About PyRe

In April 2026, several Sierra resorts extended their ski seasons into May after a series of large snowfalls. A classmate of mine who lived in Tahoe wanted to compare the amount of Pacific moisture reaching the Sierra that spring with previous years using reanalysis data.

For decades, the NOAA PSL composite plotting pages were the fastest way to explore reanalysis data. However, the dataset behind them stopped updating in March 2026, the pages are no longer maintained, and there are no plans for a new interface to the replacement dataset (NCEP/CPC CORe).

When Steve tried to investigate whether the spring snowfall was connected to unusually high moisture reaching the Sierra, he discovered he couldn’t create maps using current conditions. Historical weather was still available, but comparisons involving anything after March 15, 2026 were not.

During a class discussion, our instructor pointed out what a loss this was for the weather community and said (probably rhetorically) that if someone could build a replacement it would be enormously useful.

So I got to work combining my meteorology studies with my love of building interactive websites, and PyRe Weather was born. The name comes from the technology behind it: the backend computation is done in Python, while the interactive front end is built in React. PyRe is a contraction of Python + React.

Many of PyRe’s features have grown out of someone asking, “Can you do X on PyRe Weather?” If you have a suggestion, question, correction, missing parameter, color-scale idea, or feature you’d like to see, please get in touch.

The first people to try the site, break it, and tell me what it should do next.

• Cody Barnhart Weather Confessions
• Christopher Brinker PA Storm Trackerz
• Connie Brinker PA Storm Trackerz
• Josh Brinker PA Storm Trackerz
• Jessica Brown Weather Nerds · Tornado Tacklers
• Steve Byrne Weather Nerds
• Nicole Carbone Weather Nerds
• Michael Dooley III Doodle's Weather Lab · Weather Nerds · Tornado Tacklers
• Kevin Hemphill Wx Journal · Weather Nerds · Tornado Tacklers
• RJ Kneuppel Weather Nerds
• Noah Miller Storm Chaser Noah Miller
• Bill MillingtonBill Mill on the Hill in Findlayville (PA)
• Anthony Quintillian Tornado Tacklers
• Jordan Robinson Weather Nerds
• Ashley Smith Weather Nerds
• Alex Thornton StormCruzzer
• Nick Wilkes Central Appalachian Weather Authority

Organizations and sites that have used PyRe or professionally supported the work.

• PA Storm Trackerzthe Brinker family
• Penn State Weather Forecasting Certificate ProgramCourse Material Updates
• Bill MillingtonBill Mill on the Hill (first paid customer)
• Para Storm FestPara-Storm Fest 2027

If you have a link to our website or use our maps we'd love to link back to you.

• Tim NiziolPolar Vortex Onset Fall 2026
• Don SutherlandTemperature anomalies for Nepal/Tibet, August 2026