National Geographic’s Map Machine

This week’s FamilyFirst pick is one I just happened to have stumbled upon (as so many of them are). I’ll be getting on a plane Sunday to fly to Raleigh, North Carolina for a week of training. I’ve never been there before, so I wanted to check out the area beforehand.
Sure, there’s Google Maps, and the granddaddy of them all, Mapquest. But I found a map service by one of my all-time favorite bunch of folks: National Geographic.
The site is called National Geographic’s Map Machine. It’s pretty cool indeed.

You start with an overview of the world. You move to the continent you want to explore, then start zooming in to your target.
Or, you can simply punch in an address.
Here’s what’s REALLY cool: Once you get to the area you want, you can call up all sorts of maps. For instance, satellite shots, physical maps, weather, natural disasters, vegetation, environmental threats, trip planning, and a whole slew more!
It’s exactly the excellence we’ve come to expect from National Geographic.
It also confirms what I’ve always suspected: that northwest Arkansas is not really in “tornado alley”. The overview shows most tornadoes missing us (although they did note the F3 that hit my house this past March!).
Enjoy today’s FamilyFirst site as yet another excellent mapping service.
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine