Tips for GOOD weather observations
So, you have the weather bug. Your curiosity is piqued with enough interest to check this page out. Good! The meteorological community in Maine needs people like you. The wonderful thing about this is the whole family can get involved, no matter what age. Storms happen. Droughts happen. Weather is ever evolving and changing. Knowing how to report it and when is important.
SKYWARN Spotters
There are a lot of misconceptions about weather reporting. The important thing is to know what you are talking about when you pass along an observation. SKYWARN training seminars are offered by both the National Weather Service Caribou and Gray offices, in the spring and fall for severe weather for summer and winter. If you pay attention to the discussions here, they will be posted for dates and times. Since the pandemic, the sessions have taken place virtually. You can sit at home in comfort and watch informative presentations. You will be issued a SKYWARN ID that will be used to report your observations, either via social media, email, website, or telephone. The sessions last about 90 minutes. They will enlighten and teach you many things and will be vitally important in the process of accurate reporting. The sessions are FREE, and it costs nothing to participate.
|
CoCoRaHS Precipitation Reporting
CoCoRaHS is another important part of weather observation. This is hands on manual reporting of rain, hail and snow totals done the old-fashioned way with a Stratus rain gauge and a snow board. Maine has 110 observers covering over 36,500 square miles which is nowhere near enough. With radar usually enhancing precipitation amounts too much and many digital personal weather stations not accurately measuring rainfall, the tried, tested and true way of gathering data is by eyeball measurement. There is an artform to it, one that can be easily learned, and the information is invaluable. It's about $40 for the Stratus rain gauge plus a piece of wood and paint for a snow board. Observations are recorded via a phone app or on the CoCoRaHS website.
|
Personal Weather Stations
I could write a novel based on my experience with these devices. I've owned several. I see how these operate in the field and through observation networks. I am an unabashed believer in Davis Instruments based on all of this. They are rugged, durable, dependable, versatile, and most importantly, accurate. They are more than a personal weather station; they are weather research quality. I've been doing this forecasting thing for over a decade now. I have turned into a data accuracy snob. I look to these stations for accurate information on the Citizens Weather Observer Program (CWOP) via the National Weather Service, and those stations listed on Davis's own Weatherlink.com website. I've used lesser quality stations by other manufacturers, and they don't last as long, have the options, or the quality of data and backup as Davis does.
|
In August of 2022 I upgraded to the station seen above here. I was able to find one at a great price through Scientific Sales. After 38 months the humidity sensor failed on the all-in-one Vantage Vue that I had previously. This station is easily maintainable, can switch out bad individual sensors without effort saving money in the long run, and has proven over the years to work without failure even in the strongest of severe conditions. The wireless WeatherLink Live set up is a breeze to set up for wireless use and taps into your existing Wi-Fi seamlessly. It will back up data for a week in case of power loss. There is no other weather station on the market that can do that. Data back up for a year on Davis's own cloud runs $50 per year. No question that it is an investment, but compared to the lifespan of cheaper stations, this pays for itself over time. Ask others who own one. They'll tell you.
Oh, and if you think Weather Underground is sufficient for you, I lost six years of data from two different weather stations when they upgraded a server. That was the last straw with them. Never again will I trust a company for free data storage. |
CWOP data for Station FW5429 via National Weather Service
This is data from my location in Kennebunk, Maine
Map of CWOP stations around the world
Any questions? Please message me!
Proudly powered by Weebly