SeaStorm 1.3.10 on Amazon Appstore

SeaStorm v1.3.10 has been pushed to the Amazon Appstore (pending approval).  This version is in sync with the version on the Android Market, and should work on the Kindle Fire.  (I'll be able to test for real once the device actually ships)

One difference however - the Amazon version does not support the model viewer add-on, as it requires Google Maps, and the Kindle Fire does not support it.

SeaStorm connection issues

I've received a few reports of SeaStorm refusing to download some (or all) storm data, instead giving the dreaded "Unable to download" message.  Last night I finally started seeing it as well.

I did some digging and there is a DNS issue afoot.  There are reports of sporadic access to the NHC site based on what DNS servers people are using.  At home I use Wifi on my Android devices, and when I switched my LAN's DNS resolver to openDNS (208.67.222.222) or Google DNS (8.8.8.8) instead of Comcast (75.75.75.75), the problem went away.  Here are the results using nslookup:

Google DNS:

$ nslookup www.nhc.noaa.gov 8.8.8.8
Non-authoritative answer:
Server:  google-public-dns-a.google.com
Address:  8.8.8.8

Name:    edge-rev.lb.noaa.gov
Addresses:  140.172.17.23
          129.15.96.23
          140.90.33.23
          140.90.200.23
Aliases:  www.nhc.noaa.gov
          edge-nws.woc.noaa.gov

Comcast DNS:

$ nslookup www.nhc.noaa.gov 75.75.75.75
*** cdns01.comcast.net can't find www.nhc.noaa.gov: Server failed
Server:  cdns01.comcast.net
Address:  75.75.75.75

IMPORTANT: While from these results it looks like Comcast is the culprit, it could also be a configuration problem at NOAA, which would explain why some other non-Comcast DNS servers are affected as well.

In the end, all web browsers and internet-utilizing mobile apps (including SeaStorm) are at the mercy of working DNS in order to operate, so until either Comcast or NOAA fixes this problem, changing your DNS is the only workaround.  (Please note that something as simple as switching from Wifi to mobile data works too, depending on your carrier's DNS.  T-Mobile's DNS seems to be working fine, for example.)

UPDATE 1:  The problem appears to have been fixed:

$ nslookup www.nhc.noaa.gov 75.75.75.75
Non-authoritative answer:
Server:  cdns01.comcast.net
Address:  75.75.75.75

Name:    edge-rev.lb.noaa.gov
Addresses:  140.90.200.23
          140.172.17.23
          129.15.96.23
          140.90.33.23
Aliases:  www.nhc.noaa.gov
          edge-nws.woc.noaa.gov

UPDATE 2:  Aaaaand it's back.

SeaStorm 1.3.10 released

SeaStorm 1.3.10 has been pushed to market.  This version adds support for custom notification sounds, an improved notification icon for Android 2.3+, and fixes notifications on Android 1.6.

It also adds a toggle for displaying forecast points in the model viewer.  Un-checking the option (in Menu -> Settings on the model viewer screen) will basically give you a spaghetti-only plot.  Visible or not, you can still tap forecast points for information on that point.

Enjoy!

SeaStorm 1.3.9 available

SeaStorm 1.3.9 has been pushed to market.  It contains numerous bugfixes and optimizations.  It also adds support for showing early and late cycle models in the model viewer, making the new model view options All Models, All Early Cycle Models, All Late Cycle Models, Default, Custom, and None / Clear.  (See previous blog entry for explanation of other options)

So what exactly are early and late models?  As described by the NHC in Section 6 (Model error trends) of the "National Hurricane Center Forecast Verification" document:

"Guidance models are characterized as either early or late, depending on whether or not they are available to the Hurricane Specialist during the forecast cycle. For example, consider the 1200 UTC (12Z) forecast cycle, which begins with the 12Z synoptic time and ends with the release of the official forecast at 15Z. The 12Z run of the NWS/Global Forecast System (GFS) model is not complete and available to the forecaster until about 16Z, or about an hour after the forecast is released - thus the 12Z GFS would be considered a late model since it could not be used to prepare the 12Z official forecast."

The full document is at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/verification/index.shtml.

SeaStorm 1.3.7 released

SeaStorm 1.3.7 has been pushed to market.  This version provides some enhancements to the model viewer, namely the model selection dialog.  It now presents four simple choices - Select All, Clear All, Default, and Custom.  Select All and Clear All are self-explanatory.  Default basically restores the  initial selection presented when the model viewer was first opened, and Custom shows the original model selection dialog, which allows you to to toggle individual models.  Also, you can long-press on the model selection button to jump straight to the Custom model selector.

Keep in mind that Select All can make the model viewer slow to respond on some devices, depending on how many models are available for the given Date/Time selection.

Other improvements include smarter time parsing and cache cleanup.

Enjoy!