Version 2.0 of Thor Storm Mapper is the most feature-complete release we have shipped. Over the past two days we have added an entirely new radar engine, rebuilt the timeline from scratch, introduced a wind data pipeline powered by high-resolution HRRR model data, and shipped a dozen quality-of-life improvements across every part of the application. Here is everything that is new.
Historical Radar Engine
The most significant new capability in v2.0 is full historical radar playback. We built a new radar engine that pulls NEXRAD composite imagery from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM) archive at 5-minute intervals. When both Live Radar and the Timeline are active simultaneously, the radar display automatically steps in sync with the playhead — as you scrub through a storm event, the radar image updates to match that exact moment in time.
A standalone PAST button was also added to both Storm View and Impact View headers. This lets you pick any historical date and hour and overlay the corresponding radar image without needing to open the timeline at all.
Timeline Playback — Complete Remaster
The Timeline Playback system was rebuilt from the ground up. Full-Span Playback Mode now covers the entire date range of loaded data, adapting automatically to 7-day, 30-day, 90-day, 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year scans. Custom From and To date pickers allow narrowing the playback window to any sub-range within your loaded data.
24-Hour Storm Event Replay Mode is triggered directly from the storm event detail panel via a new Timeline Playback button. It zooms the scrubber to a 24-hour window centered on the event — 12 hours before and 12 hours after — and automatically begins playing with radar following the playhead.
Timeline-driven marker visibility makes the map come alive during playback: event markers only appear as the playhead reaches their timestamp, accumulating forward and remaining permanently visible.
Damage Corridor Layer
The PATHS layer was replaced with a new Damage Corridor visualization. The corridor layer draws shaded bands connecting events within each storm track, showing the likely affected area between confirmed reports. Corridor width scales with severity — wider bands for more intense systems.
Heat Grid — Sensitivity Filters and Auto-Focus
The Heat Grid layer now fully respects hail size sub-filters (0.75", 1.00", 1.50", 2.00", 2.50", 3.00", 4.00"+) and wind speed sub-filters (40+, 58+, 75+, 100+, 120+ mph). When you select a heat grid type — Tornado, Hail, or Wind — the app automatically focuses to that event type and adjusts the sensitivity controls accordingly.
Wind Data Pipeline — HRRR Model Integration
The wind data system was substantially upgraded. The HRRR model is now forced for all US locations, providing 3km resolution that resolves individual convective cells. Data is requested at 15-minute intervals to capture peak gusts rather than hourly averages.
Vector wind direction is now computed: the system calculates a gust²-weighted vector mean across all samples in a ±1-hour window, as well as the direction and time of the peak gust. A roof exposure helper maps the storm's approach direction to an exposed slope label — for example, 285° maps to W/NW-facing slopes — giving adjusters and contractors immediate structural context for each event.
ASOS/METAR station cross-reference was added to the wind verification panel, showing HRRR peak gust versus the nearest ASOS station peak gust for independent verification.
Hail Size and Wind Speed Sub-Filters
New granular sub-filters were added to the Detection Controls panel. When Hail is active, you can filter by minimum hail size (0.75", 1.00", 1.50", 2.00", 2.50", 3.00", 4.00"+). When Wind is active, you can filter by minimum wind velocity (40+, 58+, 75+, 100+, 120+ mph). These filters apply to every map layer simultaneously.
Outbreak Focus Mode
When an outbreak is selected, all map layers now filter to show only that outbreak's hull and its associated events. All other markers, territories, clusters, heatmap cells, corridors, and outbreaks are hidden while the outbreak panel is open, providing a clean focused view of the selected event cluster.
Timezone Conversion — UTC to Event-Local
All event times throughout the application now display in the local timezone of the event's geographic location. This affects the storm event detail panel, map overlay popups, the CSV/KML export, the PAST hour selector, the HIST indicator in the header, the TimePlaybackBar radar frame chip, and the Alert History Panel.
Time Range Smart Filter
The app now tracks the largest date range scanned in the current session. When you select a shorter time range that falls within already-scanned data, the app filters client-side without triggering a new NOAA network scan — results appear instantly.
Storm Data Export
You can now export storm events as CSV or KML files, filtered by state, event type (Tornado / Hail / Wind), and minimum severity. The export includes peak gust direction, peak gust speed, peak gust time, and roof exposure columns.
Match Radar to Event
A new Match Radar button was added to the storm event detail panel. Clicking it sets the PAST radar to the exact date and time of the selected event, letting you instantly overlay the historical radar frame that corresponds to when and where the storm occurred.
Radar Mode Label — LIVE / PAST
The radar toggle button now shows LIVE when real-time radar is active and PAST when historical radar mode is engaged, in both Storm View and Impact View.
Updated Mode Defaults
Default layer states were updated to reflect the most useful starting configuration for new users. Storm View now defaults to: Radar ON, Outbreaks ON, Tracks ON, Corridors ON, Timeline OFF, Heat Grid OFF. Impact mode defaults to: Timeline OFF, Radar OFF, Outbreaks ON, Boundaries ON, Markers ON.
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