That's No Moon, It's a Weather Station!

 

To me, the greatest resource and attribute a severe weather spotter can possess is accurate wind speed measuring. Unfortunately in my history of spotting that attribute has been, to be honest, inaccurate. My existing Davis Instruments Vantage Vue weather station, installed in July, 2012, has been a good unit. Wind speed indications, however, have always appeared slightly lower than other readings reported from other weather stations, TV reports, etc. Part of the problem probably is the fact a hill at Bowman Woods Park, laden with mature trees, rises to almost roof height behind our house. This hill, and the trees probably provided protection to our house from damage during the serious derecho event on August 10, 2020. Because of the continuing wind speed discrepancy, I began to peruse other upgrade alternatives. One of the choices was the ultrasonic wind sensor, which uses 4-6 sensors to determine wind direction and speed, and has no moving parts (wind vane, anemometer cups). Some of these products cost in the $1,000-2,000 range, and that was not in my budget. After some research, I found the wireless Tempest Weatherflow weather station. Resembling a large microphone, the compact station uses the ultrasonic wind technology, and includes many other features such as: temperature, dew point, humidity, air pressure, lightning detection, rain amounts, UV strengths and reading histories. The price for the unit is around $350. My objective for purchasing the new station was not to replace the old one, but to supplement it. I would also mount the new station to the old. My new Tempest Weather station arrived in early January, but obviously with the cold and snow on the roof, installation would have to wait for better conditions. Better conditions came on February 20, with high temperatures reaching 58 degrees F in Cedar Rapids. Above, the installation components are laid out on a table on February 18. They are: A. 1.25 inch X 5 foot galvanized steel mast pole. B. Four foot copper lightning ground spike. C. Tempest Weatherflow box. D. Hose clamps. E. Copper wire connecter (lightning ground). F. Wireless Wi-Fi hub. G. Hub AC cord and plug. H. 50 foot insulated copper wire. I. Pole mount adapter. J. Tempest Weatherflow unit. K. U-bolts and hardware.

Tempest Weatherflow weather station, coupled with existing Davis Instruments Vantage Vue station. February 20, 2022.

View of the pairing from the opposite angle, with the Bowman Woods Park hill seen at background left. 

After a brief lull with 2.4 GHz wi-fi connectivity issues with our internet provider, the Tempest Weatherflow station was finally online and operational on February 22. Above is the first smart phone readout. Wind speeds from this station show slightly higher wind speeds than the Vantage Vue.

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Winter's Broad Brush Stroke

A broad swath of brilliantly colored sky appeared in an otherwise cold winter's realm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa during the evening of Monday, February 8, 2022. Above, the western sky is photographed from Bowman Woods Park at 5:34 pm CST, three minutes after official sunset. 

Similar capture at 5:36 pm. With the sun continuing to dip lower below the horizon, and with clouds moving in, the vivid scene diminished to dimming grays in just a few minutes. Air temperature was 37 degrees F. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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