National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Atmospheric River Continues to Impact the Northwest U.S.; Gusty to High Winds in the Northeast U.S.

A strong atmospheric river will continue moderate to heavy rainfall with possible flooding, gusty to high winds, and mountain snows for parts of the Northwest U.S. into Thursday. Additional impacts are likely into Friday with a cold front. A fast-moving storm system will cross the Northeast U.S. Wednesday into Thursday with gusty to high winds and areas of rain and high elevation snow showers. Read More >

Upper Air Observations


Decoded Upper Level Winds

Plotted Upper Air Soundings

GOES Derived Atmospheric Vertical Soundings

Alternate Sources for Upper Air Soundings
Ohio State

California Wind Profiler Data Can be Found Here

Why Do Forecasters Still Rely on Weather Balloons?

Twice every day, from nearly 100 locations in the United States, the National Weather Service launches weather balloons, carrying instrument packages called radiosondes. Radiosonde sensors measure upper-air conditions such as atmospheric pressure, temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction. The data is important for aviation safety, and meteorologists use radiosonde information to prepare weather forecasts.