"It wasn't lying on the ground. It was simply gone, without a trace. The lightning bolt must have vaporized the whole darned thing," David remembers.

Don't worry, David's Weather Monitor II was fine, and all the Thayer's various dogs and cats eventually calmed down. But David tells us, "I don't think I'll brag to people any more about how we don't get violent thunderstorms out here like we used to have in New Mexico…"

Weather Check Quiz Question 3: Florida and New Mexico may see lots of thunderstorms, but where is the world capital of lightning?

Extra Credit: We know that it's a good idea to get in or stay in a car (not a convertible) during a thunderstorm. Some think this is because the rubber tires insulate the vehicle from the electric charge. Do you agree?

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Five Ways to Convince the Board
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Usually our readers, in their wisdom and compassion, have more than a few solutions to problems posed by their fellow weather enthusiasts. However, Terry Stick's problem seems to have stumped you all. He's the guy who wants to install his weather station on his Florida condominium and needs to convince the board of directors to allow him to install the station on the roof.

So, here are our five best suggestions:

1. Explain that, in the event of a hurricane or other extreme weather, a very local weather station with accessible, real time data would be invaluable both before the event and after. Gene Kramer, who uses a Vantage Pro in his work at the Freeburg (Illinois) Emergency Services Disaster Agency, told us that his agency often gets calls from insurance companies after a severe weather phenomenon. When Kramer can provide proof of the event, insurance companies are much more apt to reimburse claims quickly.
2. Reiterate number one, with emphasis on the words hurricane and real-time and maybe, insurance.
3. Point out the aesthetically pleasing properties of the Vantage Pro. The spinning wind cups are more fun to watch than the Home Shopping Network.
4. Offer to include a photo of the condominium complex, complete with weather station, on your web page.
5. Bring your station to a meeting. Let the members each look at the console and see what it can do. That ought to do it

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New Leaf & Soil Moisture/Temp Stations Take Guesswork Out of Growing
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Drum roll, please! The new Davis Wireless Leaf & Soil Moisture/Temperature Stations are here! Turf-managers, farmers, and gardeners will be turning cartwheels over their wheelbarrows when they discover what a great help the new stations, designed for use with the Vantage Pro, will be in making decisions about irrigation and pest control. The new stations feature Watermark® soil moisture sensors made by Irrometer, and can use up to three sensors with a single station. Moisture and temperature sensors are sold separately, so growers can build the station of their leafy dreams.

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Leave a Child in an Unattended Vehicle? Never!
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Much too often we are devastated to hear of yet another tragedy involving a child left unattended or accidentally trapped in a hot car. Last year, 34 children in the United States died of hyperthermia after being left unattended in vehicles. Here in the Bay Area, a five-month-old baby died after being left in a car on an 86-degree day just a few weeks ago.

In an effort to help prevent future tragedies like this, Jan Null, Certified Consulting Meteorologist, is using a Davis Weather Station to determine just how hot-and how quickly-it gets inside vehicles compared to the ambient temperature.

"The numbers I am getting are quite an eye opener," says Jan. "For example, on May 24th, another 86 degree day, the shaded temperature inside my car rose from 84 to 109 in just ten minutes, then up to 119 after 20 minutes. It stabilized between 125 and 130 after 30 minutes. The temperature in direct sunlight in the car rose to 141 degrees after 10 minutes, 148 after 20 minutes, and topped out at 153 at 30 minutes."

Clearly, there is no safe duration for leaving a child in a car. "109 degrees would basically be a lethal temperature if you're left in there for an extended period of time," he added.

Jan knows how important it is to inform parents and caregivers of the danger of a child being left in vehicle, even for only a few minutes. He has reported his results on several local television shows and in Bay Area newspapers.

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You're Brilliant! Answers to Quiz Questions
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Question 1: The science of baseball statistics is called Sabermetrics, after the Society of American Baseball Research or SABR. According to Andy, their numbers continually note that performances have to be adjusted for Coors Field.

Question 2: : ET stands for Evapotranspiration, also written as ETo. It is a measurement of the amount of water vapor returned to the air in a given area. It combines the amount of water vapor returned through evaporation (water leaving the earth) with the amount of water vapor returned through transpiration (water leaving plants) to arrive at a total for the area. Effectively, ETo is the opposite of rainfall, and is expressed in the same units of measure. The Vantage Pro Plus and Gro Weather stations use the Penman-Montieth method, as implemented by CIMIS, taking air temperature, relative humidity, wind run, pressure, and solar radiation data to calculate ET. And it doesn't want to call home. That's from a movie, silly.

Question 3: You like lightning? Move to Singapore, where there are 171 thunderstorm days (days on which one can hear thunder) a year.

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Who You Gonna Call?
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Each month after the E-News goes out, we receive messages back. Sometimes the messages are in response to a story we shared; other times they are a request for help of some kind. We read all the emails, answer those we can, and pass the rest on to the appropriate departments.