29Sep2019 Update: JStrack 3.3.4 is out |
29Sep2019 Update: Documentation (PDF) Updated |
30Aug2019 Update: GOES EAST satellite imagery is back! |
30Aug2019 Update: New (short) demo video for JStrack |
WX-ATLAN is a mailing list (formerly the Atlantic/Caribbean/Gulf topic in the WX-TROPL list).
NOTE THAT THE WX-ATLAN LIST HAS CHANGED AS OF April 2014
The server for the WX-ATLAN mailing list, from which those of us running Unix systems with procmail installed get our data sent to us automatically, has changed. Some/all of you may have already seen a flood of incoming products from WX-AtLAN.....
You will need to log onto the new server (see below) and follow these instructions.
If you already have an account on the server, and are on the server to change your email address for JStrack's new POP3 client:
You will receive an email shortly with a link to complete the subscription process. So you can update your e-mail filters, the e-mail I received was from lists-request@lists.illinois.edu and had the subject: "CITES Mailing Lists / your environment"
Once you create a password you will automatically be logged into the list processor system.
NOTE: For JStrack, you MUST select at least "FORECAST" (this is the product from which JStrack gets the vast majority of its data). I also highly recommend STRMDSC, ADVISORY, and OUTLOOK. If you subscribe to the OUTLOOK product, you will get an email every six hours, whether or not there is anything to report. If you don't want the extras, with nothing to report, and you're running Unix and using procmail to filter the advisories, you can add this rule.
:0 HB:
* ^Subject.*OUTLOOK: Nws National Hurricane Center Miami Fl
* .*Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days.
/dev/null
If you want a copy to refer back to just in case, change "/dev/null" to a filename (e.g., NHCOutlook) to put in whatever directory you defined as MAILDIR.
In the future, just visit https://listserv.illinois.edu and login to manage your subscriptions.
If you have any questions please email Chris Novy cnovy@cox.net
The outlook topic is not used by JStrack, but it's good for keeping up with what the NHC is watching, even if it's not named yet.
In order to actually use the WX-ATLAN stuff automatically, you need an e-mail filter program that will recognize the NHC/TPC products and pipe a copy to the standard input of JStrack's filter program (filt/filt.tcl). The freeware program, procmail is ideal for this purpose (as well as filtering of other e-mail).
Here's how you set it up:
Assuming you're NOT root, you'll need to use procmail from your $HOME/.forward file (again, RTFM in the procmail docs—they tell you how to do this).
# the 'w' says keep the lockfile until the filter finishes! :0 cw: * ^To.*WX-ATLAN * ^Subject.*(ADVISORY|FORECAST|STRMDISC|STRIKE): |/home/jim/src/ht/filt/filt.tclBtw, remove the leading spaces—those are there for readability here.
After that, as advisories arrive via e-mail, they're automatically processed by JStrack's filter program (whether the tracking portion of the code is running or not, and, obviously, regardless of whether or not you're logged on).