My Weather Station

The main goal of the site at first was just a way to monitor the weather conditions at my house while either at work or on the road.

As time progressed I have learned a bit from other amateur weather hobbist and the elements they have included on their own sites.

I have lately began adding and updating some of the features to give some additional details and things of interest to me & others.
Most recently added a lightning detector to the weather station and links to other amateur weather stations that monitor lightning not only locally but world wide.

 

The Weather Station Elements:

The weather station unit is a Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus with FARS (Fan-Aspirated Radiation Shield). The VP2 Pro Plus station collects; temperature, humidity, dewpoint, barometer, rainfall, rainfall rate, Solar Raditation, U.V. Index and windspeed and direction with 10 min averages.

This unit being wireless lends itself to a easy installation project for almost anyone. Next is the software for displaying your data in a web environment without having to know or understand a great deal about HTML code. This little gem of software is Amibents Virtual Weather Station ( Internet Edition ). It doesn't hurt to have some web language experience either.

The Boltek lightning detector is a device that will monitor lightning strikes within roughy 300 miles of my location. It has the ability to sound alarms of approaching storms and post live strikes to my site. Living in Phoenix Arizona there is only a few months of the year when monitoring lightning is at it's highest levels and interesting to monitor.

Astrogenic Nexstorm is a software application that I use to enchance the features of the Boltek lightning detector for posting it's data to the site. And you can do this either as scheduled static image or via java applet for near real time observations.

Aninoquisi provides the TempTracker software which decodes coded METAR data and displays the weather conditions in near real time. This piece of software does an excellent job of providing easily understood an eye appealing map of weather information. Very quick and easy to configure & change, a truely drag & drop piece of software.

StrikeStar is a network of Boltek lightning detectors around the United States and Canada. These detectors all send their data to a central server where the StrikeStar software developed by Astrogenic Systems triangulates their data and presents the results in near real-time

StormPredator software provides the radar tracking images from the National Weather Service.

     

    NEW Additions

    12/01/08 Recently added a Weather Hawk Station as a backup. Since it's a refurb unit, it's running in test mode to be sure the calibration is correct and has reliable data output. It's currently mounted on a tripod in the corner of the back yard not the greatest location. Once I have time will mount in close proximity of the Davis VP2 for direction comparisons. One nice feature I wish the Davis VP2 had is that it reports battery charge level.

     

    Station Hardware & Software Overview

    Clicking on the items below will take to the approriate website for additional information.

     

    Website Disclaimer

    Please note that this data is provided for your and my enjoyment only. DO NOT use the information provided here for the protection of life or property. If you see lightning or hear thunder take immediate precautions!

    Powered by WebRing.