Quick Preview of this Month’s Contents

• Last Minute Shoppers: Davis & UPS to the Rescue!
• Weather Monitor II Helps Pastor Catch a Lady in Las Vegas
• Seeking Best and Brightest Beta Testers
• Tech Tips: How Much Rain is Too Much Rain?
• Weather Club Nit-Pickers Unite!
• Holy Mackerel! Is Something Fishy in the Pacific Northwest?
• Lions, Tigers . . . and, oh, my, Camels, Crocodiles, Llamas, Golden Retrievers…
• Aussies Dig Big Hole, Set Up Talking Weather Station on Pumpkin Island
• Paddling Down the Missouri with a Weather Monitor II
• You’re Brilliant! Answers to Quiz Questions
• Who You Gonna Call? Davis!

Last Minute Shoppers: Davis & UPS to the Rescue!
How did they survive the season back in the olden days before UPS and its cheerful holiday colors of red, blue, and green? Back when we were kids, we had to order our holiday gifts in March so they could get on a spring wagon train west. These days, our beloved UPS makes it possible for you to still get your Vantage Pro under the tree - even though it's mid-December! (Operators standing by: 1 (800) 678-3669!) However, remember that December is extreme weather time (can you vouch for that, North Carolina?) and even UPS can't absolutely guarantee delivery if the weather decides to impede the progress of those trusty brown trucks. The moral: get us your order today!

You can calculate UPS delivery times based on location and shipping method on their website. (FYI: On the site, "days in transit" is shown. Since weekends and holidays, December 24, 25, and 31 and January 1, are not counted as "days in transit," this number can be misleadingly shorter than actual delivery time.)

Weather Monitor II Helps Pastor Catch a Lady in Las Vegas
Intrepid Weather Wonderboy, Dave Benson, recently found himself suffering with the dreaded bad cold. But sick as he was, half-dazed by fever and too much chicken-noodle soup, with a red nose and hacking cough, he perked right up when he noticed a Davis Weather Monitor II on the TV he was blearily watching!

"There I was," Dave wrote, "sick as a dog, lying half-awake on my couch, suffering the ills of my first chest cold of the season, when the television, with the volume barely up, caught my attention. I was watching 'Ripley's Believe It or Not' on Superstation TBS. They were following a story about a guy who supports the full weight of his bungee-jumping partner with his hands. That's right, she jumps off the 171' tower, with only the strength of two human hands to save her. The story took place in Las Vegas. (Where else in the world would you find a tower of that size that you are allowed to climb around on?) The part of the story which captured my attention the most was the presence of a Davis Weather Monitor II which could be seen measuring the gusty winds. At one point someone mentioned that the winds were gusting at 34 mph. Not too impressive to most of us who own a Davis weather station, but considering the precarious stunt they were doing... YIKES! There were multiple shots of the Weather Monitor II mounted in plain sight as they were preparing to 'shove off'."

Dave said the episode, number 319, aired on the evening of Wednesday, November 20. He included a link to the Ripley's website and suggested we might be able to find out if it would air again or get a copy. We tried and tried, to no avail. We did find out that the stunt guy is the Reverend Stephen Miller, which might make his daring partner feel a bit better. We guess he's a man of faith with a nice, healthy respect for technology as well. If God had to create the unbreakable law of gravity and the possibility of high winds, at least He also answered Rev. Miller's prayers with a reliable Davis weather station.

Dave has had his own Weather Monitor II for almost five years and posts his weather data from his home in Affton, MO. Good work, Dave.

Weather Check Quiz Question 1: Dave noticed that the Weather Monitor II station was up on the platform, not on the ground. Would the wind readings really be that much different if it were? Why?

Seeking Best and Brightest Beta Testers
Our latest and greatest Windows WeatherLink Version 5.3 is ready for beta testing. The new version includes features such as the addition of all extra temperatures and humidities to the summary window; THSW Index; support for extra temperature and humidity calibration, extra temperature alarms, and leaf/soil wetness alarms; fun console messages that appear in the summary window; several bug fixes; and the most exciting: support for our soon-to-be-released WeatherLink Downloader. (The Downloader is a Palm OS product that allows you to transport your data from the console or remote station to your PC via your Palm Pilot.)

You can download the beta version from our website. If you use a Palm OS device and wish to beta test our Palm download kit please call Technical Support at (510) 732-7814.

Tech Tips: How Much Rain is Too Much Rain?
Jerry Highfill must have been one of those kids who was always asking a "what if" question. He has one for us. What if it rained so hard, his Davis weather station rain collector overflowed? Well, his exact words were, "How much will it have to rain (volume) and for how long to exceed the capacity of the rain collector to empty itself? The law of physics dictates that only so much water, per time unit, will pass through the opening at the bottom of the collector. With the size (volume) of the collector I would think that a heavy rain sustained over a given time period would exceed the self emptying feature of the collector."

Well, Jerry, the answer is it would have to rain pretty danged long and hard. The rain collector can empty itself (that is, tip) at a rate of about 100" per hour. At that rate, which has never been reported in the field, (world record rate is 90" per hour according to the Handy Weather Answer Book, West Indies, Nov. 26, 1970), there would also be a loss of accuracy as the collector is designed for greatest accuracy in the 0" - 4" per hour range. That, however, doesn't tell you at what rate the cone would overflow. It would have to be somewhere above 100" per hour, for long enough to fill the cone.

Weather Check Quiz Question 2: What else, besides water in various forms, has reportedly rained from the sky? Is there a name for this stuff?

Extra Credit: Where did the term "raining cats and dogs" come from?

Weather Club Nit-Pickers Unite!
Ron Scheldrup wrote, "I always enjoy getting each edition of the newsletter, especially the quizzes. I've noticed that there is usually some later disagreement and discussion over at least one topic, and I can't help but wonder if it isn't just a little exercise to make sure we're all able to think critically."

What he's getting at, in his sweet way, is that he found a typo, we mean, a critical thinking exercise. As he put it, "we readers will have to stay on our toes to find the little gems you guys try to slip through!"

"In the November issue," he continued, "Question 4 concerns the name of the southern lights, which is aurora australis - not aurora australia! (You don't want to have to use phrases like aurora new zealandia and aurora finlandia now, do you?) I knew the real answer from being an amateur astronomer for many years, but a quick check at the always helpful Merriam Webster website shows the correct terms and also that 'aurora' means dawn. In essence, both terms describe the solar-charge-induced sky that shows as northern and southern dawn, a fairly accurate and nicely poetic description."

Of course he's absolutely right, as fellow critical thinker Ron Ostrow, also pointed out. However, in our defense, it wasn't a senior moment or a crick in the typer-phalanges. It was technology! Our trusty spell checker told us several times that the word is Australia, not australis, and every time (but, alas, the last…) we said, oh no it isn't! Had we only had the presence of mind to click "add to dictionary," the two Ron's would have had to find the other critical thinking exercises we added…(read on).

Critical thinker Duane Harding, didn't want to disturb our "between issue naptime," but he just had to e-whisper this: "Psst! It's Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight Savings Time. Daylight Savings was one of those savings and loan companies that went broke on the 70's." Right again, Duane. We seem to have a problem with s's.

Airline Transport Pilot, Eugene Witt, let the extra s slip, but sent this suggestion on Daylight Saving time and the difficulties of data logging: "Outlaw Daylight Saving time, permanently, completely. As it is, everyone gets jet lag twice a year, regardless of whether or not that they want it, unless they come from areas that are already genius enough to know the difference."

And then there's Dave Schoepf, of Mariana, FL, who added this thought to the soup: "Since a lot of your readers seem to be 'professional nit pickers,' I'd like to mention a minor problem that once prevented me from getting a perfect grade on a college physics exam. The instructor was one of those folks whose grading got tougher as you approached perfection. I answered a question with a response similar to '4 degrees F.' It was marked wrong. Sayeth the prof: 'Four degrees F is a point on a scale, 4 F degrees is an increment.' You use 'degrees F' in a lot of places where, according to him (and, grudgingly, I think he's right), it should be 'F degrees.'"

Dave, he probably is right. But this may be a case of something being wrong for so long, that the wrong becomes right. We have to stick with the currently accepted "degrees F," even though from now on, every time we use it, we will take a moment to apologize to the cosmos and to rejoice in our decision not become a physicist.

Holy Mackerel! Is Something Fishy in the Pacific Northwest?
Judy Bracik referred to a question in last months' quiz that asked: "Your spouse is planning a backyard get-together for tomorrow afternoon. Clouds are high cirrocumulus, a 'mackeral sky,' surface winds from the NE to S. What do you advise about the wisdom of an outdoor event?"

She wonders if the reference to "surface winds from the NE to S" would apply in other than the eastern part of the US.

"Could you please explain," she wrote, "the applicability of this parameter in other areas of the country (the Pacific Northwest for example) or even the rest of the world? Southern hemisphere? And doesn't the same circumstance apply for the red skies in the morning prediction? Isn't this too, based primarily on Atlantic Ocean weather systems?"

"By the way," Judy added, "the Pacific Northwest just had the third longest spell in history (14 days) of no rain for this time of year. It was due to a high pressure system with winds out of the northeast bringing clear weather."

Our meteorologist Jason Karvelot, agreed that much of weather forecasting short-cuts are based on oceanic conditions and seagoing wisdom. The wind parameter can be used in the Southern Hemisphere, but winds reverse in the Southern Hemisphere, that is, north becomes south and vice-versa. Also, geographic influences (which don't exist at sea) will alter wind patterns. So, these rules of thumb may not apply in certain locations or at certain times of the year. The rules of thumb on our Quick Reference Forecasting Card are probably best in the winter north of 30ºN and south of 30ºS. Jason also said that Judy was right in her assessment of NE winds in the Pacific Northwest, as N, NE or E winds on the West Coast probably portend clear and warm weather. This is due to the presence of an ocean to the west and a warmer (in summer) and drier land mass to the east. The cloud description probably applies fairly universally. The likelihood of rain, however, is probably greater in winter than in summer under these circumstances.

Judy added this critical thinking afterthought: "Oh, and it's mackerel, isn't it?"

Yes, it is. And she was the only one to catch it! Go Judy!

Thank you, Dave B., Jerry, Ron S., Ron O., Duane, Eugene, Dave S., and Judy for doing most of the writing work for this issue. Wake us up next year.

Weather Check Quiz Question 3: Why is it called a "mackerel sky" anyway?

Lions, Tigers . . . and, oh, my, Camels, Crocodiles, Llamas, Golden Retrievers…
When the weather turns nasty, as it recently has from Texas to Virginia, we humans are pretty good at adapting. From low-tech, tossing-another-log-on-the-fire, to high-tech weather forecasting, we usually have options that range from bundling up to evacuating. But our feathered and furred friends have to find ways to cope as well.

In New South Wales, Australia, the current problem isn't cold, it is months of drought. Thirsty and hungry wild camels, the descendents of pack animals brought by early colonists, have been drawn to lick the dew off railroad tracks in the early morning. (The meeting of camel and locomotive never comes out in favor of the camel.) Read the sad story on the Orange website. The same drought has left crocodiles, whose urge to reproduce is jumpstarted by the thunder and lightning of the monsoon season, feeling decidedly unromantic. This strange (okay, sad, too) story is also on the Orange website. A drought in the American southeast back in 2001 left some of the croc's cousins, the alligator, roaming around suburban neighborhoods in search of a nice, murky pond, and munching on small pets along the way. In the desert southwest, homeowners are warned to keep pets inside during particularly dry conditions which entice coyotes, owls, and snakes to dine on pet food, or the poor pet himself.

Domestic animals need special attention from their human caretakers in times of extreme weather. Cold weather cattle and sheep ranchers know that their animals must get extra food in the winter to provide the heat they will need. Water must be keep free flowing, and paths to food and water must be clear. And it's not only extreme cold that affects domestic animals. In Mongolia, drought is killing herd animals, and taking the country's economy with them. Extremely warm weather can cause high mortality from heat stress, and too much rain or wind adds problems of drift and runoff of waste and spray. No wonder ranchers love our weather stations! (Check out the weather at Mariko Llama ranch! They've got their Davis Weather Station watching their long-lashed herd.)

Then there are our beloved pets. The ASPCA warns that dogs and cats, despite a fur coat, should not be left outside during very cold weather. Pets that are especially vulnerable are short-haired, very young or old. (Our short-haired, small, elderly, over-indulged Jack Russell Terrier would never make it in Minnesota. She shivers in her bed under a thick blanket on frosty California nights when the VP reads 50ºF. Anything lower than that, and she's under the down comforter with any human who will allow it.) Even though your pooch loves nothing more than a long romp in the snow, packed snow and ice can damage foot pads, and dogs can get lost because of the difficulty of maintaining a scent in snow. Cats that are left outside sometimes find a warm spot under the hood of a car, only to be injured or killed by the fan when the car is started in the morning. Another winter danger is antifreeze, which seems to have a sweet and attractive odor to some pets and is extremely poisonous. You can find more pet extreme weather tips on the ASPCA's website.

We did stumble upon some dogs who truly love extreme weather. They are Stephen Lee's Siberian Huskies, who share Stephen's passion for dog-sled mushing. The dogs live on Stephen's Ooo Woo Kennels (named after a common Siberian Husky comment) near Los Alamos, NM. (Yes, New Mexico!) They've got their own kennel Vantage Pro. Check out Ooo Woo. (Use "search this site" to find a nice photo of the VP in action.)

So next time your weather station tells you things are getting a little rough outside, ask the cat if maybe the dog can come inside, too.

Weather Check Quiz Question 4: What is the most dangerous (to humans) animal?

Aussies Dig Big Hole, Set Up Talking Weather Station on Pumpkin Island
Just for fun, mouse on over to Pumpkin Island. You'll find step-by-step instructions on how to install a real-time dial up, voice back, talking, weather observation station on a remote island off Australia. You'll enjoy the clear and entertaining instructions, such as "proceed to dig a hole, quite a substantial hole in fact," with a photo of said hole and exhausted digger nearby. The whole process was a resounding success and now the public can dial up current and real-time weather conditions on Pumpkin Island, free of charge. Oh, and guess what kind of station they installed… (You are sooo smart!)

Paddling Down the Missouri with a Weather Monitor II
Back in 1804, a couple of adventurers named Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set off to see the sights west of the Rockies, and hopefully, find a nice easy water passage from the United States, through the foreign land to the west, and on to the Pacific. While the expedition wasn't all that successful as far as finding the route they hoped for, in terms of scientific data collection, mapping, and social and political diplomacy with indigenous people, it was a resounding American success story.

Today, two modern-day adventurers, Michael Clark and John Ruskey, are following in their canoe tracks. They have just completed paddling a hand-built canoe down the Missouri from Yellowstone to St. Louis. They shared their adventure with school children in live visits to schools on the route and with hundreds of others who followed them via the Internet on their Ruskey and Clark website. While the modern day river men didn't have a Shoshoni woman and her baby along for the ride, they did have a Davis Weather Monitor II that gave the students daily weather reports.

Early in the trip, John Ruskey paddled his handmade canoe without so much as a jacket. More recent photos show the paddlers a lot more bundled up against the cold.

Ruskey and Clark reported daily, melding historical information with modern day observations. Like the original explorers, they recorded animal and plant life, river ecology, and the towns and people they met. Their added reflections on the water quality and other changes the river has seen give students a context of the dramatic impact modern civilization has had on the mighty river. Email exchanges, live chats, and invited expert guests let students get involved in the adventure first hand.

A few years ago, Michael Clark developed the idea of the Big Muddy Adventures educational programs, of which this expedition is a part, by paddling the entire length of "Old Man River" from Lake Itasca, MN to the Gulf of Mexico with two partners. Clark is a teacher, with 15 years of experience with elementary and middle school students in the inner city of Chicago's east side. When he's not paddling a river, he's a substitute teacher in his current hometown of St. Louis.

John Ruskey claims to be a life long water-lover. In his biography, he says his parents had a hard time keeping baby John out of the duck pond across the street from his Denver home. A musician and artist, Ruskey is a river guide and canoe builder as well.

The original adventurers faced severe weather, hunger, medical emergencies, communication barriers, and encounters with unfriendly Indian nations. But things are not so easy for our modern day explorers either. Besides cold and wet weather, miles of exhausting paddling, the dearth of good camping spots, and the trials of cold-fingered typing, the pair faced one really terrible incident! On the very first day of the expedition, the protected junction box of their Weather Monitor II jumped ship and settled to the bottom of the Missouri. When we noticed that the weather data was no longer posted on the Ruskey and Clark website, we emailed a query. Luckily, we were able to ship a new junction box, which, after several tries and some heroic chasing by the US Postal Service, the pair were able to get the all-important weather data back up on the site. (We were even mentioned and thanked in the journal entry of November 19!)

Paddling down a river in the wintertime is not for the meek. Good thing they took along an equally tough weather station!

Click here to learn more about Lewis and Clark and Corps of Discovery.

You're Brilliant! Answers to Quiz Questions

Question 1: An anemometer at the surface would probably report much calmer winds that one up on the platform. According to Meteorology Today, by C. Donald Ahrens, mechanical turbulence and surface friction would create very different wind speeds at 10 feet and 170 feet above the surface. When air moves over the surface of the earth, obstructions such as buildings and trees cause internal eddies that influence the movement of air for hundreds of meters above the surface. The frictional drag of the ground decreases with altitude, so that winds increase dramatically with height. In fact, Ahrens writes, "At a height of only 10 m (33 feet), the wind is often moving twice as fast as on the surface." Thermal turbulence, caused by surface heating, would add to this difference by creating vertical motion as well - especially in the afternoon.

Question 2: The list is long - and pretty weird. The most commonly reported odd thing raining down is frogs - little green guys, usually. The common explanation is that they get picked up by whirlwinds, along with all the other contents of a pond, and are then dropped, alive and chirping, someplace else. (However, this explanation has some holes in it. Why do just frogs rain down, but not the other stuff in the pond?) (For some first-hand stories about frog-falls, check out Halloween Ghost Stories and a story in the Missouri Conservationist Online Magazine. You be the judge!) But frogs aren't the only things that have supposedly rained down. Fish, blood, periwinkles, hermit crabs, fish eggs, ashes, nuts, worms, squid, red fungal spores, corn kernels, corn husks, turtles, alligators, and even one cow have all been reported falling from the skies. (And we can't forget meteorites and manna!) On the fun website of Brian Goodwin, we found the word "fafrotskies" for such things, which Goodwin reports was coined by cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson.

(Now we're wondering how many frogs it would take to overflow the rain collector…)

Extra Credit: Cecil Adams, the god of arcane knowledge-seekers and creator of The Straight Dope, suggests four sources. There are the Greek and Latin sources: it could be from the Greek catadupe, or "waterfall;" or the Latin cata doxas, or "contrary to experience." German mythology associates both cats and dogs with storms, and finally, there's a connection to medieval England, when heavy rains would leave dead animals in the gutters of filthy streets.

Question 3: If you ever wanted to check on the correct spelling of the word mackerel (as we did, belatedly), and looked it up in Webster's II dictionary, you'd find this description: "An Atlantic food fish with dark wavy bars on the back and a silver belly." A mackerel sky has clouds that form dark wavy bars, just like the fishies.

Question 4: Zzzzzzz, the mosquito! According to the American Mosquito Control Association, "Mosquitoes cause more human suffering than any other organism with over one million people dying from mosquito-borne diseases every year. Not only can mosquitoes carry diseases that afflict humans, but they also transmit several diseases and parasites that dogs and horses are very susceptible to. These include dog heartworm, West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis. Mosquito-vectored diseases include protozoan diseases, i.e., malaria, filarial diseases, and viruses such as dengue, encephalitis, and yellow fever." Cutter Company's site tells you how likely you are to get bitten, and shows a scary map of US West Nile disease reports at . (Makes you kind of dread spring, doesn't it?)

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 Envoy, 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