Field Ops & Data Updated 2026-06-20

Location Search

Use the Go to Location control on the chase map to jump to coordinates, addresses, map links, airport and WFO codes, UGC zones, and other weather-native location formats.

The Go to Location control (the magnifying glass icon on the map toolbar) lets you jump to a location on the chase map. It is designed to accept both ordinary map searches and weather-native formats such as warning-product coordinates, WFO codes, radar IDs, and relative locations.

Opening the search

Click the Go to Location button on the right edge of the map.
Type or paste your location into the search box.
Press Enter or click Go.

When a unique result is found, Bolt pans and zooms the map and drops a temporary pin. If multiple plausible matches are found, Bolt shows a chooser so you can pick the intended destination.

Supported input formats

Decimal coordinates

Standard latitude/longitude pairs in decimal degrees. The most reliable format when you need precision.

Input	Notes
`42.7335, -84.5555`	Comma-separated decimal degrees
`42.7335 -84.5555`	Space-separated
`35.5 / -97.4`	Slash separator also accepted
`-84.5555, 42.7335`	Reversed (lon/lat) pair — detected and normalized automatically

Degrees, minutes, seconds (DMS)

Classic surveying notation is fully supported, with or without the degree symbol.

Input	Notes
`42°44'0"N 84°33'20"W`	Standard DMS with symbols
`42 44 0 N 84 33 20 W`	Numeric DMS without symbols
`N 42 44.010 W 84 33.333`	Degrees and decimal minutes
`4244.00N 8433.33W`	Compact NOAA-style (DDDMM.MM)

Plus Codes (Open Location Codes)

Google-style Plus Codes work in both full and short form. Short codes need a locality name to provide context.

Input	Notes
`86JW+6V`	Short Plus Code only (requires locality to resolve)
`86JW+6V Lansing, MI`	Short code with locality for recovery
`86JW6V4M+VQ`	Full 10-character Plus Code (no locality needed)

NWS forecast office (WFO) codes

Three-letter NWS/WFO identifiers resolve to the office location used by Bolt’s local reference data.

Input	Example result
`OUN`	WFO OUN — Norman/Oklahoma City, OK
`DTX`	WFO DTX — Detroit/Pontiac, MI
`GRR`	WFO GRR — Grand Rapids, MI (see conflict note below)
`FSD`	WFO FSD — Sioux Falls, SD
`LSX`	WFO LSX — St. Louis, MO

WFO pins are office locations

WFO results pin the forecast office itself, not the center of its responsibility area. If you want a nearby city, enter the city name directly.

NEXRAD / TDWR radar identifiers

Radar identifiers resolve to the physical radar site from Bolt’s local reference data. Radar IDs can still overlap with airport identifiers, so Bolt may present a chooser when the input is ambiguous.

Input	Example result
`KGRR`	NEXRAD Radar KGRR — Grand Rapids, MI
`KDTX`	NEXRAD Radar KDTX — Detroit, MI
`KAPX`	NEXRAD Radar KAPX — Gaylord, MI

Airport identifiers (IATA / ICAO)

Aviation identifiers are resolved through the external search fallback. Bolt rewrites plain 3-letter and 4-letter airport-style codes as airport searches when needed, but local WFO and radar matches are checked first.

Input	Example result
`KGRR`	Gerald R. Ford International Airport, Grand Rapids, MI
`KOUN`	Max Westheimer Airport, Norman, OK
`KFSD`	Sioux Falls Regional Airport, Sioux Falls, SD
`KDTW`	Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
`MDW`	Chicago Midway International Airport (IATA 3-letter)
`GRR`	Conflict — see below

WFO / IATA conflicts

Some three-letter codes serve double duty as both an NWS forecast office identifier and an IATA airport code. For example, GRR is both WFO Grand Rapids and the IATA code for Gerald R. Ford International Airport.

When this happens, the search presents both options and asks you to choose:

WFO GRR (Grand Rapids) — resolves to the WFO office location
Gerald R. Ford International Airport — jumps to the airport

If you always want the airport, use the 4-letter ICAO code instead (e.g., KGRR), which is unambiguous.

Avoiding conflicts

When a 3-letter code could mean more than one thing, Bolt keeps both candidates and asks you to choose. If you want the airport, use the 4-letter ICAO code when available.

Addresses and city names

Free-text addresses and place names are resolved using Bolt’s external geocoding fallback.

Input	Notes
`Amarillo, TX`	City name
`1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC`	Street address
`Elk City Oklahoma`	City name without abbreviation
`Dodge City, Kansas`	City + state name spelled out

Relative locations (weather-native format)

Relative descriptions from NWS local storm reports, tornado warnings, and spotter reports are parsed directly.

Input	Notes
`5 SSW Elk City OK`	Distance + compass bearing + city
`12 NE of Amarillo, TX`	With optional "of"
`3 miles north of Norman`	Prose compass direction
`7 km WSW Dodge City`	Kilometers also accepted
`2NNE OUN`	Compact format without spaces

All 16-point compass rose directions are supported: N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW, NNW.

You can also paste the lead-in text from NWS products directly — phrases like "TORNADO LOCATED 5 SSW ELK CITY" are automatically stripped down to the location component before parsing.

NWS LAT…LON polygon fragments

Paste the raw polygon block from an NWS warning product. Bolt extracts the coordinates and places a pin at the polygon centroid.

Input
`LAT...LON 3601 9837 3591 9820 3573 9832 3584 9848`
`LATLON 4252 8450 4248 8442 4255 8438`

Map URLs

Paste a link from Google Maps or OpenStreetMap and Bolt extracts the embedded coordinates when they are present. Some Google short links can also be expanded automatically.

Input
`https://www.google.com/maps/@42.7335,-84.5555,13z`
`https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/42.7335/-84.5555`
`https://maps.google.com/?q=42.7335,-84.5555`
`https://goo.gl/maps/…`

Input prefix stripping

Copy-pasted inputs often come with a label prefix. These are stripped automatically so you don't have to clean the text first.

Input	Parsed as
`GPS: 42.7335, -84.5555`	`42.7335, -84.5555`
`Location: Amarillo, TX`	`Amarillo, TX`
`Coordinates: 35.5 / -97.4`	`35.5 / -97.4`
`Lat/Lon: 42.73, -84.56`	`42.73, -84.56`

Resolver priority order

The search tries each resolver in order and uses the first match:

Decimal / DMS / cardinal coordinates
NWS LAT…LON fragment
Plus Code — decoded locally
Map URL (Google Maps, Apple Maps, OSM, goo.gl shortlinks)
Known code — NWS WFO office IDs and radar IDs resolved from local reference tables
UGC county/zone codes
Relative location — distance + bearing + reference point
External geocoder — addresses, city names, airport identifiers, and other free-text searches Bolt cannot satisfy locally

Approximate results

Some results are approximate by design. UGC zones use a representative point plus a bounding box, relative locations are projected from a reference point, and pasted warning polygons use the polygon centroid instead of drawing the full polygon.

Tips

For the fastest and most precise result, use decimal coordinates.
If a city search returns the wrong city, add the state or country (Springfield, IL vs Springfield).
Use 4-letter airport codes when possible if a 3-letter code collides with a WFO or radar identifier.
After placing a pin, click Focus pin to re-center the map on it. Click Remove pin to clear it.