Advances in technology have allowed meteorologists to accurately make weather predictions faster than ever before. We will discuss four weather tools and software that are popular among today's meteorologists.

1. The doppler radar assists meteorologists with tracking and predicting the paths of severe storms. This tool tracks precipitation, thunderstorm, clouds, and tornadoes. Doppler radar coverage includes the United States, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
2. Weather satellites allow meteorologists to monitor weather activity on Earth and in space. There are three different types of weather satellites. Polar orbiting satellites orbit the Earth and take several pictures per day. Geostationary satellites remain in one place and take hundreds of pictures of the Earth, approximately one picture at least every thirty seconds. Deep-space satellites face away from the Earth and monitor storms that occur in space.
3. Radiosondes are used by meteorologists to track upper-air weather characteristics, such as wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity, and air pressure. Radiosondes are sent to the Earth's upper stratosphere via weather balloons twice per day. Radiosondes are launched more frequently during severe weather and storms.
4. Automated surface observing systems (ASOS) constantly monitor wind speed, wind direction, temperature, precipitation, sky conditions, and surface visibility. There are over 900 ASOS installed across the United States.