As I'm sure you've noticed, we've recently completed a redesign of KWTX.com. It took weeks of preparation on the part of our station's website developers and graphic designers. While those folks worked on the rest of the site, Brady Taylor and I took charge of redesigning the weather section. Here's a "user's guide", which should answer some of the most frequently asked questions we've been hearing since the site was launched:

New Radar Display
Doppler 10 Radar is still located at the top of the main weather page. It's one of the most important tools we use as meteorologists, which is why we wanted it to be the first thing you see when you load the page. Below the big Doppler 10 image are several smaller, "thumbnail" images that include local warnings, hour by hour forecast, and seven day weather planner. When you click on one of those images, a big version of that image will load in the space first occupied by Doppler 10 Radar.

In the past, to see big versions of the hour by hour forecast or seven day weather planner, you had to click on the image to open a pop-up window. Using this method allows you to see the full image without use of a pop-up. Several people have made comments asking why we reduced the size of the seven day forecast... please don't think that we would expect anyone to read an image that small!

Weather Maps Page
In an effort to make the weather page less cluttered and more organized, we decided to create a new "Weather Maps" page, which includes all of the regional and national weather maps that used to be located on the main weather page. You can find that "Weather Maps" page by using the weather drop-down menu located at the top of the page (beneath the KWTX.com logo). Several local maps are still located on the main weather page, just below the forecast discussion.

Current Conditions Box
At the top of the weather page you'll find a new box that provides you with the current conditions for Waco, Temple, and Killeen. The image defaults to Waco; if you want to see conditions for either Temple or Killeen, simply move your mouse over the name of the city and the image will update automatically; you don't even have to click!

Almanac, Pollen, and Rainfall Info
The almanac and pollen information that used to be found at the end of the forecast discussion are now located in the middle column, to the right of the forecast. You can click on the small almanac image to open a bigger version in a pop-up window. The new almanac is updated every hour with today's highs and lows. Below the Pollen Count are two new images (they're actually not new; they've been on the drought information page for several weeks) that show the month-to-date and year-to-date rainfall totals for Waco, and the year-to-date rain surplus/deficit (a.k.a. departure from normal rainfall) across the state. Of course, you can click on those small images to load a full-size version in a pop-up window. The local rainfall map showing daily precipitation totals can be found on the Weather Maps page!

Weather Links
In the past, we had weather links scattered across the page under several different headlines. The new Weather Links section on the right side of the page consolidates all of those links into one location so they're easier to find.

Since the site is still new, it's possible that you may encounter a few bugs. If you find that something isn't working the way it should, please email us or leave a comment so we can get it fixed! We hope you'll enjoy the new site. I realize that many of you are frequent visitors to KWTX.com, and therefore got used to the old layout. Please take some time to get used to the new site; I think you'll find it much more organized and user-friendly.