Tropical Tidbits
Raw model output laid out for people who want to read the charts themselves, and the page hurricane watchers keep open all August.
Opens in a new tab. We do not control this site and it may have changed since we catalogued it.
How to get the most from it
Tropical Tidbits sits in Weather Watching under Wander, filed as coffee break.
- Set aside five to fifteen minutes and give it your proper attention.
- Use a laptop or desktop computer — we file it as desktop only.
- It works with the sound off, so it is fine on a train or in a quiet office.
- No account needed — you can start without signing up.
- Go in expecting something brainy and useful.
About this category: Wind maps, radar loops, satellite imagery and forecast models that look extraordinary regardless of whether you need to know about rain.
Good for
- Filling a coffee break properly
- Giving your brain a workout
- Getting something practical done
- A quiet break at your desk
- Trying it with zero commitment
Tropical Tidbits: quick answers
Is Tropical Tidbits free?
Yes. Tropical Tidbits is free to use and needs no account.
Do I need an account to use Tropical Tidbits?
No. You can use Tropical Tidbits without signing up for anything.
Does Tropical Tidbits work on a phone?
Not well. We file Tropical Tidbits as desktop only, so open it on a laptop or desktop computer.
Is Tropical Tidbits safe for work?
Yes, we file it as safe for work. It also works muted.
How long does Tropical Tidbits take?
We file it as "Coffee break": Five to fifteen minutes of proper attention.
More in Weather Watching
All 14 in Weather WatchingWeather models rendered beautifully enough to watch for their own sake, with layers for wind, rain, snow depth and wave height.
- <1 min
Climate averages for any city as gorgeous year-round charts: sunshine hours, muggy days, wind, and precisely when the good weather ends.
- 10 min
Forecasts built on a network of tens of thousands of amateur weather stations, so the reading is often from somebody on your actual street.
- <1 min
The forecast as an animated map, with wind, waves, temperature and a dozen models to argue between, free and without an account.
- <1 min
Same mood: brainy
All brainy sitesAustralia's national archive of newspapers, websites and photographs, digitised back to 1803 and open without an account.
- 1 hr+
Write a Turing machine in a few lines and watch the tape head shuffle back and forth carrying it out.
- 10 min
- Desktop
Plotter art drawn by a virtual turtle in a hundred-odd lines of JavaScript, with everybody's source code on display.
- 1 hr+
- Desktop
Searchable captions across millions of hours of broadcast news, which makes it possible to find the exact moment something was said.
- 1 hr+
- Sound on
Keep exploring
Category
Time and mood
Have a site of your own? Suggest it for Detour or browse the AltFTool backlinks hub.