Weather Graphics is the creation of meteorologist Tim Vasquez. It was officially born in July 1992.
It offered a single radar analysis program called RadarScan. Some surface
analysis capabilities were added, and in late 1992 it was renamed Weather Pro. The success of the project
led to a full-fledged surface and radar analysis software program called WeatherGraphix, which is a solid package
still being used to this very day by a few MS-DOS fanatics. The software was developed entirely by
Tim Vasquez to bring the forecast desk to the home.
With Microsoft Windows revolutionizing PC operating systems, Tim responded in 1996 creating a Windows-based analysis program,
similar to WeatherGraphix, called Digital Atmosphere. The program's code now fully capitalizes on 32-bit system architecture and
represents our top-notch analysis package.
In 1998 Weather Graphics went fully commercial, adding a line of additional products including RAOB, Global Tracks,
Surface Archives, Upper Archives, and Digital Chart of the World, and began building turnkey systems for the
EMWIN datastream technology. We also opened up a toll-free ordering line in 1999.
Weather Graphics Technologies also offers weather forecasting services, severe weather targeting services,
meteorology training, and related consulting work.
All programming, development, and support originates from Norman, Oklahoma and Garland, Texas.
About Tim Vasquez
Tim Vasquez is an accomplished author, programmer, and consultant. He was greatly influenced by Alan Moller, Tim Marshall, and Harold Taft in the 1980s. By 1986 he was juggling college, storm chasing (as a newbie), a meager income from Garland Daily News writing the weather page, and writing a regular column for the American Weather Observer newsmagazine. Seeking to maximize storm chasing success, he also developed weather analysis software for the Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 which plotted objective analysis fields based on weather observations downloaded from MITRE, DUAT, and CompuServe. Unfortunately, due to the slow techology of the time it took several minutes to plot a single map!
In 1989 Tim went into the Air Force to put his skills to use, a plan that led to an amazingly prolific career in operational forecasting.
To a classified project in Nevada. In 1989 Tim was honor graduate from the
8-week weather specialist course at Chanute AFB. He was selected by AWS special projects for assignment to Las Vegas,
given top secret clearance, and was not allowed to tell family or friends anything about the assignment and not to fraternize
with Air Force members at Nellis AFB.
This turned out to be to Det 8 AWS, Tonopah Test Range, Nevada, which held the F-117A fleet and required a weekly commute on
Boeing 727s.
The security at Tonopah eased by 1990 and the F-117 was almost completely declassified by 1992, but the assignment remained
as prestigious as ever.
Along with Stealth Fighter operations and contract Boeing 727 flights to Tonopah, Tim provided flight weather
to Key Airlines, American Trans Air, and even the JANET flights of Area 51 lore, and he developed a detailed climatology
for Tonopah. A supporter and fan of the Stealth fighter program, he logged an hour of takeoffs and approaches in the Lockheed
F-117 simulator, got 45 minutes of stick time in the back seat of one of Tonopah's T-38 black jets, was personally
presented with an award by Ben Rich of Lockheed's Skunk Works, and volunteered to help strip and repaint
the F-117 that stands in the Nellis AFB airpark -- his signature is scrawled in the bomb bay.
The forecasting course. In 1992 Tim entered
into the Air Force's obscure but rigorous 1,064 hour forecaster course at Chanute AFB, Illinois,
a program that washed out so many students that admission requirements were later tightened.
The course packed the class time of a 4-year degree into 7 months, starting the first week with introductory physics and ending
with a stressful forecast laboratory and real-world weather briefings in front of a snake pit of instructors.
Tim was distinguished graduate and got first pick of Dyess AFB to get close to home and the formidable Texas weather.
Texas forecasting. At Dyess AFB,
Tim forecasted for the B-1B Lancer fleet and its low-level training routes in the Big Bend, Clovis, and Clayton area.
He received certification on the WSR-88D NEXRAD radar, and since Dyess owned its own radar this included UCP control certification.
Tim's chasing experience paid off in spades and he gained a reputation for ability to accurately forecast Texas storms and
the turbulent South Plains weather.
KTXS-12 news director Paul Brown offered him a forecasting spot, which Tim accepted after approval by the Dyess wing commander!
Tim also provided forecasts for two high-profile Space Shuttle 747 carrier flights that passed through Dyess.
Being in Abilene also allowed Tim to storm chase again for the first time in four years, and he brought several
Air Force forecasters out to get a closer look at Southern Plains storms.
European forecasting. In 1994, Tim was responsible for D-Day
Anniversary aviation forecasts for the U.S. Air Force B-1B fleet. A lot of this work involved coordination with the
UK Met Office, forecasters at RAF Mildenhall (sister to Fairford), and RAF Brize Norton controllers who oversaw
Fairford's airspace. Tim worked up numerous B-1B flight packages and presented the high-profile June 6 mass weather briefing
to the audience of B-1B flight crews for the Channel crossing.
Forecasting for the Rwanda crisis. In 1994, Tim was part
of the advance deployment team to central Africa for
Operation Support Hope, and forecasted for C-130, C-5, and C-141 cargo operations into war-torn,
thunderstorm-infested Rwanda and to logistics bases in Germany and Diego Garcia.
He established a working relationship with the Kenya Meteorological Department in Mombasa, introducing an innovative barter system
of METEOSAT satellite imagery printouts in exchange for Kenyan upper level and surface charts.
Asian forecasting. Tim was lead forecaster at the US Forces Korea's central
forecasting center (607 WS TFU) at Yongsan Garrison, Seoul. He disseminated forecast discussions, zone forecasts,
and aviation forecasts for all of Korea, and led a daily conference call with all USAF forecasters in Korea.
Tim produced North Korean target forecasts for United Nations Command scheduling of U-2 reconnaissance
flights out of Osan AB, provided special support for US Army helicopter flight operations,
and developed maritime planning forecasts for the U.S. Navy.
On top of all this, Tim was also was the regular weather presenter on AFKN Television and conducted hundreds of weathercasts,
and true to his touch of quality he brought AFRTS into the Doppler weather age with Korean WSR-88D images just weeks
after the radar was functional. Tim recalls the images had to be offloaded from a Linux NAPUP, edited in Paint Shop Pro,
saved as a Targa file, and brought on a floppy disk to the AFRTS studio, but it was worth the effort. As AFRTS was widely
watched by Koreans, the Korean networks KBS and SBS quickly reacted and brought radar to their own weathercasts.
Onward to the IT side of meteorology.
In 1996, Tim put in a bid to get close to the weather mecca of Norman, Oklahoma and
netted an assignment to Det 7 AFGWC at Tinker AFB, where he put his computer expertise to practice on the U.s. Air Force weather network.
This was truly an exotic system running on ancient Univac 1170 computers which decoded airways and METAR observations
using assembly language! Tim obtained certification in Unisys MASM and prototyped SQL and C++ systems to upgrade
the old Univac weather computer.
Private practice. In 1998 Tim left the U.S. Air Force
to put full time work into Weather Graphics. He greatly expanded his software products and began authoring a series
of books for operational forecasters. He also began conducting training seminars and consulting work. Most recently he
was recognized in the international media for his early studies on the weather affecting Air France flight 447
(link) and appeared on the BBC, CBS Evening News, The Weather Channel, and other networks.
For more information about Tim Vasquez and his latest projects and interests, visit his personal website (link).
