Personal weather station info - north Florida

A little while back I installed a Personal Weather Station here at home and I specifically picked one that would upload the data online to a couple of websites that keep the records available for viewing historically. The model I bought is the Ambient Weather WS-2000.

At one time the weather geekiness in me almost got me to where I wanted to manually write down this sort of info, at least on a daily minimum/maximum temperatures basis, but this is a WHOLE lot more detailed and comprehensive.

Here is the link to the publicly viewable dashboard for this PWS:

https://dashboard.ambientweather.net...aee6ac1a9d62be

I don't see how the windspeed indicator is much use, however, as it seems to fluctuate so much that I'm not sure it is even accurate. I'm guessing that the sensor is just too sensitive and moves from any minor gust.

As an instructor in long range precision rifle work, I can tell you unequivocally that the wind constantly varies as a result of several superimposed cycles. If you watch a field of long grass you can see a variable flow along the wind's main path, with intersecting zephyrs that seem random, but are not. If there are nearby obstructions, wind will pile up air pressure against the obstacle, then ebb in the opposite direction as the speed drops. It can be very complex and is a science of its own. At 1,000 yards, even a 1 MPH wind change can be 8 to 10 inches to the bullet, so we've had to really study this aspect.

To record realistic values, there has to be an averaging factor, since almost no instantaneous value will be truly representative of what it's doing. Does your weather station have software selectable averaging functions? If so, you might want to slow the response time to get a better view of "average".

That makes sense. But as far as I can tell, this unit doesn't have any option to average the wind direction indicator. Supposedly the sensor itself is dampened to where only windspeeds of 2 to 3 mph will move the indicator, but it sure seems to me that it is moving enough such that lower wind speeds are affecting it.

Probably the location it is set up in isn't the best. I really don't have much in the way of a wide open space around here, so I had to do the best I could. Tall trees all around and the garage about 30 ft. away to the northeast of the sensor. Would be nice to have it above tree top level, but it would be quite the challenge when it came time to replace the batteries at the top of an 70 ft. pole.

You can always pop a smoke and see what's really happening. <grin>

It does sound like you have a bit of an obstruction issue. Maybe consider putting it on/above the garage roof. There are a multitude of light-duty antenna mounts that would support the anemometer assembly. The idea of mounting it on the roof would be to eliminate one of your 'hard' obstacles and maybe give you a realistic view of what's going on.

I suspect that the damping is electronic and the device is intended to ignore low level signals. Were it a mechanical resistance to low level winds, such that movement was hindered, it seems unlikely that you would get long term precision measurements. I'd think that's why you see it move with minimal wind.

Well, I'm not sure that would really gain me a whole lot. The peak of my garage roof is 14 ft. off of the ground. Trees completely surround the garage that are a LOT taller than that. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, this video I took shows a bird's eye view from directly above my garage at around the 2:35 mark.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8AfMID2WKw

There is really nowhere on my property I could mount the PWS at a feasible and accessible height that would not have the wind obstructed by one thing or another.

So I guess I just have to live with what I've got concerning the wind direction sensor. Likely the obstructions affect the wind speed indicator too, I suppose. But best I can do. As I said, not really interested in putting a 75 foot tall pole or tower just for something like this.

Terrible fire.

Cool video from your drone though.

I can see your point about not gaining much. Although you would eliminate most of the garage influence if you could get a few feet above the peak, the trees will still cause swirls independent of the structure.

Actually I just changed the batteries in the PWS today. Easy enough where it is located now, but having it 16+ feet up in the air (my tallest ladder is only 12 ft tall), doing that every few months is not really something I care to do.

I guess I will just have to live without having an accurate local indicator of wind direction and speed.