Model and forecast your local weather on your own computer!
Introduction

User Comments
Screen Shots
News Briefs
Who uses WXSIM?
New Features and Revision History
WXSIMATE
Accuracy
Customization
History and Technical Information
Ordering Information

Downloads
NEW! Other Stuff
  

Updated June 29, 2009

Automated WXSIM forecasts for Atlanta, updated three times a day, along with current conditions, are available here. Also see a list of links to users' WXSIM forecasts on the web.

Other programs by Tom Ehrensperger

NEW! Tutorial on obtaining READY data (a backup for possible outages of the automated GFS data)

Version 12.5.3 Released!

Also, convenient, new ordering options.

Version 12.5 (12.5.3 has a couple of minor bug fixes and new options) has several improvements (see New Features and Revision History), but the big news is a new feature which allows comparisons of archived forecasts and actual home weather station data to be used in WXSIM to improve temperature and humidity forecasts. By using this new tool in the Retrieval module, you can let WXSIM gradually refine its accuracy by learning from its mistakes! Use of these correction factors in WXSIM itself is limited to the professional mode. There are (as of Version 12.0) two 'modes' of program operation: standard and professional. Standard mode disables many or the specialized, rarely used options and tools, thus streamlining use for novices or relatively casual users. Professional mode enables all options and tools, allowing meteorologists or other experienced users to take full advantage of WXSIM's great versatility. Standard mode retains the same price WXSIM has had for a year and a half, while there is an extra charge to enable professional mode. There are also now two levels of customization: basic and enhanced. More information about these options appears under ordering options.

Other relatively recent improvements to WXSIM include:

If you haven't tried the program since versions 10.x, you're in for a number of other pleasant surprises, including automated downloading and forecasting and the ability to directly compare forecasts with actual results from home weather stations. Also, see below concerning the new version, 4.5, of WXSIMATE. You can now order directly from this site. To learn what's new, see New Features and Revision History . To get it now, see the Downloads section. NOTE: installing this version will NOT overwrite versions prior to 10.0, so you can safely try it out in parallel with pre-10.0 versions (it goes in the same directory, but uses different file names).

Discussion board

See the Weather-Watch forum, operated by Chris McMahon (who also made the new GFS data mentioned above available), at http://www.weather-watch.com/smf/. This has been active for some time and there are quite a few discussions of ways to use WXSIM, as well as help with the program. Also, on WXSIM's "child" board "WXSIM Display Utilities", you can find how to post output on web pages, including translation into several foreign languages - for free! Thanks to numerous WXSIM users, including Ken True, for being so industrious as to come up with this!

Upgrade policy

Before Version 10.0, I hadn't charged an upgrade fee in at least 7 years, through over 50 steadily improving versions. Versions 10.0 and 11.0 were major upgrades, though, so if you are upgrading from a pre-10.0 version, there is a one-time fee of $30. This will get you a unique registration code which will unlock the program for use with your existing custom site; otherwise it will default to Atlanta. I will not be charging any more WXSIM upgrade fees until at least 2010.

Also, the WXSIMATE data collection tool, Version 4.5.1 available for download as an integral part of the WXSIM system.

WXSIMATE is a very handy and time saving tool for collecting internet data as well as home weather station data, for easy import into WXSIM. It can now be scheduled to run automatically, to collect data for WXSIM even while you're asleep, and can also now gather local station data over the internet. A brand new feature is the ability to import data from Ambient's Virtual Weather Station, as well as from Davis WeatherLink and Breian Hamilton's Weather Display. Starting with Version 4.0, WXSIMATE allows import of ozone data from KNMI/ESA (www.temis.nl/).

In the past, WXSIMATE could be considered an optional companion program to WXSIM. However, while it is still technically a separate program, it has become almost essential to WXSIM as it is most commonly used. For this reason, it is now packaged and sold with WXSIM.

To see what's new in WXSIM, see New Features and Revision History. Also see News Briefs and the WXSIMATE section of this page. For a review of (an older version of) WXSIM, or if you wish to order there by credit card, take a look at Tim Vasquez's Weather Graphics page. I now accept orders through PayPal (including a credit card option), in addition to checks or money orders.


 To download Version 12.5.3 of WXSIM, for IBM compatibles with Windows 98 and later, either click here or go to the Downloads section of this page. This shareware program is exactly the same software as you have when registered (no time limits, and nothing disabled), but certain files must be customized with climatological and geographical data for your site to get full functionality. This customization (which takes me anywhere from 2 to 5 hours to complete) is a service that I perform upon receipt of your order, and I then forward the modified files to you. Note to current users: As always, you can easily upgrade from this site. After the $30 upgrade to 10.x or 11.x, upgrades will be free until at least 2010. If you decide you want a new customization job, contact me at eburger@aol.com about reduced rates for re-customization.