JeffA and I derailed the SpaceX thread with a discussion of home weather stations. He and I both use units from Davis. I have a Vantage VUE and he has a Vantage Pro. Both are nearly professional quality with tons of features. I also have a unit by Accu-Rite that I have mounted in the kitchen. It's more basic, showing indoor and outdoor temps, humidity, barometer, moon phase, time and date. Of all the many cheap units I've owned over the years, the Accu-Rite is the best so far - but it is nowhere near the unit that my Davis is.
Any of you have a home weather station? How do you use it?
I have an indoor/outdoor thermometer. Inside the "receiving" unit there lives a tiny little man who randomly creates a number for the outside temperature, much in the manner that the National Weather Circus employs to issue warnings.
I became a weather nut because I was going to be a pilot. Took Meteorology 101 in college (which my advisor could NOT understand, being I was an English Lit major!) But that course paid off well, as I could ask intelligent questions of USAF weather guys, and interpret the answers.
It's just an interest now, of course. But my Davis is one of the first things I check every morning, and I look at it many times during the day as I sit here at my desktop 'pooter. That and the Weather Service website. But the original and still champion weather device is still the good old Mk-1 eyeball. From my deck, I can see a darkening in the southwest, which means we might - oh, PLEASE! - finally get a few drops. Lately, the forecast has been T'storms all over Utah EBO*
The Davis units are the best bang for the buck if it's near your house. Out in our fields we've used Climate Minder, Ranch Systems, and AgSense. These all cost thousands of dollars and use cell reception to send the info to a desktop. Honestly, the Davis systems do 90% of what these do.
I have a LaCrosse unit that I can't say is dead reliable, but the customer service is exceptional. Two new wind vanes, and a base unit no questions. Reminds me, the rain gauge quit again.
I have a LaCrosse unit that I can't say is dead reliable, but the customer service is exceptional. Two new wind vanes, and a base unit no questions. Reminds me, the rain gauge quit again.
Glad you're happy with them.
Rain gauge took a dive a year or so back, when I checked into it online support for that model had been discontinued. Kinda sucked being as how it was only about 2.5-3 years old.
the rest, including the anemometer still work OK, although I had to move the temp sending unit closer to the house. Under the back patio actually, which sits to the West where the sun beams in after 1600 hrs or so.
Originally Posted by huntsman22
I use the Davis Vantage Pro2. It is a lying SOB. It tells me only 5.15 inches of rain has fell here, year to date....
Oh wait. Maybe it's right. We ARE in frigging drought.....
Ha, we're winning the drought race here. 3.90" year to date ! According to the NWS at the airport station in town. Probably drier here as they had a couple of rain events this past week. About 0.04" total over 3 days.
we had enough to show the drops in the dust on the vehicles.
Based on y'all's recommendations, I may look into those Davis units in the future.
When I was a kid (1940's) I remember my grandmother having a weather indicator that was similar to a cuckoo clock. It had a board type ledge that would protrude from the front of it sticking out at 90 degree angle from the face, when it was supposed to rain there was a figure (an old woman if I remember correctly) would come out and when it was supposed to be nice it would rotate back into the clock 180 degrees and the board would there was a different figure would emerge (can't remember what it was).
I hadn't thought of that for years but now that I have I am wondering how it worked? I am also wondering if anyone else remembers one of those.
Oh! By the way. I am using a 20 year old Lacrosse and it is good enough for what I need to know.
drover
edit - google found a similar looking one but it operates on batteries which still leaves me wondering how the old ones worked, I am positive that they did not run on AA's in the 1940's
I became a weather nut because I was going to be a pilot. Took Meteorology 101 in college (which my advisor could NOT understand, being I was an English Lit major!) But that course paid off well, as I could ask intelligent questions of USAF weather guys, and interpret the answers.
It's just an interest now, of course. But my Davis is one of the first things I check every morning, and I look at it many times during the day as I sit here at my desktop 'pooter. That and the Weather Service website. But the original and still champion weather device is still the good old Mk-1 eyeball. From my deck, I can see a darkening in the southwest, which means we might - oh, PLEASE! - finally get a few drops. Lately, the forecast has been T'storms all over Utah EBO*
I have worked as a meteorologist for over 32 years now. Out of the three meteorologists I supervise, two are former A.F. Weather Officers. I will retire in 3 months after working with state government for 30 years. I am SO looking forward to retirement and doing my own thing from then on. I also taught Meteorology 101 when I was in graduate school at N.C. State.
Davis Instruments is good stuff. As is R.M. Young. Actually, many of the off-the-shelf weather stations are pretty decent these days. What used to cost thousands of dollars can now be purchased for a few hundred. And I don't even have weather station - heck, not even a rain gauge! Blasphemy, for sure.
Smart man for following the National Weather Service - that's where I go to to get my forecasts (my work is in air pollution modeling, not forecasting - I can't forecast my way out of a wet paper sack). One of the folks I supervise (female AF weather officer augments the forecasters down the hall from time to time). The NWS folks work on preparing forecasts 24 hours a day, so they are usually your best bet for an accurate forecast.
Oh, just as a point of info: relative humidity sensors (hygrometers) in any weather station, home or otherwise, are the least accurate and reliable measurement in the system - nothing more than a decent estimate. "Ground truth" is a sling psychrometer.
If you live in Alabama you'll only rely on James Spann for your weather information, he'll let you know there might be a chance of rain right after a tornado blows your fuqking trailer into Mississipi.
Oh, just as a point of info: relative humidity sensors (hygrometers) in any weather station, home or otherwise, are the least accurate and reliable measurement in the system - nothing more than a decent estimate. "Ground truth" is a sling psychrometer.
We're so dry out here, when mine reads 5% and the NWS one in town says 6% I figure we're pretty close to actual conditions
My wife is a weather fanatic, so I got her a LaCrosse station about eighteen years ago. It worked and the PC interface was nice, but it only lasted six or seven years. I replaced it with a Davis Vantage Vue and it's been good, but had to be repaired about five years ago. That sort of thing has to be expected from time to time, I guess. It's a damn good unit.
Both farmers on my land have several placed throughout the farms. I havenāt paid attention to the name brand but they are 2 different models. I have apps on my phone which allow me to monitor data, both here on this farm as well as the other farm which is 200 miles up the road. Best thing about them from my perspective is that I donāt have to wonder about rainfall amounts. I havenāt asked what they cost.
When I was a kid (1940's) I remember my grandmother having a weather indicator that was similar to a cuckoo clock. It had a board type ledge that would protrude from the front of it sticking out at 90 degree angle from the face, when it was supposed to rain there was a figure (an old woman if I remember correctly) would come out and when it was supposed to be nice it would rotate back into the clock 180 degrees and the board would there was a different figure would emerge (can't remember what it was).
I hadn't thought of that for years but now that I have I am wondering how it worked? I am also wondering if anyone else remembers one of those.
Oh! By the way. I am using a 20 year old Lacrosse and it is good enough for what I need to know.
drover
edit - google found a similar looking one but it operates on batteries which still leaves me wondering how the old ones worked, I am positive that they did not run on AA's in the 1940's
Those are easy, lots of stuff reacts to moisture by expanding and contracting.
I've had greenhouse vents that opened and closed with a strip of leather. Wet, the leather relaxes and expands which would close the vents. After drying out the leather contracts opening the vents. In that instance, gravity assisted in the closing of the vents, open would be their default status.
Rain Bird sells a device today that shuts off your lawn sprinkler if it's raining, it's just a stack of cork disc's that swell when wet and close your water valve, once dried the valve is wide open.
Anytime you can create movement it can be manipulated through unique linkage or gear reduction and possibly springs.
The slightest turn of a tiny gear that's in position to turn a series of larger and larger gears can create as much movement as you desire, just keep adding larger gears.
The weather device you point at with your link might be a lot more like your grandmother's than you think.
I don't see anywhere that it calls for batteries?
It's operated by a strand of twisted gut that spins the turntable the figurines are affix to when expanded or contracted by humidity.
Your question is very relevant to this thread, weather detection and prediction isn't all rocket science you know.
mine is one of those LaCrosse units. All I expect of it is a rough guess as to what is happening. I can look out to see if it's raining. I can step out to gauge the temp. I don't really value high accuracy with weather info.
When I was a kid (1940's) I remember my grandmother having a weather indicator that was similar to a cuckoo clock. It had a board type ledge that would protrude from the front of it sticking out at 90 degree angle from the face, when it was supposed to rain there was a figure (an old woman if I remember correctly) would come out and when it was supposed to be nice it would rotate back into the clock 180 degrees and the board would there was a different figure would emerge (can't remember what it was).
I hadn't thought of that for years but now that I have I am wondering how it worked? I am also wondering if anyone else remembers one of those.
Oh! By the way. I am using a 20 year old Lacrosse and it is good enough for what I need to know.
drover
edit - google found a similar looking one but it operates on batteries which still leaves me wondering how the old ones worked, I am positive that they did not run on AA's in the 1940's
Those are easy, lots of stuff reacts to moisture by expanding and contracting.
I've had greenhouse vents that opened and closed with a strip of leather. Wet, the leather relaxes and expands which would close the vents. After drying out the leather contracts opening the vents. In that instance, gravity assisted in the closing of the vents, it'd be their default status.
Rain Bird sells a device today that shuts off your lawn sprinkler if it's raining, it's just a stack of cork disc's that swell when wet and close your water valve, once dried the valve is wide open.
Anytime you can create movement it can be manipulated through unique linkage or gear reduction and possibly springs.
The slightest turn of a tiny gear that's in position to turn a series of larger and larger gears can create as much movement as you desire, just keep adding larger gears.
The weather device you point at with your link might be a lot more like your grandmother's than you think.
I don't see anywhere that it calls for batteries?
It's operated by a strand of twisted gut that spins the turntable the figurines are affix to when expanded or contracted by humidity.
Your question is very relevant to this thread, weather detection and prediction isn't all rocket science you know.
Thanks, that makes sense, guess I hadn't given it enough thought.
The one I linked looked most like the one my grandmother had (at least in my foggy memory). I had looked at a couple of others and they were battery operated so I mixed them up when I was typing my question.
My wife is a weather fanatic, so I got her a LaCrosse station about eighteen years ago. It worked and the PC interface was nice, but it only lasted six or seven years. I replaced it with a Davis Vantage Vue and it's been good, but had to be repaired about five years ago. That sort of thing has to be expected from time to time, I guess. It's a damn good unit.
Sad that we've come to expect failures of electronic type equipment. Probably due to all the features included in one unit.
I remember one Monkey Wards AM/FM/Weather, and I think it may have even had a Marine Band, radio I had for 20+ years and the only issue was I somehow snapped the antenna and had to piece it together with a coat hanger. If I hadn't lost it in one of my many moves, it likely would still be working.
Now, I get that LaCross unit in 2017 or so and by 2020/21 they are no longer supporting the rain gauge when it went out.
I have an Acurite also and it keeps me happy with accurate weather info. But being a real weather nut, I know Davis is the way to go!
Do you guys have your Davis stations hooked up to the internet? There are a lot of them in Montana, but most people don't keep them working as good as needed. How about cameras? Any of those ?
I wish this subject hadn't ben been brought up! Now I am going to have to sell something to buy what I need!
Mine isn't connected. If I remember, that was an extra-cost option and I declined it. I'm only a few miles from the Ogden Airport official weather reporting station, so adding my unit's readings wouldn't be of much value.
My wife is a weather fanatic, so I got her a LaCrosse station about eighteen years ago. It worked and the PC interface was nice, but it only lasted six or seven years. I replaced it with a Davis Vantage Vue and it's been good, but had to be repaired about five years ago. That sort of thing has to be expected from time to time, I guess. It's a damn good unit.
Sad that we've come to expect failures of electronic type equipment. Probably due to all the features included in one unit.
I remember one Monkey Wards AM/FM/Weather, and I think it may have even had a Marine Band, radio I had for 20+ years and the only issue was I somehow snapped the antenna and had to piece it together with a coat hanger. If I hadn't lost it in one of my many moves, it likely would still be working.
Now, I get that LaCross unit in 2017 or so and by 2020/21 they are no longer supporting the rain gauge when it went out.
First world problems I guess.
I think it is the complexity, Geno. An old radio like that might have had a couple or three dozen transistors in it and a dozen or so diodes. This microprocessor-controlled stuff could have many thousands of semiconductors etched in various chips. Newer stuff these days is even more complex. Lots of places for potential failure. I think it really depends on the manufacturing class of the product, too. An example of high reliability is avionics (Class 3) The stuff will fail occasionally, but it's still extraordinarily reliable compared to consumer electronics (Class 1)---which in itself is usually fairly reliable.
I have an Acurite also and it keeps me happy with accurate weather info. But being a real weather nut, I know Davis is the way to go!
Do you guys have your Davis stations hooked up to the internet? There are a lot of them in Montana, but most people don't keep them working as good as needed. How about cameras? Any of those ?
I wish this subject hadn't ben been brought up! Now I am going to have to sell something to buy what I need!
Originally Posted by JeffA
Originally Posted by 1minute
Sound like neat instruments.
I just look out the window.
I just roll over in bed and click this link from wherever I might be at the time. Years worth of detailed weather history.
My wife is a weather fanatic, so I got her a LaCrosse station about eighteen years ago. It worked and the PC interface was nice, but it only lasted six or seven years. I replaced it with a Davis Vantage Vue and it's been good, but had to be repaired about five years ago. That sort of thing has to be expected from time to time, I guess. It's a damn good unit.
20 years with my Vantage Pro2, notta problem......yet.
OK, I'm gonna cheat here. Below is a re-post from a previous but recent obscure thread.
I firmly feel I can predict/detect local tornados in my area due to data from my personal weather station.
Tornados are nasty buggers and not easily predicted.
If you read up on it, our weather alert systems are quite dependent on people calling and reporting them once they touch down before they even send out warnings.
I just use what I learn to gain a few minutes of time to secure my own property and myself.
Call me crazy if you want but I somewhat predicted SpaceX's delayed launch day before yesterday from my weather station data and personal observations, ask Rocky.
I posted my thoughts right here in these threads before SpaceX even mentioned the problem and called the delay.
RE-POST STARTS HERE...
I had the wind cups break off of the one I have in Akaska, it's sitting right on the Bering Sea shoreline. The cups sheared off during a fall storm, the last recorded wind data read 102mph, it exceeded its limit.
I wish they had a pressure drop alarm that was easy to set.
I'm alway up and monitoring these squalls that blow in off the gulf. It's daily this time of year and the most of them are extremely violent but short lived. Most often the associated lighting and thunder goes non-stop as they pass over. They are typically gone in a matter of a few minutes, the rain can be anywhere from fractional to a few inches.
You can scroll back through my online data and see last month on the 23rd at 7:29pm it was raining 5.49 inches an hour, we received 2 inches of rain inside a 20 minute window and then the storm was gone.
I'll boot up a radar image on a 30 inch monitor I have and watch these storms out over the bay from a picture window in my living room, they're amazing.
They are interesting to see but it's pressure drop on my weather stations monitor that I pay close attention to.
I can tell when one of these squalls has spawned a tornado by a rapid extreme pressure drop.
One of the last significant tornados I watched form was back in March, the pressure had dropped like a rock, it was right over me. I didn't know exactly where it might touch down but I knew it was close. I went out and secured anything loose and moved the rigs and rvs out from under the trees.
It touched down a few short miles north of me, by the time I got back inside it was on the news... Ā Tornado with winds up to 110 MPH originated in Dunnellon and tore through southwest and central Marion County on the morning of March 12, causing more than $15 million in property damage...
....The National Weather Service radar system in Jacksonville, which typically triggers Alert Marion, has been down for planned maintenance/upgrade.
No Tornado warnings had gone out...
These tornados can result in unpredicted tidal surges that have a lot of effect on us here along the coast.
One of the most significant tornado created tidal surges with truly sad results I watched develop on this weather station was just to the south of me by 2 miles, I was up all night monitoring, it hit at 3am.
They'd just brought in the Class of 2006, apparently the first year Cranes don't mix well with the Cranes coming in on their own from previous years. They all return to the exact spot they had originally been lead to like Salmon would to their home stream. They put the 1st year birds in cages to wait until the senior birds dispersed. The tidal surge hit and they all drown in their cages in wee hours of the morning.
That storm didn't stop there, it traveled 70 miles inland with winds topping 160mph killing 21 people and doing over $200 million in damages.
Oct 16, 2018 brought us Hurricane Michael, I did a all nighter for that one too. Watching for a pressure drop and/or a storm surge. It passed me right by out in the gulf with small effect but I sat and watched it do a direct hit on Mexico Beach. I knew the town well and knew it wasn't gonna be pretty.
I was monitoring every storm chaser blog I could find online for early news and images. It took forever, power was out in Mexico Beach and for miles in both directions. The crazy guys out there driving around and filming had to go for miles to get a connection to upload their videos.
Just like one would figure, there was nothing left..
So, this personal weather station is a lot of fun but really it's more of a tool for me.
Indeed it is. After my first semester of Met 101 - where I learned about such neat things as adiabatic lapse rates and orographic uplift - the course required thermodynamics and differential equations. That left me out COMPLETELY, being math impaired as I am. But in my pilot years, I could look at a weather chart and know what it all meant. I could even make halfway decent forecasts of the big picture. Sadly, all the notation seems to have changed over half a century and most of what I see now on aviation weather sites is almost gibberish. However, I can look at a pattern of isobars and know pretty much what's coming. It's rewarding.
When my BiL was a fledgling ATC, I got a chance to look through a meteorolgical textbook he was studying. It was the first time I'd seen any kind of 3-D explanation of frontal boundaries, and it made a few light bulbs glow bright in my wuddo brain. All the 2-D maps I see since then make a lot more sense. Too bad the broadcast weather reporting doesn't use 3-D imagery. It would be much more interesting.
As mentioned Davis is the best bang for the Buck. Back around 2012, the USAF spent thousands of dollars upgrading the weather stations with Visalia brand weather stations at all of the Long Range Radar Sites across the state. I believe Visalia is Finnish company and they claimed their equipment was Arctic tested and would survive the harsh winter conditions here in Alaska. Well within a couple of months all the LRRS that were near the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean had their wind sensors freeze up. The heating element could not handle the ocean spray and I saw pictures sent to me from the contractor over the sites with upwards of 6 feet of ice hanging on the sensors.
A gentleman that did the maintenance talked with the Air Force and Visalia and he reversed engineered their system and was able to hook up the old Davis wind sensors that were previously at the sites. When I retired in 2018, they were still going strong. No clue if they are still there today.
Not sure, but I also think we had parts of a Davis system priced together as a backup we used when I contracted at Kabul.
I put up an Ambient Weather station back in 2017 down at deer camp. The main reason I did it was that there was a huge swath of area around me that had no reporting stations. You can find me by going on Weather Underground (WUnderground.com) and looking for Greater Browningsville.
The station consists of a unit that sits up on a pole collecting wind speed and direction as well as rainfall. It has two smaller units reporting on temperature and humidity-- inside the cabin as well as outside, and a little base unit that collects all the info and sends it out to Ambient Weather and Wunderground.
It is nice to have a look on my phone or PC and see what it's doing at Deer Camp. It's also nice to get a customized forecast. If it says it's going to rain at 1000, I know it means my place and not some station 20 miles away.
As I type this, my Vantage Vue tells me it's raining cats and dogs at the rate of 6.5 inches per hour. The first T'storm that has actually hit us this whole summer.
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