Tony Brownbill takes first place in the international category for his station in Victoria, Australia.

“The house faces the southern ocean on the west coast of Victoria,” Tony wrote. “Although we don't get snow down at Peterborough, we get other types of extreme weather including high winds and squalls, as well as very high UV readings during the summer months. I do a lot of fishing in the summer months, and around this coast it is important to know what the local forecast will be for the day. The area is a little isolated it is not always possible to get an up to date and accurate forecast for the area. The wind shifting into the south or southwest will pick the sea up very quickly and it is important to read the signs and make sure you are home before this happens. My Vantage Pro Plus has been installed for about 10 months and is working extremely well predicting the weather!”

Two other entrants from that quadrant of the planet were very close behind. Gary Gorusch pointed out that Tasmania has lots of Vantage Pros up and spinning in that fresh air of theirs, because schools in Tasmania were granted VPs as part of their AirWatch Program. He nominated the one at New Norfolk as their official entry into our contest. That one is just a little closer to home at 12,788 km (7,946 miles). And nipping at their heels in this photo-finish race is Peter Drew’s Vantage Pro2, located on a pole above the roof of his home in Melbourne, Australia, at 12,663 km (7868 miles) from Hayward.

We had several other interesting entries, and so we just have to mention our seven runners-up!

In fourth place, at 10,910 km (6,779 miles) from Hayward, is Yannis’s Vantage Pro2, installed way up high (1,640 meters, 5,000 feet) on a mountain in Peloponissos, Greece.

Yannis' Vantage Pro2 catches heavy gusts on its mountain-top home in Greece..

As you can see,Yannis had to tie his Vantage Pro2 down. Apparently, it gets a bit of wind up there! Yannis accesses his data remotely by GSM modem.

In fifth place, we have another Greek station.

This Greek station keeps resort-goers weather-aware.

We guess this Vantage Pro keeps escaping – they had to build it a little fenced yard at the Roxani Country House Hotel , in Roxani, Greece. If it got out, it would have to run 10,652 km (6,619 miles) to get back home to Hayward!

Sixth place goes to Roger Matthews who knew he was “too close to the beaten track to get this one.” Strange, but 10,505 km (6,527 miles) away from Hayward is too close in this race!

It seems Auckaland, New Zealand is closer to Hayward that one would think!

But,” he wrote, “I have recently put a Vantage Pro on the roof of my new house in Auckland, New Zealand. It is quite an exposed spot and I have recorded winds over 80 kmph (50 mph) every month for each of the three months it has been operational.”

(Roger added that his parents wanted to enter the contest too, but they realized that they were about 60 km closer to Hayward than Roger, so they admitted defeat! So much for filial duty!)

Seventh place in the international category goes to American Chaz Dallachie, who put a new Vantage Pro2 on the roof – in Okinawa, Japan on an American Marine Corps base, about 9,852 km (6,122 miles) from Hayward.

Is this Vantage Pro2 on a U.S. Marine Base in Okinawa, Japan, American or Japanese?.

“I am not sure if I count as international or American,” Chaz wrote. Well, Chaz, were very proud to count you as American and your Japanese-American station can deal with its own bicultural issues. All we care about is where the station is right now! But even if the soil under this house may be Japanese, the base is American. And that weather station is a bit farther from home than the one in Guam, so we just feel we need to send Chaz a cap too!

Bringing up the rear, but with true class and style, is Rui F. Lourenco, of Figuerira da Foz, Portugal. Rui knew that his Vantage Pro2 was probably not the most far-flung. At just 8,997 km or 5,590 miles, he’s right.

Rui's Portugese station may be in last place, but it looks GOOD!

But it is one of the prettiest, set atop such a lovely yellow house that the skies above are inspired to remain consistently and exceptionally blue!

“I wanted to participate anyway and also congratulate you for this excellent product,” Rui wrote. “I purchased my station last April and it is working perfectly, as expected. The Davis VP was always my first choice after spending a considerable amount of time analyzing the available products in the net. My hobby as a private pilot got me interested in weather phenomena and I decided to have my own station to monitor the local weather trends (mainly to help my "go/no go" flying decisions).” He posts his data on his website for all to enjoy.”

Weather Check Quiz Question 2: Our two Greek contest entries are looking forward to some peaecful halcyon days. What are we are referring to – and what do the halcyon days have to do with Greece? (Click here for answers.)

This Month’s Challenge: Have You Got the (Drip, Drip) Wettest Weather Station?

Here in the USA we’ve had enough rain and wind, but we know that we still have two months left in hurricane season. So we might as well celebrate some extreme weather. Here’s this month’s challenge: prove your weather station is the wettest by sending us your highest rainfall data. (We know what you are thinking – and we leave it to you! It can be the most inches per hour, most inches per 24 hours, or most rainy days in a row!) The data should be for anytime between November 1, 2004 and October 30, 2005.

The owner whose station proves itself to be the wettest will get a Davis cap to keep his poor noggin dry! Send your data, a bit of background information, and if possible, a photo of your station, by November 5. (news@davisnet.com)

Weather Check Quiz Question 3: If you want to win a Davis cap this month, you could stack the odds in your favor by moving. Where in the world have the records been set for greatest annual rainfall, greatest one-month rainfall, and greatest 12-hour rainfall?

Extra Credit: If you wanted to move somewhere that would insure you would NOT win this one, where would it be?

MAILBAG:
Vantage Pro2 Makes Mike Unpopular with TV Weatherman

Mike Hadfield of Roswell, New Mexico, used an old fashioned ball-point pen and paper to tell us how pleased he is with his Vantage Pro2.

“Now I argue with our local TV ‘Weather Guessers’ with some authority,” he wrote. “Especially their sunrise/sunset times (which can be off by up to an hour!). They also use the same sunset time for two months! Or how about Roswell having two sunsets on one day?”

Mike also sent along some photographic documentation of his field test of his Vantage Pro2’s radio power. He took his console “for a walk.”

“At 500 paces, I quit counting. (I have a three-foot stride.) When the signal was finally lost, I noted the location and then used two different vehicles and came up with 0.5 miles (0.8 km).”

Not done yet, Mike decided to test the standard radiation shield on his Vantage Pro2.

“On July 8, the temperature sensor was reading 104ºF (40ºC). I used an infrared thermometer on the exterior of the shield and found a temperature of 116 to 118ºF (46.7 to 47.8ºC).”

Well, we guess we aced those exams! And our apologies go to Mr. TV Meteorologist, of Roswell. Our Vantage Pro2 owners are getting way too smart for your own good.

Red Robin, Red Robin, Go Away.

After reading last month’s Tech Tips, Jeff Mosher wanted to share an inexpensive, and but rather fun, solution to the ongoing “bird pooh pooh” problem he had with his Vantage Pro2.

“Kind of makes the collector look like Bart Simpson or Dilbert! I just used the cheap wire ties that you can get from the home improvement store.”

Weather Check Quiz Question 4: If you wanted to be twinsies with your wire-tie bird-proofed rain collector, what kind of hair gel should you use? (Click here for answers.)

On Bird Droppings, Great Minds Think Alike

Peter Drew, of Mebourne, Australia, thought seriously about bird droppings when his station failed to report any rain after a "cats and dogs" downpour. His local distributor suggested using epoxy to glue plastic wire cable ties around the rim of the collector.

As it turned out birds were not the cause of his problem. Instead it was our other fauna-friend, a spider, who had carefully woven a web around the tipping bucket. Oh well, maybe Peter needs to lure a bird to the collector to eat the spider. (Then a cat to eat the bird, and you know how it goes...)

And Hamilton Hicks of Wilmington, NC, wrote to tell that the chicken wire solution has “a very serious shortcoming -- rust. Non-galvanized wire will soon rust, weaken, and deposit ferrous oxide in the bucket mechanism. Galvanized, or painted, wire will provide a better choice.” Thanks, Hamilton!

Weather Check Quiz Question 5: How can a lack of wind cause even more spider trouble than Peter had? (Click here for answers.)

YOU'RE BRILLIANT!:

Question 1: No. Storm surge is caused by the low pressure at the center of the hurricane. When this low pressure passes over the water, it draws the surface of the water up like a straw. The water piles up harmlessly if the storm is far out to sea, but when the storm makes landfall, the piled-up water is dragged along with it. The high winds contribute to the problem by producing surface waves on top of the surge. The NOAA uses a model called the SLOSH (Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes) Model l to help predict storm surge. You can also find a good graphic of the miserable effect on USA Today’s website. ” (Back to stories.)

Extra Credit: Project Cirrus involved seeding a hurricane in an attempt to reduce the wind speed. And no, it did not work very well. The seeded hurricane veered off course and did a huge amount of damage to Savannah, Georgia. It was later decided that the seeding had not caused the storm to change course but that was not much consolation. For an interesting hurricane site, check out Hurricaneville.com, where there’s also a good history of hurricane-tampering attempts. (Back to stories.)

Question 2: The “halcyon days” refers to a calm (weather-wise) period just before and after the Winter Solstice. This period got its name from a Greek myth about a couple of young lovers, Ceyx and Alcyone, who really irked the cranky old Zeus. Zeus was so irritated, he sent a huge storm to swamp Ceyx’s ship and drown him. Poor Alcyone jumped in the sea to join her lover in death. But instead of becoming fish food, the couple was transformed into kingfishers who built floating nests. Alcyone’s father, the guardian of the winds, decided that the winds should not blow for those two weeks so that the kingfisher’s nests would be protected. Source: A Guide to Weather, by Burroughs, Crowder, Roberston, Vallier-Talbot, and Whitaker. (Back to stories.)

Question 3: Mt. Waialeale, Hawaii gets an average of 460 inches (1168 cm) of rain per year; in July, 1861, Cherrapunji, India got a total of 366 inches (930 cm) of rain; and over one 12-hour period on February 28, 1964, Belouve, Reunion Island, was drenched with 53 inches (135 cm). So those spots might be good destinations for our contest hopefuls. (Back to stories)

Extra Credit : Don’t move to Arica, Chile (annual rainfall average: 0.03 inches [0.08 cm]) or Bagdad, California (longest period without rain: 993 days). (Back to stories.)

Question 4: On RateItAll’s website, we found rave reviews for Dep Extreme Hold Sport Gel. And according to a poster on Epinions, you’ve got to try got2b Glued Spiking Gel. But a poster called ”missleec” offered the best recipe on MarketingProfs’ website: “Glue. Seriously... go with any strong hold gel and mix it 2:1 with good old Elmer's. Remember those guys in the 80's with the two-foot spiked mohawks? Elmer's was key.” Hey, we’re just reporting it, definitely not recommending it! And you simply must get over your fixation with requiring Weather Check Quiz Questions to have something to do with weather. (Back to stories.)

Question 5: In his April 2003 Weather Notebook, Bryan Yeaton wrote about a spider problem on a farm in British Columbia. “Lying across Russell Jervis' 60-acre, fenced field was a cluster of tens of millions of spider webs and silks. Responsible for this mess was a small black spider less than half an inch long, called Halorates Ksenius.” The cause? It seems that an unusual lack of wind prevented these guys from dispersing normally. Many spiders use the wind to disperse, and in this case, that still anemometer meant one creepy 60-acre field. (Back to stories.)

Davis!
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 URL's, 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!


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