Hurricane Warnings in Effect

Pacific:  High Seas EP1

OPC Experimental GIS Data and Products

KML Files (Experimental)

Some of OPC's charts are now available in a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) format. When opened in a program such as Google Earth, these KML files will display the various products listed below but projected onto the Earth's surface. The KML file itself does not change; it points to the latest OPC product. You should only have to download it once to always have the latest information.

Unified Surface Analysis	updated 21:27 UTC, 21 Nov 2024
Atlantic 48 Hour Surface Forecast	updated 17:36 UTC, 21 Nov 2024
Atlantic 48 Hour Composite Surface Forecast	updated 17:36 UTC, 21 Nov 2024
Atlantic 48 Hour Composite Wind & Wave Forecast	updated 18:18 UTC, 21 Nov 2024
Atlantic 96 Hour Surface Forecast	updated 15:56 UTC, 21 Nov 2024
Atlantic 96 Hour Composite Surface Forecast	updated 15:55 UTC, 21 Nov 2024
Atlantic 96 Hour Composite Wind & Wave Forecast	updated 16:42 UTC, 21 Nov 2024
Pacific 48 Hour Surface Forecast	updated 19:51 UTC, 21 Nov 2024
Pacific 48 Hour Composite Surface Forecast	updated 19:51 UTC, 21 Nov 2024
Pacific 48 Hour Composite Wind & Wave Forecast	updated 19:30 UTC, 21 Nov 2024
Pacific 96 Hour Surface Forecast	updated 14:31 UTC, 21 Nov 2024
Pacific 96 Hour Composite Surface Forecast	updated 14:31 UTC, 21 Nov 2024
Pacific 96 Hour Composite Wind & Wave Forecast	updated 15:02 UTC, 21 Nov 2024

If for some reason the information looks old, try "refreshing" the file. In Google Earth, this is done with a right click on the KML content.

About KML

Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is used by a variety of GIS and mapping applications and the specifications are freely available to the public and available to the user community without charge or restriction. KML is an XML-based language for managing the display of three-dimensional geospatial data in the programs Google Earth, Google Maps,Google Mobile, ArcGIS Explorer, and WorldWind. The word Keyhole is an earlier name for the software that became Google Earth; the software was produced in turn by Keyhole, Inc, which was acquired by Google in 2004.

The term "Keyhole" actually honors the KH reconnaissance satellites, the original eye-in-the-sky military reconnaissance system now some 30 years old. KML files are very often distributed as KMZ files, which are zipped KML files with a .kmz extension.

More GIS products from the National Weather Service

Catalog of GIS products at weather.gov
Weather Prediction Center GIS products
National Hurricane Center GIS products
Storm Prediction Center GIS products