GRLevelX Tools

Last Update: September 02, 2021

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Reminder: There is no guarantee that RTWX placefiles will always be available or that the data displayed therein will always be up-to-date and/or correct. Additionally, these placefiles are in continual development and are subject to change at any time without prior notice.

REFERENCE

GR2Analyst 1.xx Setup Presentation
(outdated but potentially useful for novice users)

DYNAMIC PLACEFILES

The following METAR placefiles were developed from the ground up with operational meteorology and storm chasing in mind. These placefiles are unique for many reasons, such as plotting weather conditions, wind speed/direction and peak wind gusts using custom designed icons and an experience-based METAR decoding logic that highlights significant weather in a highly intuitive and user-friendly manner. Click here for a legend.

To use the following dynamic placefiles, simply copy the link and then paste it into the placefile manager in GRLevelX.

Note: Looping placefiles require GRLevel2A/GRLevel3 v2.60 Beta3 or higher.


LOOPING PLACEFILES (PRIMARY)
Full METAR Plot (Dewpoint/MSLP Color-Enhanced)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_fullobs.php
Simple METAR Plot (Reduces Screen Clutter)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_obs.php
Aviation METAR Plot (Color Ceiling/Visibility)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_aviation.php
Buoy Plot (Looping Buoy Plot) *Experimental*
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_buoys.php

WARNINGS/AVISORIES/STATEMENTS (looping)
Special Weather Statements (SPS Polygons)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/sps.php
Flood Warnings (Flood Warning Polygons)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/flw.php
Flood Advisories (Flood Statement Polygons)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/fls.php

AHPS RIVER GAUGE SITES
AHPS River Site Plot (Colorized according to Flood Stage)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/ahps.php

LOOPING PLACEFILES (SECONDARY)
Wind Vector Plot (Dewpoint Color-Coded)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_vector.php
Weather Plot (Wx Icons Only)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_wx.php
Wind Barb Plot (Color Wind Barbs)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_wind.php
Wind Gust Plot (Gusts in KT)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_WG.php
Temperature Plot (Color Temps)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_Tf.php
Dewpoint Plot (Color Dewpoints)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_Td.php
Dewpoint Depression Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_Tdd.php
Wetbulb Plot (Color Wetbulb)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_Tw.php
Heat Index Plot (Color Heat Index)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_HI.php
Wind Chill Plot (Color Wind Chill)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_WC.php
Pressure Plot (Color MSLP)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_p.php
1-HR Precip (OHP) (METAR "P" GROUP)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_ohp.php
Visibility Plot (Color Visibility)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/loop_vis.php

NWS/FAA METAR (no looping)
Full METAR Plot (Dewpoint/MSLP Color-Enhanced)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/fullobs.php
Simple METAR Plot (Reduces Screen Clutter)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/obs.php
Aviation METAR Plot (Color Ceiling/Visibility)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/aviation.php

SINGLE VARIABLE PLOTS (no looping)
Tip: Load any single variable (T, Td, Tw, WC, Tdd, etc.) with the Wind Barb Plot to produce novel combinations useful in analyzing a wide variety of hazardous weather environments.

Wind Barb Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/wind.php
Wind Gust Plot (knots)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/WG.php
Temperature Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/Tf.php
Dewpoint Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/Td.php
Wetbulb Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/Tw.php
Wind Chill Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/WC.php
Heat Index Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/heat.php
Weather Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/wx.php
Dewpoint Depression Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/Tdd.php
Altimeter/Pressure Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/P.php
Relative Humidity (%RH) Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/RH.php
Visibility (SM) Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/vis.php
1-HR Precipitation Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/ohp.php

NWS/FAA METAR (SPECIALIZED)
Wind Vector Dewpoint Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/vector.php
Wind Vector Theta-E Plot
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/vector2.php

MESONET
OK Mesonet Plot (Full)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/ok_full.php
OK Mesonet Plot (Minimal)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/ok.php

SPC OUTLOOKS
SPC Day 1 Convective Outlook
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/day1.php
SPC Day 2 Convective Outlook
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/day2.php
SPC Day 3 Convective Outlook
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/day3.php

TEXT-BASED MOS GUIDANCE
GFS LAMP Guidance (Hourly)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/LAMP.php

NWS CWA BORDERS
NWS WFO CWA Borders (add 3-letter nws wfo id to end)
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/cwa.php?nws=
http://placefiles.redteamwx.com/cwa.php?nws=rah

Color Curves and Icons

Custom Color Curves and Icons for Gibson Ridge and PYKL3 Software

Reflectivity Color Curves
GR3/GR2A v2.xx || Reflectivity (.pal)
GREarth || Reflectivity
PYKL3 || Reflectivity

Velocity/SRV Color Curves
GR3/GR2A v2.xx || Enhanced Velocity (.pal)
GR3/GR2A v2.xx || Enhanced SRV (.pal)
PYKL3 || Enhanced Velocity

VIL Color Curves
GR3/GR2A v2.xx || VIL

Echo Top Color Curves
GR3/GR2A v2.xx || Enhanced Echo Tops (.pal)
PYKL3 || Enhanced Echo Tops

1-HR/3-HR Precip Color Curves
GR3/GR2A v2.xx || OHP/THP
PYKL3 || 1-HR/3-HR Precip Color Curve

STP Color Curves
GR3/GR2A v2.xx || Storm Total Precipitation
PYKL3 || Storm Total Precipitation

Dual Pol Color Curves
GR3/GR2A v2.xx || Correlation Coefficient (CC)
GR3/GR2A v2.xx || Differential Reflectivity (ZDR)
GR3/GR2A v2.xx || Specific Differential Phase (KDP)
PYKL3 || Correlation Coefficient (CC)
PYKL3 || Differential Reflectivity (ZDR)
PYKL3 || Specific Differential Phase (KDP)

Icons (GR3/GR2A v2.xx)
Custom Hail Icons
Custom NMD Icons
Custom TVS Icons


GREarth Color Curve/Tables

Custom Color Curves and Contour Tables for GREarth
Satellite WV (CIMMS)
Satellite WV (RAMSDIS)
Satellite WV (ALTERNATE)
Satellite IR (1)
Satellite IR (2)
Satellite VIS (REVERSE)
500 mb Vorticity
2-Meter Temperature (Mesoanalysis Fill)
2-Meter Temperature (Contour Table for Model Overlay)
2-Meter Dewpoint (Mesoanalysis Fill)
850 mb Temperature (Mesoanalysis Fill)
850 mb Temperature (Contour Table for Model Overlay)
850 mb Dewpoint (Mesoanalysis Fill)
700 mb Temperature (Mesoanalysis Fill)
SBCAPE (Mesoanalysis Fill)
MLCAPE (Mesoanalysis Fill)
MLCAPE HSLC (Mesoanalysis Fill)
MUCAPE (Mesoanalysis Fill)
SBCIN (Mesoanalysis Fill)
MLCIN (Mesoanalysis Fill)
MUCIN (Mesoanalysis Fill)
0-1km SRH (Mesoanalysis Fill)
ESRH (Mesoanalysis Fill)
EBWD (Mesoanalysis Fill)
SCP (Mesoanalysis Fill)
STP (Mesoanalysis Fill)

GREarth Custom Wind Barb Icons
10m Wind Barb Icon Set
(save as-is to "GRLevelX\GREarth\mesoanalysis")
850 mb Wind Barb Icon Set
(save as-is to "GRLevelX\GREarth\mesoanalysis")
700 mb Wind Barb Icon Set
(save as-is to "GRLevelX\GREarth\mesoanalysis")
500 mb Wind Barb Icon Set
(save as-is to "GRLevelX\GREarth\mesoanalysis")
300 mb Wind Barb Icon Set
(save as-is to "GRLevelX\GREarth\mesoanalysis")

Backgrounds

(1) Right-click, (2) Save link as (Save Anywhere)
(3) In GRLevelX v1.XX: GIS->Settings->Background...
(4) Select Downloaded Map (5) Enter Coordinates

CONUS TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

Longitude: From -126 To -66
Latitude: From 24 To 50

NWS RAH CWA HIGH-RES TOPOGRAPHY

Longitude: From -81.981 To -76.407
Latitude: From 34.017 To 37.012

Shapefiles

CONUS Rivers and Lakes
The CONUS Rivers and Lakes zip archive contains all of the files (.shp .dbf .shx .sty) necessary for plotting rivers and lakes across the Continental US.

To load in GRLevelX, click on GIS->LOAD SHAPEFILE and then select the conus_rivers_lakes .shp and .sty files from the appropriate directory (where you unzipped conus_rivers_lakes.zip.

Tip: Load the AHPS river gauge placefile with the CONUS rivers and lakes shapefile for a better understanding of the hydrology in your area.

2010 Tiger ESRI Road Shapefiles by State
Extremely detailed (albeit outdated) road shapefiles for GRLevelX. They even display dirt roads! Storm chasers, these are a must have, especially when using GPS with GRLevelX.

Disclaimer: Always keep alternative routes in mind, especially when travelling on dirt roads. Red Team found this out the hard way when a dirt-road escape route turned into a dead-end, leaving us uncomfortably exposed as a nasty supercell bared down on our position, a flat, featureless, barren location in central TX.

"But.. it was on the map? Tough !@#$, think fast!"

These took a lot of work, i.e. downloading road shapefiles for every county of every state and compiling them into discrete state-based files. If you prefer to avoid the tedious nightmare of county-based shapefiles, download the zip file for the state(s) listed below, then unzip the contents into a folder (preferably your GRLevelX folder) and then add the .SHP file and .STY file via the GIS/Load Shapefile menu in GRLevelX.

Canadian Provinces/Territories
Alaska
Alabama
Arkansas
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Nevada
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
West Virginia
Wyoming