National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Critical Fire Weather Persists in the Southern Plains; Severe Weather and Heavy Rain Expected Over the Weekend

High winds and very dry conditions will continue to produce elevated to critical fire weather conditions over portions of New Mexico and far western Texas through Saturday. Heavy snow will continue in the Central Rockies Heavy rain, flooding, and severe thunderstorm risks increase from the Southern Plains into the Lower Missouri Valley this weekend. 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.