We’ve marveled at this mesmerizing map of cargo ships plying the oceans of the worlds, been amazed by another depicting the birth of major cities over thousands of years, and charmed by this one showcasing London’s rich and varied past.
So be prepared to be wowed by yet another stunning online map creation, this one showing real-time weather conditions around the world.
As informative as it is beautiful, the “Ventusky” web app is the work of Czech-based meteorological firm InMeteo.
The interactive map, spotted recently by Quartz, lets you pull up all kinds of weather stats, including temperature, precipitation, cloud cover, and wind speed. The temperature and wind speed maps, with their swirling lines and patches of pretty color-coded data, are a joy to simply gaze at regardless of the information they offer.
You can zoom in close to a particular location, or see the world’s weather patterns that are enveloping the planet right now by pulling out and viewing the entire map at once.
“The Earth’s weather functions as an interdependent system,” InMeteo explains on its website. “For example, a hurricane in the Atlantic has the ability to influence the distribution of pressure formations in Europe. Occasionally, it may even make its way to Europe itself as a post-tropical storm. The Ventusky application allows for the illustration of the interdependence of the entire system, displaying the development of pressure, wind, cloud cover, precipitation, and temperature on the map.”
But it’s not all about the here-and-now. The site is primarily a weather forecast tool, accessible by simply clicking on a date on the calendar at the bottom of the display and moving the time slider back and forth.
And there’s more. Hit Settings top right and you can play about with the animation controls, enabling the artist in you to create a look even more pleasing to the eye.
Fancy a go? You can check out the fabulous Ventusky map right now by clicking here.