Comparing hurricane cone of uncertainty infographics
I’ve been trying to find a decent infographic on hurricane Sandy. Here are some I found.
National Hurricane Center - Made on an Amiga? Why the simple color palette? Too small on the web site too.
New York Times - Just the simple facts. But does not show various warnings.
TV Guide - Nice to see color and some warnings but, so small!
Weather Underground - Circles of uncertainty. I am not sure what the circles mean? Can the storm head back South?
The Weather Channel - Why is the map so dark? The blob is so ambiguous and the shades are too similar to tell what is happening compared to the legend.
One thing that is not always made clear on all the graphics is that the cone or the circles are not the size of the storm but where it could be headed. So, if you look at the NY Times version, at a point in time, the storm could head right across Virginia and up Western Ohio. It probably won’t but, it could.
I think an ideal form of this would simplify the U.S. map even more. No topography. In that sense, the NWS map is better (loose the grid tough). But the colors should make sense and be dissimilar enough to be used in some way like the Weather Channel (TWC) does. Some kind of coastal warnings should also be included.
I like the addition of some basic info at the top (not shown - go check out each on your own) like name, strength, wind speed, pressure, and TWC adds a small chart that tracks the speed. Although, it is too small and it is not clear what the colors are.
In the end, the NYTimes simple chart is the easiest to use and probably what 99% of most users would want. But other than the TVGuide, most other charts are too complex, too odd, too badly drawn, or too dark to see basic details.
Update: here is another via John Maeda. Nice looking but, still too layered and complex visually.
