OF WEATHERCASTER GOLD. YOU MAY NOT USE WEATHERCASTER GOLD PAST THE PERIOD OF 60 DAYS IN SHAREWARE / UNREGISTERED MODE. This program is for entertainment purposes only! Though great care has been taken to predict the weather and related events with the highest accuracy; no guarantee is given about the results. For a detailed forecast and information call your National Weather Service. - Registered versions of this program cannot be returned for a refund. A Demo version of WeatherCaster Gold is offered so you can determine if it will work with your system and/or if the program meets your expectations. - Prices may change without notice - You May NOT under Any Circumstances distribute your registered copy of WeatherCaster Gold to people that have not registered. CompuLink actively pursues anyone violating this condition. DISTRIBUTING SHAREWARE COPIES OF WEATHERCASTER GOLD You may freely distribute this UNALTERED shareware copy of WeatherCaster Gold to BBS's, online services, friends, etc. If you register WeatherCaster Gold, you may NOT distribute the registered Version (or portions of it) to anyone else. The Distributed Demo/ShareWare archive/Disk may not be redistributed if you delete, edit or add files to the original Archive/Disk. SUPPORT Registered and Un-Registered users can obtain technical support for WeatherCaster Gold from the following: Email jwoody@traveller.com Fax : 1-(205)-739-0012 Send Question(s) along with an S.A.S.E. to CompuLink, 1832 County Road 384, Cullman Al 35057 Limited voice support is also offered. However, we cannot return Long Distant phone calls and we are in the office at different times of the day. Our Voice Number is 1-205-737-1929 . If no one is there to take your call please use one of the methods above for technical support. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: * An IBM PC Compatible Computer Running Dos greater then version 3.0 WeatherCaster Gold has been successfully run under Dos, DesqView, OS/2 and Windows 3.11 * A VGA/Super VGA Monitor * WeatherCaster Gold has been run on 8088 Xt's but a 286 or better Ibm PC compatible computer is recommended. * An Epson compatible Printer on LPT1 is recommended for Data Printout * At least 3 Megabytes of Hard Disk Space * At least 512Kb of Memory * A Mouse and Mouse Driver is needed for some functions. If you run under windows you willl still need a mouse driver loaded to use the mouse in WeatherCaster Gold. PAGE 3 FILES The Following files are contained in your shareware archive/disk: WG2.EXE - This is the shareware / demo archive. It contains the unregistered version of WeatherCaster Gold and Support files needed by WeatherCaster Gold. Files in the WG2.EXE Archive are: - WG.EXE - Shareware WeatherCaster Gold Exec File - *.TXT - Text Support files - *.ICO - Icons needed for graphical display - 1980.DAT - SAMPLE yearly data file. Can be Deleted. - 1980.HOU - SAMPLE hourly data file. Can be Deleted. - *.SCR - Graphic Files displayed between Main Menu and Sub-Menus - TEST*.GIF - Example files to try out the Archiver function. Can be Deleted. - FORECAST.DAT - Data file for Forecaster - 97022104.WMO - Sample METAR Raw Data File. Can be Deleted. - SURFACE.WMO - Compiled METAR Raw Data File. Can be Deleted. - MAPDATA.REC - Station Co-ordinate file used when compiling raw METAR observations. - TEMP.MAP - Base U.S. Map for plotting METAR data. - 1TO2.EXE - Conversion exec to convert your old version 1.0 data to the new format. Can be Deleted. INTRODUCTION WeatherCaster Gold is an integrated and low cost Weather Forecaster, Database and Analysis Program. Many of the features are too numerous to mention here but include: + Simple Weather Forecasting Module + Ability to Add, Edit and print Daily Data + Ability to Add, Edit and print Hourly Data + Monthly and Yearly Summaries + 40+ Unique Pie, Line and Bar Charts to Analyze your Weather Data + Conversions such as Millibars to Inches of Mercury + Utilities such as Wind Chill, Heat Index, etc. + Weather Event Archiver where you can archive both text and graphics of significant weather events. + Decodes Surface Airways Observations (SAO) in both Text and Graphics + StormTracker Module to track severe storm, tornado, etc. echoes. AND MORE! FEATURES NOT AVAILABLE IN SHAREWARE VERSIONS In Shareware mode, the following features are limited or not available: - You cannot enter more than 60 days of daily weather data to the database - You cannot enter more than 30 entries to the hourly weather data - No more than 2 locations will be displayed, calculated in StormTracker - As a general rule, every other sub menu function (Even Numbers) will not Work. * INSTALLING WEATHERCASTER GOLD WITH DOS (Note that you might get WeatherCaster Gold in .ZIP format or another archive format. If so just unarchive it with the right unarchiver.) 1. Make a directory on your hard disk drive, such as WG (To Make a directory under plain dos just type MKDIR WG) 2. Change to That Directory (CD WG) 3. Copy WG2.EXE into that directory 4. WG2.EXE is a self extracting Archive. It will the unarchive all the support files into the directory. 5. Then just run WG.EXE . (You cannot run WeatherCaster Gold from the path statement but must be in the actual directory to run it) * INSTALLING WEATHERCASTER GOLD WITH DESQVIEW 1. Follow Dos steps 1-4 Above. 2. From the DesqView menu choose add a program. All the parameters should be the same as the Big Dos 3. WeatherCaster Gold should be run from a Full Window under Desqview * INSTALLING WEATHERCASTER GOLD WITH OS/2 1. Open a dos session and follow Dos steps 1-4 above 2. You may use the Run command or select a program icon for WeatherCaster Gold 3. Weathercaster Gold should be run from a Full Window under os/2 * INSTALLING WEATHERCASTER GOLD WITH WINDOWS 3.11 1. Click on Main Icon 2. Click on Ms-Dos Prompt 3. Follow DOS steps 1 - 4 as described above 4. type EXIT 5. Close your Main Window 6. Under File from the Program Manager Select NEW 7. Select New Program Group 8. In Description type Weather or WeatherCaster or Whatever you want 9. Under File from the Program Manager Select NEW 8. Select New Program Item 9. On Description type WeatherCaster 10. On Command line type c:\wg\wg.exe 11. On Working Directory type c:\wg 12. Select an icon if you wish 13. Select OK 14. WeatherCaster is now installed in Windows (Confused? Here's a Quicker Method. Follow Steps 1 - 3 above. Once that's Done just type WG . When you're done with WeatherCaster just type EXIT and it will bring you back to Windows.) NOTE: IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANY OF THE STEPS ABOVE JUST INSTALL WEATHER CASTER GOLD AS YOU WOULD ANY PROGRAM THAT YOU HAVE INSTALLED IN THE PAST. INSTALLING WEATHERCASTER GOLD WITH WINDOWS 95 Using the directions for Windows 3.11 as an example, follow the directions in your Windows 95 manual on hour to install 16 bit Dos programs into Windows 95. PAGE 4 TROUBLE SHOOTING AND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS Q. How do I navigate the Main Menu? A. If you have a mouse active and see the mouse cursor, you can click the left mouse button on an icon to go to a particular area. Otherwise, you can press the Capitalized Letter for a function (for example : C onfiguration you would press C) to go to a sub-menu. Q. It tells me to use the up and down arrow keys to navigate the sub-menus, but nothing happens. A. You probably are using the up and down arrow keys on your number pad. You'll need to turn the NUM LOCK key OFF; otherwise you'll be pressing "numbers" instead of the arrow keys. Q. I've followed all the steps on installing WeatherCaster Gold above but am confused; I just can't get it installed. A. A basic working knowledge of you r computer system is needed (such as the COPY command and MKDIR command). Consult the manual that came with your operating system on commands above that you don't understand. If you can't find the commands listed or it doesn't help you call the customer support dept. that made your operating system and ask them how to install a dos program under your operating system. If that fails, you can contact CompuLink through the channels listed above for installation help. Please be SPECIFIC with what you're having trouble with or what you don't understand. Q. I'm running Windows but there's no mouse cursor when I run WeatherCaster Gold from Windows! A. WeatherCaster Gold requires a Mouse driver set for MicroSoft Mouse Driver / Serial Mouse . If you have a mouse there should be a mouse driver that came with it; either on your hard disk or on a floppy disk you got with your mouse. Usually the name of the driver is MOUSE.COM . Following the instructions that came with your mouse and mouse driver, install the mouse driver either when the computer is booted up or via a batch file when running WeatherCaster Gold. If you do not have a mouse driver or understand how to load a mouse driver contact CompuLink or the support department of the makers of your operating system on how to install a mouse driver. You must also have the mouse turned ON in your configuration. Q. When I run WeatherCaster Gold (WG.EXE) the screen goes black, blank or an error occurs. A. WeatherCaster Gold CANNOT be run from the floppy disk that your registration exec file was sent or shareware archive was sent. You must FIRST follow the installation steps above. WeatherCaster Gold MUST have the support files (listed in the FILES section above) to run. If you have Only WG.EXE on your hard drive directory, you MUST run WG2.EXE to unarchive the support files. Q. When printing I get a device error or some other error. A. When printing the Monthly Summary or Yearly Summary, your printer MUST be located on parallel port # 1. When printing other files it will ask you what port your printer is on. It's usually 1 but may be different from your system. Consult your computer manual or makers of your computer to see what port your printer is on. Q. When WG runs I get either a device error or the screen looks funny. A. WeatherCaster Gold must be run with a monitor and/or video card supporting up to 256 colors and displaying graphics at least 640 x 480 in size. Q. WeatherCaster Gold just won't run on my system and / or I don't want to take the time to following the installation instructions above ; can I have a refund? A. Unfortunately with the problem of software piracy, once registered you cannot get a refund. CompuLink offers a shareware / demo version of WeatherCaster Gold that people can "Try before you buy." . The demo version can be obtained via the internet at the web site at http://www.hsv. tis.net/~jwoody or by anonymous ftp at ftp.traveller.com/pub/users/jwoody/ outgoing . You can also order a demo copy on a floppy disk for $5. So, plenty of opportunities are given to the potential user to test drive the program. Once registered, no refunds can be given. Q. What is CompuLinks upgrade policy? A. Each registered user is entitled to ONE free upgrade to the next Major release. For example, if you are a registered user of Version 1.0 then you can receive a free version of Version 2.0 (excluding shipping, handling and printed manual cost). Then, when version 3.0 is released; you would pay the difference (if any) in the price for version 2.0 and version 3.0 for upgrading to version 3.0 . CompuLinks upgrade policy is subject to change at any time without notice. Prices are subject to change at any time without notice. Q. I lost my registered version and/or I sent you a letter by U.S. Mail and haven't gotten a reply. A. As indicated in the contact information at the beginning of this manual, CompuLink will not answer mail sent via U.S. Mail service that is not accompanied with a SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE. If you lose your registered disk you will need to send a SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED DISK MAILER WITH A 3 1/2 INCH BLANK FLOPPY DISK to receive a replacement registered diskette. Q. I get an error when running WeatherCaster Gold that's not listed above. A. If you get an error when running WeatherCaster Gold not discussed above you may contact CompuLink via the contact sites listed at the beginning of this document. Please be SPECIFIC when reporting a "bug" in the software. If it can be found and duplicated the bug will be fixed and a fixed registered exec (if you have registered WeatherCaster Gold) will be sent to you. Q. What is [ESC] and [CTRL][F10] or [ENTER]? A. When you see instructions in WeatherCaster Gold such as the ones above, it means to press that key (or a series of keys). For Example, [CTRL][F10] means to press the [CTRL] key AND the [F10] key at the same time. WeatherCaster Gold is a very simple program to install and run. Chances are you will not have any trouble with either. If you do please contact us at the contact sites listed at the beginning of this document. What follows is a basic manual and examples for running WeatherCaster Gold. PAGE 6 CONFIGURATION Before Entering Data or working with great detail with WeatherCaster Gold you should access the Configuration Section. You can Access the Configuration module by clicking on the Configuration Icon (shown above and left) or by pressing C on your keyboard. When you are finished entering data press [CTRL] [F10] to Save your Settings, or [ESC] to Abort. PRINTER: [C]olor or [B]lack & White - Here you can select if you have a color printer or a Black and white Printer. The printer driver uses the epson esc P/2 escape codes for color printing, bold and italics text. Default is Black & White. Press C if you have a color printer, or [B] if you have a Black & White Printer. TEMPERATURE: [F]ahrenheit or [C]elsius- If you use Celsius Degrees for Temperature when entering and viewing you data, press C for Celsius Degrees. If you use Fahrenheit Degrees for Temperature when entering and viewing data, press F for Fahrenheit Degrees. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DECIDE WHICH YOU WILL USE BEFORE ENTERING DATA! The default is Fahrenheit Degrees. WIND: [M]iles per Hour or [K]nots- If you use Knots for Wind Speed measurement when entering and viewing your data, Press K for Knots. If you use Miles per Hour when entering and viewing data press M for Miles per Hour. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DECIDE WHICH YOU WILL USE BEFORE ENTERING DATA. The Default is Miles per Hour. DISTANCE: [M]iles or [K]ilometers- If you use Kilometers when measuring Distance press K . If you use Miles press M . IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DECIDE WHICH YOU WILL USE BEFORE ENTERING DATA. The Default is Miles. DISPLAY: [Y]es or [N]o- If you wish to keep the Graphical Menu display that is shown when you enter a menu subsystem press Y . If you don't wish to view the Graphical Menu display shown between Menu Subsystems press N . Default is Yes. MAILER: [P]egasus or [O]ther- Not currently used. Will be used in future versions. PAGE 1-C MOUSE: [Y]es or [N]o- If you use a Mouse press Y . If you do not use a Mouse press N . Be sure to see the technical setup page on using a mouse with WeatherCaster Gold. PRESSURE: [M]illibars or [I]nches of Mercury- If you use Millibars to Measure Barometric Pressure, press M . If you use Inches of Mercury to Measure Barometric Pressure press I . IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DECIDE WHICH YOU WILL USE BEFORE ENTERING DATA. The Default is Inches of Mercury. NAME AND PASSWORD- Enter your Name and Password when Registering WeatherCaster Gold. YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS- Not Currently Used. Will be used in Future Versions. PAGE 7 FORECAST You can Access the Forecast Module by clicking on the Icon (Shown above and to the left) or by pressing F at the Main Menu. WeatherCaster Gold contains a basic, general Weather Forecasting Module. At this time only generalized Forecasts are made with the data you input. At times there will be more than one forecast given. This is because certain factors can lead to different Weather events. If available, bits of "Weather Wisdom" or "Weather Folklore" will be included with the forecast. New with Version 2.0 of WeatherCaster Gold you can change the actual forecast text to more represent your area. When you enter data and the forecast given doesn't quite match what really occured you can do the following: Locate the text file FORECAST.DAT . With a simple text editor search for the forecast text given that wasn't quite right. Each "Forecast Entry" starts with a @#### and ends with a ! . When you locate the Forecast Entry that was wrong for your area, use a word processor to change the text (WARNING: DO NOT CHANGE THE @#### OR !). After the change, simply resave the file in ascii format. Below is a Sample Forecast Data Input Screen. use the Up/Down Arrow Keys and [ENTER] to Navigate. [CTRL][F10] Will take the data you entered and make a Forecast. Pressing [ESC] will Abort back to the Main Menu. PAGE 8 DATABASE Database functions can be accessed from the Main Menu by clicking on the Database Icon or by pressing D at the Main Menu. Despite the program name of WeatherCaster Gold; the Heart of the program is the advanced Database functions. From the Database Sub-Menu you can enter Hourly or Daily weather observations, Print a range of records to a file or printer, Browse/Search your weather observations and view Monthly and Yearly Summaries of weather data that you have entered. To navigate use the Up and Down Arrow Keys. To abort back to the Main Menu press the [ESC] key. To Select press [ENTER]. ENTER NEW DAILY OBSERVATION: Enter single daily observations here. You will have an opportunity to enter Max/Min/current temperatures, wind direction, etc. Use the Up/Down Arrow Keys and Enter to navigate. [ESC] aborts the entry. Pressing [CTRL][F10] will save your entry. ENTER NEW HOURLY OBSERVATION: You can enter hourly observations per day with this selection. Since it's hourly observations there are no fields for Max/Min temperatures, Watches and Warnings, etc. For these use the New Daily Observation Entry selection. The Time Field should be entered in Military Format (1 to 24 hours). For example, 1 PM would be 13 hours. EDIT A DAILY OBSERVATION: Here you can edit an observation you have previously entered. When Selecting this a Year / Month / Day screen will appear that will show the Year(s) of data, Month(s) of data and Day(s) of data you have on record. Navigate the Year / Month / Day screen by using the UP/Down Arrow Keys. [ESC] aborts. [ENTER] Selects. (See following pages for an example of the Year / Month / Day selection screen). After selecting the Year, Month and Day to edit, you will be presented with a data entry screen. Data that you have entered will be shown and you may now edit any of that Data. Use the Up/Down Arrow Keys to navigate. [ESC] aborts edit. [CTRL][F10] Saves the newly edited Data. EDIT AN HOURLY OBSERVATION: This selection is the same as Edit A Daily Observation (See instructions above) except that you must also enter the HOUR in which you wish to Edit. PAGE 1-D BROWSE DAILY OBSERVATIONS: You can view Observations on Record with this option. You will be presented with the Year / Month / Day screen (For instructions on navigating see Edit a Daily Observation above). After selecting the Year, Month and Day you wish to view you will be presented with a graphical screen showing data for that day that you have entered. Heating Degree Days, Cooling Degree Days, Windchill, Heat Index and Comfort Index is automatically calculated and displayed. For the Next record on file, press N or click your mouse on the N ext button. For the Previous record, press L or click you mouse on the L ast Button. To quit press Q or click your mouse on the Q uit button. BROWSE HOURLY OBSERVATIONS: This selection is the same as Browse Daily Observations (See instructions on previous page) except that you must also enter the HOUR of the Observation that you wish to view. SEARCH DAILY OBSERVATIONS: You can conduct a keyword search of Daily Observation Records. Fields that are searched are : Past Weather, Current weather, Precipitation and Comments. A list of available years will first be displayed. Enter the year you wish to search. Next you can enter a keyword to search for; for example: THUNDERSTORM . All records containing the word "Thunderstorm" in the fields listed above will be displayed. For the Next record that contains the keyword type N or click your mouse on the N ext button. For the Previous record that contains the keyword type L or click on the L ast button. To Quit press Q or click on the Q uit button. SEARCH HOURLY OBSERVATIONS: Searching your hourly observations is the same as Search Daily Observations (see above for instructions). PRINT DAILY (DAY): This selection allows you to print a Daily Record (Day record) to either a file or your printer. You will be presented with the Year / Month / Day menu that will allow you to select the Year, Month and Day to print. To print to a file click on the File Icon or press F . Enter a valid filename and the record will be printed to the file in ascii form. To print to the Printer click on the Printer Icon or press P . Enter the port # your printer is connected to (usually 1). The record will then be printed to your printer. To Quit click on the Quit Icon or press Q . PRINT DAILY (MONTH): This selection is the same as Print Daily (Day) (see above) except that it will print out records that are present for the whole month you selected. Note that in the Year / Month / Day Menu you will not be given a day option since the whole month is to be printed. PRINT DAILY (YEAR): This selection is the same as Print Daily (Day) (see above) except that it will print out records for the entire year that you selected. Note that in the Year / Month / Day Menu you will not be given a Month or Day option as you will be printing records for the entire year. PRINT HOURLY (MM/DD/YY): This selection is the same as Print Daily (Day) (see above) except that it will print out a day of hourly Observations. VIEW/PRINT MONTHLY SUMMARIES: This selection will allow you to get a broad overview (summary) of certain data per day in a month. From the Year / Month / Day Menu you can select the year and month for the summary. Data such as Cloud Type, High and Low Temperatures, Barometric Pressure, Humidity, Wind Speed, etc. per day will be displayed. Also certain averages for the month will be calculated such as average Barometric Pressure, Average Wind Speed, Average Temperature, etc. By pressing N you will be taken to the next page of data (there are 2 pages of data for the Monthly Summary). Pressing P will cause the screen to be printed to Printer Port #1. Pressing Q will take you back to the Database Sub-Menu. Note the View/Print Monthly Summaries is for DAILY observations, not HOURLY observations. VIEW/PRINT YEARLY SUMMARIES: This selection will allow you to get a monthly average for a particular year. From the Year / Month / Day Menu you can select the year for the summary. Averages such as High and Low Temperatures, Barometric Pressure, etc. will be shown per month. Pressing P will cause the current screen to be printed to your printer on Printer Port #1. Pressing Q will take you back to the Database Sub-Menu. Note the View/Print Yearly Summaries is valid only for DAILY observations, not HOURLY observations. Cloud Cover Chart When entering Cloud Cover into the database, it must be as a number from 0 to 9. Below is a chart that shows what each # means. 0 - Sky is Clear 1 - Less than 1/10 cloud cover 2 - 2/10 to 3/10 cloud cover 3 - 4/10 cloud cover 4 - 5/10 cloud cover 5 - 6/10 cloud cover 6 - 7/10 to 8/10 cloud cover 7 - 9/10 (Overcast with some openings) cloud cover 8 - 10/10 (Overcast) 9 - Sky is Obscurred Note, if you do not enter a number from 0 to 9 for cloud cover when displayed the cloud cover graphic will be incorrect. CLOUD TYPE CHART You may enter whatever cloud type name you wish into the database. However, by not entering a cloud type from the chart below it will not be considered in the monthly summary portion of WeatherCaster Gold. STRATUS, ALTOSTRATUS, NIMBOSTRATUS, CUMULUS, ALTOCUMULUS, CUMULONIMBUS, CIRRUS, CIRROSTRATUS SUMMARY OF RULES FOR ENTERING DATA 1. Enter cloud cover as a number from 0 to 9. 2. Enter Wind Direction as Degree Bearing (ie: 160); do not use abbreviations such as NE, NW, etc. 3. Month, Day, Year and Time must be entered as a number, not as an abbreviation (ie: JAN). 4. Sun is Hours of Sun; no longer % of sun for the day. 5. To print Monthly Summaries and Yearly summaries your printer must be connected to parralel port # 1. PAGE 15 YEARLY COMPARISON GRAPHS Yearly Comparison Graphs can be accessed from the main Menu by clicking on the Y Graph Icon or by pressing Y at the Main Menu. Graphs are a key part in analysis of weather patterns and visualization of weather events. With the Yearly Comparison Graphs you can compare conditions between 2 years via a line graph. Use the Up/Down arrow keys to navigate. [ESC] aborts. [ENTER] selects. Once you select a Graph you will be presented with two Year / Month /Day menus. Select the first year to Graph. Then, Select the second year to Graph. A line graph with the 2 years selected will appear as well as the data for the 2 years. Below are the Graphs Available. Graphs reflect the TOTAL for each month. For example, if you select the Compare High Temperature Comparison it will Add the High Temperatures per month and display them via a graph. You will not receive an average of the monthly figures, but the sum of them compared to another year. Graphs Available: COMPARE TWO YEAR RAINFALL COMPARE TWO YEAR HI TEMPERATURE COMPARE TWO YEAR LO TEMPERATURE COMPARE TWO YEAR WIND SPEED COMPARE TWO YEAR THUNDERSTORM WATCHES COMPARE TWO YEAR THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS COMPARE TWO YEAR TORNADO WATCHES COMPARE TWO YEAR TORNADO WARNINGS COMPARE TWO YEAR FLOOD WATCHES COMPARE TWO YEAR FLOOD WARNINGS COMPARE TWO YEAR TOTAL SUN Note to compare two years you must have two years worth of data. Skipped days will skew the results of the chart. PAGE 16 MONTHLY GRAPHS Monthly Graphs can be accessed from the Main menu by clicking on the M Graph icon at the Main Menu or by pressing M at the Main Menu. Monthly Graphs of Data will give you the Average or Total (depending on data being graphed) of particular weather data per month for a year. Below are Graphs available : TOTAL MONTHLY RAINFALL (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) AVERAGE MONTHLY SUN (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) AVERAGE MONTHLY HUMIDITY (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) AVERAGE MONTHLY DEW POINT (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) AVERAGE MONTHLY LOW TEMPERATURES (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) AVERAGE MONTHLY HIGH TEMPERATURES (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) AVERAGE MONTHLY WIND SPEED (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) TOTAL TORNADO WATCHES (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) TOTAL TORNADO WATCHES (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) TOTAL SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCHES (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) TOTAL SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) TOTAL FLOOD WATCHES (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) TOTAL FLOOD WARNINGS (PIE AND BAR GRAPH) PAGE 18 DAILY OBSERVATION GRAPHS You can access the Daily Observation Graphs from the Main Menu by clicking on the d Graph icon or by pressing G at the Main Menu. Daily Observation Graphs are Bar Graphs that represent daily data. Once selected, you will be taken to the Year / Month / Day selection menu. You will then select the day and month in which you wish to graph. You can chart the following observations by day. Days are automatically configured based on the month. Bar charts will be drawn representing the data and a character below the screen will represent the day. By the character will be the actual daily value. DAILY RAINFALL DAILY SUN DAILY HUMIDITY DAILY DEW POINT DAILY LOW TEMPERATURE DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURE DAILY WIND SPEED DAILY TORNADO WATCHES DAILY TORNADO WARNINGS DAILY SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCHES DAILY SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS DAILY FLOOD WATCHES DAILY FLOOD WARNINGS PAGE 19 METEOROLOGICAL CONVERSIONS You can access the Meteorological Conversions section by clicking on the c Onversions Icon or by pressing O at the Main Menu. WeatherCaster Gold offers a variety of useful conversions. Some results are "rounded off" (left as an integer) while others will contain decimal points. When selecting Conversions you will be shown a selection screen. Use the Up/ Down Arrow keys to navigate. [ESC] aborts. [ENTER] selects. Then enter the value you wish to convert. Conversions Available: FAHRENHEIT DEGREES TO CELSIUS DEGREES CELSIUS DEGREES TO FAHRENHEIT DEGREES KNOTS TO MILES PER HOUR MILES PER HOUR TO KNOTS MILLIBARS TO INCHES OF MERCURY INCHES OF MERCURY TO MILLIBARS PAGE 20 METEOROLOGICAL UTILITIES You can access the meteorological Utilities Section from the Main Menu by clicking on the Utilities Menu or by pressing U at the Main Menu. WeatherCaster Gold offers many useful Utilities; both of a mathematical nature and text information. To select an Utility use the Up/Down arrow keys to navigate, [ESC] aborts, [ENTER] selects. AVAILABLE UTILITIES CALCULATE HUMIDITY (FROM TEMPERATURE AND DEW POINT) CALCULATE DEW POINT (FROM TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY) CALCULATE CLOUD HEIGHT AND CLOUD TEMPERATURE CALCULATE HEAT INDEX CALCULATE WIND CHILL BEAUFORT WIND SCALE (TEXT) TORNADO TRACKS (TEXT) U.S. RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES (TEXT) U.S. RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES (TEXT) TORNADO FORCE SCALE (TEXT) HURRICANE FORCE SCALE (TEXT) ABOUT THE ONLINE TEXT READER WeatherCaster Gold has a basic online text reader for text documents such as those contained in the Utilities and Severe Modules. The basic commands are : UP / DOWN / LEFT / RIGHT ARROW KEYS TO NAVIGATE ONE LINE AT A TIME PG UP / PG DN KEYS TO NAVIGATE ONE PAGE AT A TIME HOME / END KEYS TO GO TO THE BEGINNING / END OF THE DOCUMENT [ESC] ENDS AND TAKE YOU BACK TO THE DOCUMENT PRESSING THE 0 - 9 NUMBER KEYS WILL CHANGE THE FOREGROUND TEXT COLOR PAGE 22 SEVERE WEATHER To access the Severe Weather Module click on the S evere Icon or press S at the Main Menu. One of the most exciting new features in WeatherCaster Gold is the Severe Weather Module. You can view text safety rules and factoids and weather history events. You can also make your own "echo map" and track storms, snow, etc. on the map. Select "Enter Locations to StormTracker Map" from the Severe Weather Menu. Your location is the large red square in the middle of the white circle. With your mouse, click the center of the red square. It will ask for the name of the location. Enter a 3 CHARACTER identification for your locate (ie: hom or den, etc.). When it asks you if you want to include it on the map select Y . Notice on the right in the box is an area where the numbers change as you move the cursor. This is how many miles out the cursor is from the center square (your location). Next, enter locations such as cities, towns, landmarks, etc. to your map. Just point and click the cursor on the map to place objects. You may choose not to put location on map. Doing so will not put the location on the map but will be included in the eta calculations when tracking an echo. It's recommended you use a 3 letter identifier for locations and put a minimum of locations on the map else your map will become cluttered. When done press the [ESC] key. Next, try out the stormtracker by selecting the "Access Stormtracker to Track Echoes" from the Severe Weather Menu. You will be presented with the echo map with the locations you added earlier. With your mouse cursor, click on the current location of the echo (storm, etc.). A magenta Circle will then appear. Next, using the direction in which the echo is moving and how many miles you want to track the echo, click again on the map. A second magenta circle will appear along with a red line connecting it to the first. At the box on the right, you will see estimated time of arrivals of the echo (in minutes) along the line. Note that some locations shown will be quite a few miles away from the line drawn. To limit the number of ETA locations make the line shorter (track the echo for a shorter distance). The rest of the Severe Storm Section are text files. See the page describing the online text reader for instructions. Selections include Enter Locations on Map, Track echo via Stormtracker, Tornado Safety Factoid, Hurricane Safety Factoid, Lightning Safety Factoid, Flooding Safety Factoid, Winter Weather Safety Factoid, Severe Thunderstorm Safety Factoid and Historical Weather Events for the 12 Months of the year. PAGE 23 METAR SURFACE OBSERVATIONS You may access the METAR functions by clicking on the m Etar Icon or pressing E at the Main Menu. Metar Surface observations are weather reports from NWS and Airports. Current Conditions and Weather are given in these coded text files. There are quite a few places you can download these text files on the internet or via the DUAT system. The METAR raw data file included with WeatherCaster Gold was downloaded off the WWW internet at : gopher://metlab1.met.fsu.edu:70/11/data/surface/sao . Hourly raw weather observations can be found at this and similar places. When downloaded, you must first compile it with WeatherCaster Gold to view the observations. Select from the Metar Selection Menu "Compile Raw Metar Surface Observations". Give the full path and name of the raw data file to compile. Once Compiled, you can use the other features in the Metar Observations selection Menu. NOTE: When plotting Metar observations on map; you should have only a few observations from the raw data file, otherwise it will fill up the screen map and become too cluttered! On the following pages are examples of the Metar Selection Menu, Observation display and Display map. From the Selection Menu you can select Compile Raw Data, Search Metar and Display by Station (3 letter code, ie: hsv), State (2 letter abbreviation), City, and Weather (ie: rain, snow, etc.). You can graphically plot on a map of the U.S. the following: Humidity, Dew Point, Thunderstorm, Temperature, Precipitation (D = Drizzle, W = Shower, R = Rain, I = Ice, S = Snow, H = Hail, T = Storm), Weather (Represented by a W). PAGE 25 ARCHIVES You can access the Archives Module by clicking on the A chives Icon or pressing A at the Main Menu. The Archives section allows you to Record, edit and View significant weather events. To Enter a new Weather Archive, at the Archive Selection Menu Select "Add New Archive Record". At the input screen, use the up/down arrow keys to navigate, [ESC] aborts and [CTRL][F10] Saves. To view or Edit Archived Records, you will be taken to a Selection Screen that shows you the Current Archived Data. Use the Up/ Down arrow Keys to navigate, [ENTER] selects. You may save with your Archived Data up to 3 .gif pictures. The picture(s) MUST be in the following format : It Must be 16 colors or Less and the dimensions must be 640 (or greater) x 480 (or greater). Anything else will not show up very well or may crash the program. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We hope that you find WeatherCaster Gold fun, useful and easy to use. Comments and suggestions are always welcome; especially from people who have registered / purchased a license. As with any software; future versions (if any) will depend on the consumer/ computer user. If not many people purchase WeatherCaster Gold then there is no need to update the program and develop it to its fullest potential. I believe WeatherCaster Gold delivers more features for a lower price then any weather type program I have seen; and the potential for future features is tremendous! If you would like to register / purchase a license for WeatherCaster Gold please find the enclosed file ORDERFRM.TXT . Print it out, fill it out and send $34.95 + shipping and handling to have your registered full featured program rushed to you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------