Common Problems and Solutions
Animations do not animate
WeatherTAP uses animated .GIF files to provide animations for radar and satellite images. This format is supported by virtually all browsers on all platforms. Some third-party ad-blocking software such as ZoneAlarm and others often block the browser's ability to display animated GIF files. By far, this is the most common cause of animations not working. Turning off the third party software's animation-blocking feature will correct this issue. Most third party software will even allow the user to exclude only specified sites from the animation-blocking feature. As there are no ads on WeatherTAP at all, we recommend that you add weathertap.com to the list of excluded sites.
Radar, satellite, or other image is not current
There are several possible reasons that images may appear to not be updating. The most common reason is that an old image is being displayed from the browser's cache rather than a new image being retrieved from the servers. This can be easily remedied by pressing the browser's RELOAD or REFRESH button. Some browsers can be coaxed into loading a new image by holding down the CTRL or SHIFT keys (on the keyboard) when pressing the RELOAD or REFRESH button (within the browser window).
Another common cause of aging images is simply loss of data from a radar site. The WSR-88D radar system is very reliable, however, it IS an electromechanical device and it does sometimes require repair and/or maintenance. Indeed, at any given time it is not uncommon for 3 to 7% of the radar sites to be down for maintenance or repair. When a site is taken down it usually sends a Free Text Message (FTM) report to detail the problem. If a local radar image appears to not be updating, check the FTM message to see if there is an issue at the site. This can be done by clicking the "Free Text Message" link at the bottom of every local radar page. Also, the NEXRAD site status page summarizes the current status of all of the NEXRAD sites.
Finally, loss of a datastream or equipment failure may cause images not to be properly updated. WeatherTAP takes great pains to ensure maximum reliability and redundancy, however, unplanned loss of one or more images does ocasionally occur. If you notice an image that is not updating according to its normal schedule, then please email webmaster@weathertap.com and report the issue.
Gray box, no radar image when attempting to use RadarLab™
RadarLab is a powerful feature of WeatherTAP that allows local radar and other types of data to be displayed simulatenously on a single map. Features are included to zoom, pan, customize color scales, filter data, etc. RadarLab is implemented as a Java applet. Java is a very common (and free) runtime environment produced by Sun Microsystem Inc. Java enables sophisticated applications (called applets) to be executed within a browser window. Since Java is produced by Sun, rather than Microsoft, it is often not installed by default on most platforms. If Java is not properly installed, or if the installation is defective, then RadarLab will not run. Instead, only a gray box will be displayed. Java may or may not already be installed on your computer. If you are getting a gray window with no radar display when you invoke RadarLab, then it is likely that Java has not been properly installed on your computer, or that the existing installation is corrupted. Fortunately, Java is a free product which can easily be downloaded and installed on your computer.
To install Java, click the following here and follow the instructions. It may be necessary to restart your browser after Java is installed.
Cannot get an image for a particular radar site OR Radar image is not current
First, ensure that you are viewing the most current image by holding down the CTRL key while pressing the browser's RELOAD or REFRESH button. See "Radar, satellite, or other image is not current" for more information. If this does not resolve the issue, continue on.
The WSR-88D radar facilities are very reliable and function under all types of adverse weather conditions. However, being at least partially mechanical in nature, the radar equipment is subject to wear and malfunction. Data outage due to maintenance and repair is quite common. The duration of these outages may be on the order of minutes, hours, or sometimes even days if parts have to be ordered for the radar units. When a site is down due to maintenance or repair, a Free Text Message (FTM) is usually (although not always) issued to communicate the nature and expected length of the outage. WeatherTAP provides access to the text of the FTM's related to a particular site via a link at the bottom of each local radar page. The link is labeled "Free Text Message" and is located immediately to the right of the "Advanced Products" label.
Alternatively, the status of all available NEXRAD sites is available on the NEXRAD Site Status Page. Clicking on one of the colored blocks will display any FTM's issued for the corresponding radar site. A link to the NEXRAD Site Status Page is available in the Radar dropdown menu.
Username/password is not accepted at log-in prompt.
By far the most common cause of this issue is simply that an incorrect username and password were entered. Try re-entering the username/password combination. Make sure that the Caps Lock key is not activated and pay attention to capitalization. The log-in is case sensitive so "WeatherMan" is different than "WeatherMAN".
If your username/password were still not accepted, you can attempt a username/password lookup by choosing that option from the "Service" drop-down menu. This feature will cause your username/password to be emailed to the email address associated with your account. Note that many ISPs implement spam filters which may prevent the message from being properly delivered, or deposit the message in a special "Spam" mailbox. Also, keep in mind that the email address on the account record must be correct. The lookup is case sensitive so the upper and lower case characters must match what is in your account record.
If you are still unable to log in, your account may have expired. Please call the customer support staff at 1-800-337-5263. They will be able lookup your account information and provide the correct username/password, or assist you with renewing your subscription if it has expired.