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Davis Instruments Weather Club
November, 2007
In This Issue:
WEATHER STATIONS IN ACTION:
Wildfires Try, but Fail, to Stop this Vantage Pro2
Charred and melted, this valiant Southern CaliforniaVantage Pro2, named R-2, is still sending data packets to the fire station below it.
If anyone ever dares to question your interest in the weather by making a “how’s the weather, ho-hum” comment, you might point out that it was largely thanks to the weather that much of Southern California is currently still bathed in ashes from the raging, wind-driven wildfires of last month. We’ve discussed the terrible effect of the intense Santa Ana winds here before (December 2003, January 2004, and May 2006 ). Add to that a lack of rainfall, and you get CNN 24-hour coverage of people running from their homes. (For some good information on the fires and the role of the weather, see the NASA page with MODIS satellite images. Thanks Jan Null!)
While the news was full of heartbreaking stories (and although we are in Northern California, we all know somebody who was affected by the terrible fires), we got one of our own in our e-mail box from Pete Curran of the Orange County Fire Authority.
“We’ve all heard about the devastation in Southern California caused by the multiple Santa Ana wind-driven fires in late October,” Pete wrote. “Thousands of acres were blackened from Malibu all the way to the Mexican border. The Santiago Fire started in the evening of October 21st in the foothills and canyons of eastern Orange County. The Orange County Fire Authority responded with dozens of engines, bulldozers, hand crews and helicopters to help fight the fire as it threatened several rural canyon communities.
“The crew of Fire Station 55, located in the Portola Hills community of Irvine never figured they’d be fighting to protect their own station from the flames, but that’s exactly what happened. With hot, dry winds howling at over 50 mph, fire crews deployed hose lines around the fire station to keep it from burning. Less fortunate was a Davis Instruments wireless Vantage Pro weather station, dubbed ‘R-2’ by the crew, which was located on a slope above the fire station. The photos and archive log tell the rest of the story, but the most amazing part is that the station continues to transmit intermittent data, despite the obvious fire damage.”
We’re so proud of that brave little station. Wonder where it learned to show such courage and grace under the most dangerous of conditions? Maybe from the crew of Fire Station 55?
Weather Check Quiz Question 1: Fire fighters talk about the fire triangle which summarizes the three components needed for ignition and combustion to occur. If they can take away one component, the fire can be controlled and extinguished. What are the three components? Once the fire begins, what are the three components that affect how it spreads?
Extra Credit: We know the weather can “make” a fire, but can a fire make weather? (Click here for answers.)
Don’t Stand Too Close to this Vantage Pro2!
This Vantage Pro2 is doing hard time in an escape-proof enclosure at the airport in Varzdin, Croatia.
In this day and age, airports around the world have instituted some very advanced security systems. One of our favorite airport security systems is in Varazdin, Croatia. The system doesn’t do much to protect travelers – its focus is on the safety of a gorgeous new Vantage Pro2!
Ivan Hrustic, of our Croatian weather distributor Amteh, wrote to tell us all about it.
“We have made this station fully independent and protected. The Vantage Pro2 is connected to a notebook computer which runs on solar power (there was no electricity nearby) and transfers the data to the Internet using a GSM card (no telephone line nearby). Everything (the Vantage Pro2, computer, solar equipment) is secured and protected in a little cabinet. All this is located on the field and protected with a fence and an alarm system with motion-activated voice warnings ('You are standing too close to a restricted area’). In addition, we've mounted a fully user-operated, rotating web-cam with night vision and motion sensor on mounting pole about five meters high. I think it is the safest Vantage Pro2 in the world! ”
We agree!
TECH TIPS :
Wasps: Enter Here (NOT!)
In our last issue there was yet another tale of Man vs. Nature; specifically, wasps nesting in the weather station! We failed to mention that there are two easy ways to keep wasps from setting up housekeeping in the cozy confines of your earlier model Vantage Pro2.
One way critters find their way into the area around the tipping buckets under the rain collector (click here and scroll down to see what the tipping bucket assembly looks like), is through two cable openings. These openings are there for the tipping bucket cable and the rain collector heater cable (an optional accessory). About a year ago, we began covering these holes with rubber grommets, but in older Vantage Pro2s, they may still be open.
You can easily see if your tipping bucket area is open to wasp invasion by removing the rain collector. Look just behind the tipping bucket, toward the support pole. If there are one or two holes, about as big around as your pinky finger, which are not covered by a rubber grommet, you should contact Tech Support by phone at (510) 732-7814 or e-mail support@davisnet.com and request a couple of grommets. They’ll be happy to send you some free of charge. (But they’ll be even happier to do so if your request is not made during the post-Christmas peak season in January!)
Another tantalizing nest option for wasps is the radiation shield. Some nesting bugs see the shield (the white stacked plates under the rain collector; click here for a picture) as ultra-modern condos! If bugs are a problem in your area, our Tech Support guys suggest you invest in a light-weight hairnet such as those worn by restaurant workers. They are easy to find in drug stores, very inexpensive, and can be stretched easily over the entire radiation shield.
Or, you could invest in a Waspese Dictionary and create a tiny “No Trespassing” sign in their native language. Wasps are very terrified of posted warnings.
WeatherLink Tells NOAA Which Way the Wind Blows
John Dann, of our UK distributor, ProData, got a question from a customer and was not sure of the answer. Since John is a very smart guy, we thought it must be a very good question and that you, who are also very smart, would like to know the answer, too.
How does WeatherLink calculate dominant wind direction for the NOAA reports?
Our Tech Jedi Knight Master, Brett Lane, answers that the NOAA reports display the direction most commonly recorded for that day or for that month. If WNW is the most common direction recorded in the database for a given day, then the dominant wind direction in the report will be WNW.
If there is a tie the direction encountered first in a clockwise direction from north will be used. For example, if it's tied between E and ESE, east will be used.
Wind speed is not a factor when determining the dominant wind direction.
.Weather Check Quiz Question 2: What is wind run? (Click here for answers.)
WEATHER 101:
Ball Lightning Mystery Solved?
For thousands of years, weather watchers have reported seeing glowing balls the size of golf balls or baseballs or “a small child’s head” during thunderstorms. The balls reportedly float in the air and skitter and sizzle when they touch the ground.
For as long as they have been reported, scientists have tried to understand them. They’ve come up with a few good ideas, including plasma clouds, the vaporizing of small particles that are held together by electrical charges, optical illusions, matter-antimatter annihilations, clumps of the exotic dark matter of the universe, spontaneous bursts of nuclear fusion, and the manifestation of the spirits of the departed. (That last one was not exactly a scientific theory, but it was still a good one!)
But Brazilian scientists may have come up with an explanation that will lay the mystery to rest. According to a story by Brian Handwerk in National Geographic News,
physicist Antonio Pavão and doctoral student Gerson Paiva of the Federal University of Pernambuco have created orbs of electricity about the size of golf balls that mimic natural ball lightning. The researchers based their work on that of two New Zealand scientists, John Abrahamson and James Diniss. “The pair suggested that when lightning strikes a surface, like the Earth's silica-rich soil, a vapor is formed. This silicon vapor may condense into particles that combine with oxygen in the air to slowly burn with the chemical energy of oxidation.
“Pavão and Paiva used electrodes to shock silicon wafers with enough electricity to create a silicon vapor.
Most of the artificial orbs lasted two to five seconds, but at least one has survived as long as eight seconds—approximating natural ball lightning and far exceeding previous efforts to create the phenomenon in the lab.”
We feel kind of sad. Another of the wonderful mysteries of our Mother Earth is gone!
For more information on ball lightning see this article in New Scientist . An earlier article in National Geographic News has an excellent first-hand description.
Weather Check Quiz Question 3: You might die in your sleep at age 99, after eating a big steak dinner and winning $100 at poker. Or you might get electrocuted by ball lightning. True? (Click here for answers.)
MAILBAG:
Caldwell and Vantage Pro2 Do It Again
 Fast Unit 55, owned by video journalist Chris Caldwell, of Kay County, Oklahoma took prizes for “Most Cutting Edge” and “Best Looking Chase Vehicle” at the 2007 Weather-Fest in Norman, Oklahoma.
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For the second consecutive year, Chris Caldwell won a whole bevy of awards for his chase vehicle “Fast Unit 55,” which sports a Vantage Pro2, at the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma. As a matter of fact, Chris won half of the awards presented at this year’s Weather-Fest, including the most prestigious award known as “Most Cutting Edge Chase Vehicle.” Part of the “cutting edge technology” was the Vantage Pro2 mounted on the Ford Expedition! Chris also won the “Most Hail Damaged” and the “Best Looking Chase Vehicle” awards. (Says Chris, “As everyone knows having a Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station on your chase vehicle automatically makes it better looking!”)
Chris is an independent video journalist based in Kay County, Oklahoma, whose storm videos and news videos have been aired on many of the networks that you watch. Because of the reliable Vantage Pro2, Chris is able to gather “ground truth” weather data for forecasters at KOCO-TV (ABC affiliate) in Oklahoma City as well as sending important data to the National Weather Center in Norman.
As Caldwell tells Davis, “I’ve seen a few chasers with weather equipment other than Davis on their vehicles, but most cannot stand up to the environment like Davis weather equipment can. When I see them later that year, they too are sporting a Davis weather station on their vehicle. That’s why I use Davis: I know it’s going to work!”
Birds Hate This VP’s Hairstyle
Omar Ramirez of Laredo, Texas, just thought he'd share his solution for preventing bird droppings in the rain collector.
“I bought some bird spikes meant to be used on roof gutters from AbsoluteBirdControl.com and cut one two-foot section into equal sizes and fitted these on the rim of the rain collector. Since I installed them about four months ago, I have had no further issues with bird droppings or other debris clogging up the rain collector. The rainfall measurements remain accurate with this solution in place since precipitation can still fall freely inside the cone.
Our Tech Support guys say Omar’s solution is okay with them because it does not interfere with the rain getting into the collector. A representative of Birds for the Preservation Of Offensive Piles (“Birds for POOP”) commented that “this is just another way to force avian residents to use the ground like common, filthy, non-winged animals.”
Weather Check Quiz Quest ion 4: Do pigeons really deserve their reputation as dirty “flying rats?” (Click here for answers.)
Flashing the Green in San Diego
Jon Dukeman, of Larkspur, Colorado, enjoyed the story in last month’s issue on the Green Flash.
“I've seen it from Pacific Beach in San Diego,” Jon wrote. “And if you are late arriving to the beach to witness it first hand then you can go to the Green Flash restaurant, one of my favorite places to eat, drink, and watch the surf and people and the food is pretty good too!”
Next visit to San Diego, we’ll see a Green Flash one way or another!
It’s Two Divorces Past Three
Our Vantage Pro2 has a dandy clock built into it, but we found an even dandier one on Poodwaddle.com. This World Clock tells you not only what time it is right now, but also what the world’s population is and how many births and deaths are happening right now (or have happened this day, month, or year). It tells you the incidence of injuries and illnesses, (including leprosy!) and the amount of oil pumped. There’s lots more scary information ticking away before your eyes.
YOU'RE BRILLIANT!:
Answers to Quiz Questions
Question 1: A fire requires fuel to burn, air to supply oxygen, and a heat source to bring the fuel up to ignition temperature. Once started, a fire can quickly fizzle or turn into a raging blaze that scorches thousands of acres. What it does depends on fuel, weather, and topography.
Source: How Things Work
Extra Credit: Yes. “Research has found that not only does wind affect how the fire develops, but that fires themselves can develop wind patterns. When the fire creates its own weather patterns, they can feed back into how the fire spreads. Large, violent wildfires can generate winds, called fire whirls. Fire whirls, which are like tornadoes, result from the vortices created by the fire's heat. When these vortices are tilted from horizontal to vertical, you get fire whirls. Fire whirls have been known to hurl flaming logs and burning debris over considerable distances.”
Source: How Things Work (Back to stories.)
Question 2: Wind run is a measurement of the amount of wind passing the station during a given period of time, expressed in either “miles of wind” or “kilometers of wind.” WeatherLink calculates wind run by multiplying the average wind speed for each archive record by the archive interval.
Example: Average Wind Speed = 5 mph; Archive Interval = 30 minutes (0.5 hours). Wind Run = 5 mph x 0.5 hours = 2.5 miles of wind. (Back to stories.)
Question 3: Ask the ghost of pioneering electricity researcher, Georg Richmann, who died in 1753 in St. Petersburg, after ball lightning fried his lightning rod and his internal organs.(Back to stories.)
Question 4: Well, we rather like pigeons, and for that matter, rats, so we were pleased to come across a new book that says pigeons are much maligned. In Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird, author Andrew D. Blechman tells us that pigeons have been man’s companions, servants, pets, and even food sources since ancient Egyptian times. They’ve gone to war for us, they’ve carried our messages, and are possibly the only pets who will beat you home if you leave them at a park miles away. They are gregarious, beautiful, fast, and communicative. So cut out the pigeon put-downs or we’ll start a coo! (Back to stories.)
WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
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 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!
Vantage Pro2, Vantage Pro2 Plus, Vantage Pro, Vantage Pro Plus, Weather Monitor, Weather Wizard, WeatherLink, Weather Envoy, and Perception are trademarks of Davis Instruments Corp.
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