Get Weather

You can create a Weather Stream File from several sources by using the Utilities > Get Weather command which opens the "Get Weather" dialog. Within a FlamMap Project with a loaded landscape opening the Get Weather utility will zoom to your landscape area with a blue shaded outline based on the landscape extent.

Since WIMS is being replaced as of September 30, 2025, it has been removed from the Weather Source: drop-down list. Don't panic, all the former WIMS stations are included in the Synoptic station list.

Retrieve a Weather Stream

Select a Weather Source from the drop down list, there are four options available to retrieve a weather stream,

Weather Source	Location	Date Range	Source	Resolution	Comments
NWS MapClick Forecast	Click the map anywhere in the United States.	Seven days into the future from the current date/time.	NDFD	2.5 km grid
Synoptic	Select a weather station from the map.	Any range 180 days prior to current time that obervations were collected.	Includes observations from active RAWS, IRAWS, PRAWS, NRAWS, Portables, Quick Deploys in the Synoptic network.	Point location of weather station.	Appended 7-day forecast option available
WFAS	Click the map anywhere in the world.	Ten days prior to current date/time and 14 days into the future.	RTMA for prior weather, NDFD for first three days of forecast, and GFS for days 4-14 forecast.	RTMA 2.5 km grid NDFD 2.5 km grid GFS 0.25° grid	RTMA and NDFD only available in CONUS. Other locations utilize GFS for days 1-14. Day 4-14 forecast is three hour interval.

Select the Start and Stop dates. Only dates available from the selected source are shown in the dropdown calendar.
Select a Location for your weather stream.
1. For NWS MapClick Forecast or WFAS enter the latitude and longitude for a specific location in decimal degrees or click a location on the map. Remember North America longitudes are negative numbers.
2. For Synoptic simply select the weather station on the map or select a station from the StationID: drop-down list.
3. For Synoptic hover the mouse over the station icon to see general information about the station. Clicking the station icon allows you to "Select" and make the station active to request data.
Select a Wind Type option button, gusts are not available for WFAS.
For the Destination File: text box click to designate a location and file name for the Weather Stream File (.WXS) to be downloaded.
When requesting Synoptic obervations the Append 7 Day NWS Map Click Forecast: check box appears. Select to add seven days of forecasted weather data (NDFD) to the weather stream.
Click to begin the request and wait for a message dialog indicating the request status. When downloaded the following dialog appears.

Dialog confirming weather stream was written to disk.

Map Controls

Some simple map controls are available to help select a station.

Get Weather map showing controls and landscape bounding box.

Clicking on a station pin show it's name, Synoptic ID, elevation, and a Select button that will select that station in the Station ID: box.

To use the measure tool, click it's button and the cursor changes to a crosshairs. Click on the starting point and move the cursor to your point of interest. Turn off the measure too by clicking it's button again.