Methods and articles of manufacture for estimating or deriving weather observations/conditions for any given location using observed weather conditions from neighboring locations, radar data, lightning data, satellite imagery, etc. An initial estimate of weather conditions for a location is made based on a downscaling process using the current conditions the neighboring locations. A measure of corroboration between the radar data and surface weather conditions at official observing stations may be established. Through the results of the downscaling process, radar calibration statistics and estimates of ground-based precipitation, the corroboration can be iteratively tuned, resulting in a weather conditions vector containing associated meteorological fields for locations that lie between or near the sparse network of official observing sites from which an estimate of the weather conditions may be made.