Davis Instruments Weather Club
June/July 2000

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Here's a quick preview of this month's contents:
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Oregon Fire Fighters use weather data to "Be Prepared"...Maintaining a healthy console...Help for editing archived weather data...Enjoy!

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Cool Ap: Fire Fighters use weather data to "Be Prepared"
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Fire season arrived in the western US earlier that usual this year. With rain out of the forecast until fall, firefighters now face months of high fire danger. We spoke with Jeff Schwanke of the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) Southwest District to learn how weather affects fire fighting strategy.

Jeff told us that fire behavior changes with the weather. When the temperature exceeds 90 degrees F or the humidity drops below 20%, fires burn more intensely and spread more rapidly. Fire fighting tactics used at lower temperatures may not be appropriate at higher temperatures. This makes knowing the current weather conditions even more important.

The ODF Southwest District tracks the local weather conditions with a Davis Weather Monitor II. Their installation uploads the data to the District's website and ties into the e-mail and paging system. When conditions exceed fire danger thresholds, the staff gets an e-mail alerting them. If they are out of the office, their pager goes off. Jeff told us that having instant access to current conditions allows the ODF to fine tune their fire response. As an added bonus, local residents and other state groups can access the weather conditions on the website as well.

For more information on the ODF Southwest District see http://www.odf.state.or.us/swo/. To see their weathercam and current weather conditions go to http://swo.odf.state.or.us/.

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Tech Tip: Protect your console from heat stress and other irregularities
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In previous newsletters we've discussed the care and installation of outdoor sensors. But what about the display console that's indoors? Can you put it anywhere?

Microclimates abound in the home: bathrooms, kitchens, basements, attics and the other rooms have individual character and individual conditions. For the best performance, install your console in a stable environment. Look for a location away from sources of heat or cold. Stoves, ovens, lamps, and other appliances, heating vents, windows, sunlight and even external walls can create extra heat near your display, resulting in higher (and false) inside temperature readings. Likewise, air conditioning vents, windows and maybe a refrigerator can cause your console to read a little low. In extreme heat your LCD display will temporarily turn black. (The console's electronics will still be working fine.) As the LCD screen cools, its regular appearance will return.

It's also common for a display in the kitchen or bedroom to register higher humidity because of water boiling on the stove or steam coming from the bathroom.

There may not be a "perfect" spot for your display, just use your good judgement. After all, the idea is to enjoy your weather station!

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Reader's Write: An answer to editing archived weather data.
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Last month we shared Roger's request for programming help. Roger was looking for a program that would help him edit his weather data more efficiently. One club member said he'd try to help Roger. We haven't heard from either of them again, so we presume they're hard at work. Here are a couple of the other responses.

Chuck wrote:
>I don't know of an off-the-shelf program, but it would not take too much to make one, assuming he's using either text files or a standard database format such as DBase or Access to store data.

Bob wrote:
> don't have the answer to Roger's question but I have wondered the same thing many times. I can fill in the missing data from neighbor's stations or the regional weather service but how do we do it?

Well, Bob, it's pretty easy. WeatherLink has a Browse feature that lets you look through your data and edit it. The Browse function is accessed through the yellow notepad icon or through the Window Menu (Not Windows the operating system, but the Window menu) pull down list. When you select Browse, a new menu called Browse shows up on the menu bar. Your raw data is displayed in the window. Highlight the date you want, then use the pull down list to choose edit. That day's data will appear in a menu box where you can edit it. When you are done, click next or close the window.

If you have a question that you think would make a good newsletter topic, we'd like to hear it. Send it to news@davisnet.com.