Automated Data Plotter

This application dynamically generates many types of graphs. These graphs are derived from processing of various data sources done by the IEM. Please feel free to use these generated graphics in whatever way you wish. Reset App.


First, select a chart type::

Second, select specific chart options::

DescriptionValue
Which variable to analyze?
Select plot extent type:
Select WFO: (ignored if plotting state)
Select state/sector to plot
Plot or Countour values (for non interactive map):
Date Time (central time zone) (YYYY/mm/dd HH24MI)
Trailing Time Window (hours):
Grid cell size for analysis [integer] >=5 (km)
Which SciPy.interpolate.Rbf function to use? r=grid size
Shall algorithm attempt to insert zeros into analysis?
Include NWS COOP reports too?
Clip display to plotted geography?
Plot cities on the map?
Contour line width (pixels) < 10, 0 disables:
Image Pixel Size @100 DPI
Image Resolution (DPI) (max 500)
Select Output Format:

Plot Description:

Generates an analysis map of snowfall or freezing rain data based on NWS Local Storm Reports and NWS COOP Data. This autoplot presents a number of tunables including:
  • The window of hours to look before the specified valid time to find Local Storm Reports (LSR).
  • The option to attempt to inject zeros into the observations prior to doing an analysis. Since the LSRs are all non-zero values, sometimes it is good to attempt to add zeros in to keep the reports from bleeding into areas that did not receive snow.
  • You can pick which SciPy.interpolate.Rbf function to use. The radius in the function shown equals the grid cell size used for the analysis.
  • You can optionally include any NWS COOP reports that were processed by the IEM over the time period that you specified.


If you download the data for this analysis, there is a column called used_for_analysis which denotes if the report was used to create the grid analysis. There is a primative quality control routine that attempts to omit too low of reports.

Having trouble with this app? If so, please copy/paste the URL showing the bad image and email it to us!

Based on a sampling of recent timings for this application, plot generation time has averaged 8 seconds. Hold on for the plot is generating now!


View Data (as csv)   Download as Excel  
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IEM Daily Features using this plot

The IEM Daily Features found on this website often utilize plots found on this application. Here is a listing of features referencing this plot type.