Quick Preview of this Month’s Contents

• New Product: Vantage Pro Updater Keeps You on the Cutting Edge
• Our E-Mailbag Runneth Over
• That Weather Man Doesn't Look a Day Over Nine
• Tech Tips: The Eensy Weensy Spider Went up the Anemometer
• Vrroom! Vrroom! Davis Weather Stations Race off to El Mirage, and Bonneville Salt Flats…
• … and to Le Mans, in Sarthe, France!
• You’re Brilliant! Answers to Quiz Questions
• Who You Gonna Call? Davis!

New Product: Vantage Pro Updater Keeps You on the Cutting Edge
Here at Davis we are very proud that our Vantage Pro weather stations are on the very cutting edge of technology. However, keeping them there is an ongoing process. Our engineering staff is constantly improving and "tweaking" our Vantage Pro system, and these improvements sometimes lead to a new version of the Vantage Pro console's firmware (the software embedded in your console).

Now Vantage Pro owners who want the very most recent version of the console firmware can download it directly to your console with our new Vantage Pro Updater. The Updater is a small, easy to use unit that plugs into the console expansion port (the same port used by the WeatherLink data logger). All it takes is a push of a button, and voila, your console is as cutting edge as they come! Future firmware releases can be downloaded from our website by connecting the Updater to your PC using the included serial cable.

Just think, with the Vantage Pro Updater, you'll never be left behind! Ah, the glories of the age of technology! The unit sells for $100.00. Check out the Updater on our website.

Weather Check Quiz Question 1: Who needs some fancy-schmancy weather station? According to antique weather lore, our pet pig, Pileus, can predict what? A. Rain, B. Blizzard, C. Flooding, D. Stock market declines.

Extra Credit: What does our dear weather- piggy's name mean?

"I went surfing (on the Internet, not the ocean!)," he wrote, "and found an interesting website where a discussion of the problem can be found. The author writes that the Geomagnetic Poles were located in 1996 at '79.3 North, 71.5 West and 79.3 South, 108.5 East respectively.' These positions are exactly opposite each other on the globe (180 - 71.5 = 108.5). But the author goes on to say: that 'the Geomagnetic Pole positions are far from where the commercial cartographers mark their so-called Magnetic Poles.'"

So, David concludes, there is evidently a problem with the locations of the magnetic poles shown on commercial maps. David added that the problem is also more complex than might be thought, as the rest of the highly scientific discussions on the web page demonstrates. The material on this web site is from: Eos Vol. 77, No. 36, September 3, 1996, pp. 345-347. © 1996 American Geophysical Union.

And Bob Bruneau wrote to say that we were correct, of course, in stating that when dew point and temperature are equal the air is saturated. (Good thing, too, or we'd have a lot of textbooks to rewrite...)

"The manifestation of this," wrote Bob, "can be fog. There's an interesting variation on this theme. When you have ground fog, for example radiation fog, as the air warms, the fog moves up and becomes (or still is, really) a cloud. The cloud forms at a higher altitude where the temperature and dew point are again equal.

"It turns out that normally the cloud layer will form at roughly 1,000 feet above ground level for each 4.4 degrees F between the ground level temperature and dew point."

This brings us to Bob's contribution to the Weather Check Quiz!

Weather Check Quiz Question 2: Bob, who is a pilot, says the FAA likes to ask a question about this on the Private Pilot written exam: "What is the approximate base of the cumulous clouds if the surface air temperature at 1,000 feet MSL is 70°F and the dewpoint is 48°F?" (MSL is aviationese for altitude, and in this case refers to the measurement being taken at a ground level elevation of 1,000' above sea level.) (A high-flying thank you to Bob and the FAA!)

That Weather Man Doesn't Look a Day Over Nine
Remember when you were 11 years old? If you are reading this, you may have been among the fifth-graders who put out rain collector cans and tied thermometers to the front porch. You might have built a rickety anemometer, or convinced your parents to let you stay up late to watch a thunderstorm. Well, today's young weather enthusiasts can only shake their heads at the deprivation you faced. The affordability of Davis weather stations has created a whole new generation of young, informed, and dedicated weather-boys and -girls. No more coffee cans and wooden rulers! They've got state-of-the art tipping bucket rain sensors linked to the PC in their bedrooms! They understand the role of dropping pressure and the importance of carefully maintained data. They create data charts and forecast weather changes. They know the names of hurricanes and can identify any cloud formation.

Eleven-year-old Paul Mokrezecki was recently featured in his hometown newspaper, the Daily Hampshire Gazette, not for pitching a perfect game in Little League or collecting the most aluminum cans at Hadley Elementary School in Hadley, Massachusetts. No way! He was featured because he is the proprietor and head Meteorologist of the North Hadley Weather Station. The newspaper photo shows Paul sitting at his desk, with his Davis Weather Monitor II console, compiling his precious weather data. Paul is a serious weather watcher - when he has to be away from home, his mom is required to do his three-times a day data logging duties.

Daniel DePodwin's passion for weather was also considered newsworthy by the local media. The Bernardsville, NJ, 13-year-old was featured in The Courier News, with a nice big color photo of the young weather-dude unpacking his middle school's brand new Vantage Pro, acquired upon his recommendation. Daniel not only researched weather stations (and did an excellent job in selection, we must say), he also worked with a teacher to apply for and win a grant to purchase it. He has plenty of other big plans, from starting a weather club at his school to becoming a hurricane-hunting pilot. (We hope the latter can wait until after middle school…)

Then there's Joe Garner, a 14-year-old from Delaware who has wanted to be a weatherman for as long as his mom can remember. No "Barney" for little Joe - he was glued to the Weather Channel since preschool! His birthday present last year from Mom and his grandparents was a Davis Vantage Pro. Joe's goal is to attend Penn State University, then move to Atlanta where he intends, and we believe he will, become the star Hurricane Specialist at the Weather Channel.

And, yes, girls like weather too! We recently helped a new California Davis customer in selecting the perfect Davis station for her nine-year old daughter, whose given name is Vanessa, but who is better known as the "A.W.G." for "Amazing Weather Girl." Their recent vacation video featured a wet-suited A.W.G. discoursing on the waterskiing weather report.

We get all goofy with delight just thinking what these future meteorologists will be able to do. And we can say we were there at the very start of those brilliant careers!

Have you got a young weather enthusiast at your house? We'd like to hear about him or her. You know the address! (news @davisnet.com).

Weather Check Quiz Question 3: We bet Paul, Daniel, Joe, and the A.W.G. all know the difference between rain and drizzle. Do you?

Tech Tips: The Eensy Weensy Spider Went up the Anemometer
Happy Halloween, we say, with a little shudder, to all the dear little spiders who have moved into Davis anemometers. Now go away.

Gary Zack, of Detroit, MI, commiserated with Ben Honer about the creepy crawlies that bind up his anemometer with webs. "I have had spider problems with my anemometer for years," Gary wrote. "I have found two things that work well to keep them out. First, paint the upright mast and horizontal mast with paint with insecticide (available at many paint stores) added. Second, wipe horizontal and vertical poles with Orthoklor insecticide."

Gary said both methods work for about a year. Brett, our Tech Support guru, gives Gary's solutions the thumbs up, though he warns that no paint or insecticide should be applied to Davis plastic parts. (He also assumes anybody using pesticides will carefully read and follow the label instructions!)

Some of you have another plan up your sleeve for ridding your anemometer of spiders: you plan to have a couple of nice snow and ice storms and freeze the poor little things out. If you are one of those, Brett notes that ice can be more effective than spider webs at binding up an anemometer. If your anemometer is newer than about five years, it came standard with drip rings between the moving parts. The drip rings, which look like skirted rings, deflect water and prevent ice build-up. They are installed between the wind vane and the shaft and between the shaft and the wind cups. (There's a diagram on our website.) If you don't have drip rings and live in an icy area, consider installing them before the first big freeze. Drip rings are available for $2.00 on our website at (or call Tech Support at 510 732-7814).

Weather Check Quiz Question 4: You don't have to worry about ice where you live? Well, it gets pretty cold just about everywhere over the long haul of weather records. Of these, which spot boasts the lowest cold record: Hawaii, Australia, or Africa?

June 9th dawned a clear, bright, cool, and windy morning in the high desert northeast of LA. Seventy-seven specially prepared race cars and motorcycles, with their drivers, pit crews, families, friends, and fans had gathered on the El Mirage dry lake bed for a test of speed. The Southern California Timing Association has been running these events since the late 1930's, first in the dry lake beds of Southern California like El Mirage, and also since 1949 at the spectacular Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

This morning, though, the officials of the SCTA had determined it was too windy to run safely. The 27 mph winds they were experiencing can cause some serious handling problems, especially when you consider that cars routinely exceed 200 mph here and sometimes exceed 300 mph and that the fastest bikes are running close too and sometimes over 200 mph. Also, remember that the lake bed is basically hard-packed dirt and just a little more slippery than any kind of real pavement. So, at 8 a.m. in the morning everyone was waiting instead of racing. Unless the wind speed went down to safe levels the officials were going to call off the meet at 9:30 a.m.

The Vantage Pro helps cars like the Rice / Vigeant Racing belly-tank lakester race safely on the El Mirage dry lake bed, El Mirage, CA.

Helping the SCTA monitor the wind that morning was their brand new Vantage Pro weather station and WeatherLink software, which replaced the Weather Wizard II they used before and which had replaced an even older and less sophisticated wind speed sensor. They've been monitoring the wind there for a long, long time.

9:30 a.m. came and went and it was still too windy to run. Without the Vantage Pro, that particular meet might have been called off right then and there. After over 60 years experience at El Mirage these guys were no strangers to the high winds, and when it was like this it often meant no racing that day. But the Vantage Pro gave them something they hadn't had before: the 10 minute average wind speed. So, even though it was still too windy to run the meet the officials were able see that the average wind speed was steadily decreasing. That wasn't a typical pattern and it wasn't what they would have expected. So they decided to wait until 10 a.m. and then see what the wind was doing. Using the Vantage Pro's advanced weather monitoring capabilities, Glen Barrett, the Chief Timer for the SCTA and Roy Creel, the club President, saw that the wind was still decreasing. Finally at 10:25 the wind speed dropped to a safe level, the decision was made to run, and at 10:30 the first machine roared down the lake bed. I know it sounds a little corny, but, the Vantage Pro saved the day!

Jump ahead two months and it is now August 10, 2002. This is the first day of the 53rd annual Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats. James Rice, who is the SCTA's main computer person, has now fully integrated the Vantage Pro's advanced weather monitoring capabilities into their timing computers. Besides helping to ensure the safety of the meet, the data from the Vantage Pro is also being used to give current atmospheric conditions to all of the racers. Things like the temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure affect how much power an engine can produce, and to go really, really fast you've got to take those factors into account. The information is automatically collected by the Vantage Pro, passed on to the SCTA timing computers via the WeatherLink software, and printed out onto the timing slips each racer gets after his or her run. The racers can use that information to determine how weather conditions affected that run, and hopefully, that data will help them when they set up for the next run. Now instead of just making sure the event is held safely, the Vantage Pro is also helping racers do what they really want to do: go faster!

We here at Davis are proud to be helping the SCTA in our own little way, and we hope those guys and gals have many more fun, fast, and safe runs ahead of them.

Weather Check Quiz Question 5: We all know that internal combustion engines need oxygen to operate. While the percentage of oxygen in air is, for the most part, constant, the actual amount of oxygen (or air density) available is what affects an engine's performance. Which of these factors can change air density? A. Barometric Pressure; B. Wind Speed; C. Air Temperature; D. Altitude; C. Relative Humidity.

… and to Le Mans, in Sarthe, France!
By special correspondent Alistair Barron, Weather Front - the UK Weather Shop

Just as Davis is synonymous with Weather Stations, Joest Racing is a name that is synonymous with motor racing, and more recently with sports cars.

Their latest effort, that has seen the team dominate the American Le Mans Series as the Audi works team, started with an entry for the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hour Sports Car Race in the beautiful Sarthe region of France. Under the meticulous management of Reinhold Joest, the Audi works team's attention to detail saw them conquer this awesome 3,200 mile race in 2000 and 2001 culminating this year in an historic 1-2-3 finish by cars 1, 2 and 3 and with the same driver line-up in the winning car for the last three years.

Of course, such a mammoth race as the Le Mans 24 Hour is not won by horse power alone and for the past three years a UK company, RaceMet Radar Services, has been providing race track meteorological support for the team. One of their fully equipped mobile weather monitoring stations has been at the track with the Joest Racing Team providing current readings, short range forecasts and impending storm warnings. At the heart of this weather station is a Davis Weather Monitor II.

The information provided by RaceMet's Davis weather station helps the team to set up and adjust the race cars and their engine tune before and during the race. Air pressure, temperature and humidity are key variables when tuning fuel and ignition systems as well as affecting how tires and suspension will work. These same atmospheric conditions, along with wind speed and direction, also have a significant impact upon aerodynamic performance. Being a 24-hour event, the conditions during the Le Mans race will naturally change as the race goes from day to night and back to day. In addition the changing weather system will impact upon set-up and tactics over such a period.

RaceMet's input to the Team also provides warnings of changing weather over the whole 8¼ miles of the race circuit that is a mixture of public road and closed race track. This information can be vital for safety and tactics as the weather can vary so much at different locations around the circuit. This was graphically illustrated in the first hour of the 2001 race: while the pit area was bathed in hot sunshine, mechanical carnage beset the field just one mile away in a torrential cloud burst.

David Morton, owner of RaceMet Radar Services, has been providing meteorological services to motor racing, outdoor events and film shoots all over the world since 1996. David uses the Davis Weather Monitor II in his weather station trailers. David is particularly pleased with the way his Davis systems work out of the box every time. This year RaceMet was contracted by the Jordan Formula1 team for their whole season and is also booked for several other high profile events. RaceMet can be contacted at racemet@aol.com.

You're Brilliant! Answers to Quiz Questions

Question 1: Well, let's just say Pileus told us to buy dot.coms in 1999. According to superstitions, pigs who squeal in the winter are just trying to tell you there's a blizzard on the way; and are not saying "Whee-eee -call-snort-your-broker-oink!" Also, a pig's tail gets straight when rain is near, and he rubs on posts. If he lies in the mud, there'll be no flooding. If he carries sticks, the clouds will play tricks. If he carries straw around, expect bad weather or, if you live in Texas, a Norther. (Source: Weather Wisdom: Proverbs, Superstitions and Signs, by Kingsbury, Kingsbury and Mieder.)

Extra Credit: A pileus is an accessory or cap-cloud that appears on the top of a cumuliform cloud. (Source: Glossary of Weather and Climate, edited by Ira W. Geer.)

Question 2: Bob says you take the difference between the temperature and dewpoint, which is 22 degrees. Divide by 4.4 to get 5 (22/4.4 = 5). Therefore the cloud base is 5,000' AGL (above ground level), or 6,000' MSL. He adds that this calculation assumes that the temperature lapse rate, or decrease in temperature with increasing altitude, is normal (2° C per 1,000 feet). In practice, depending on the stability of the air, the lapse rate varies and therefore the cloud base altitude will vary somewhat.

Bob writes, "You can try this at home by taking the surface temperature and dewpoint on your Davis station, and then getting the cloud information from NOAA.

"If you know the three character designation of an airport near you which has weather reporting capability (all large airports do, as well as many regional airports), prefix it with the letter 'k' (continental U.S. only) and enter it on the form. Select translated format, and ask it to get the current METAR (current weather observation)." (Bob, you sure know how to have fun!)

Question 3: They are both forms of liquid precipitation, Vanessa, the A.W.G., would assert. But Paul would point out that what makes one rain and one drizzle is drop size. Dan might tell you that a rain drop has a diameter greater than 0.5 millimeters (although this is a kind of soft rule; they can be smaller if they are very scattered) and drizzle-drops are less than 0.5. Joe would point out that drizzle drops are more numerous, and reduce visibility a lot more than light rain. (Source: Glossary of Weather and Climate, edited by Ira W. Geer.)

Question 4: Brrrr, it gets cold in Africa! With a record of -24°C (-11°F), recorded at Ifrane, Morocco in February, 1935, Africa beats Australia (-22°C at Charlotte Pass in July, 1949) and Hawaii (-10°C at Mt. Haleakala, January, 1961). (Source: Meteorology Today, by C. Donald Ahrens)

Question 5: With the exception of Wind Speed, all of the above. Air density is calculated using absolute pressure (barometric pressure corrected for altitude), relative humidity, and temperature. Over the course of a day, the most likely to change factor in the equation is temperature. Race car drivers and mechanics understand that controlling the ratio of oxygen to fuel requires constant monitoring of environmental data and ongoing engine tuning. At the Bonneville Salt Flats, for example, the air temperature soars dramatically during the course of a day. Although the altitude is just about 4,000 feet, the high heat reduces the air density so much that mechanics can end up tuning their engines as if the car were racing at the top of a 7,000 peak! The formula for air density can be found on our website's application notes.

Who You Gonna Call?
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.

We think you should know, though, that if you're interested in the fastest possible reply, news@davisnet.com may not be the best place to send your message. Questions about how things work should be addressed to tech support directly at support@davisnet.com. For general information about the products, such as how much cable comes with a station contact sales@davisnet.com. To request a catalog, you’ll find links for catalog requests on our web site at http://www.davisnet.com/contact/catalog.asp

Please continue to send your comments, weather URLs, and story suggestions to news@davisnet.com. We look forward to getting your comments and any responses you have to the E-News. Member participation is what keeps the E-News alive and kicking.

Well, that’s it for this edition. You’ll be hearing from us again next month!


Vantage Pro, Weather Monitor, Weather Wizard, WeatherLink, Weather Echo and Weather Echo Plus, EZ Mount Gro Weather, EZ Mount EnviroMonitor, EZ Mount Health EnviroMonitor, and Perception are trademarks of Davis Instruments Corp