Davis
Instruments Weather Club
May 2003
In This Issue:
GLOBE
Program Protocol Includes Davis Weather Stations
Over a million
primary and secondary students in more than 12,000 schools have
taken part in the GLOBE program, a worldwide, hands-on, primary
and secondary school-based education and science program. Students
in GLOBE schools perform scientific research and data analysis in
the areas of atmosphere, hydrology, soils, and land cover/phenology.
The data and results are shared via the Internet with other GLOBE
programs, allowing student-scientists to work in a virtual global
lab.
We're very proud
to announce that GLOBE has recently posted their newest protocol
for the collection of atmospheric measurements using Davis weather
stations. You can see the protocols on the GLOBE website.
You'll see "Davis Automated Weather Station" under Atmosphere/Climate
in the first column. Click here to read the official GLOBE announcement.
Much of the
protocol is in the form of curriculum or lesson plans, which demonstrates
the high level of support and training GLOBE teachers enjoy. The
GLOBE website has a wealth
of information for teachers, parents, students, and weather enthusiasts.
Check it out!
Davis
Beta Testers Rule!
Kudos to our
Beta-Testers! We've received plenty of good suggestions about our
beta version of WeatherLink 5.4. Most of the identified problems
have been fixed, and now there is a new
and improved version (but still beta) version available for
download. You folks are good! Thank you to all who participated.
Fire
Destroys Generator Building at Mount Washington Observatory
After reading
the article about the Mount Washington Observatory in our February
issue, Bob Bowser of Moncton, Canada, visited their website and
was shocked to learn that a fire had recently engulfed the power
generator building. The fire resulted in a loss of power and the
evacuation of the staff and volunteers. This was the first time
the summit was "uninhabited" since October, 1932.
"Fire is one
of the most dreaded occurrences at a remote winter site," Bob wrote.
"It was very interesting to read the press releases of how the state
coped with the situation, the efforts made during extreme weather
conditions, and the dedication that the staff showed in collecting,
recording, and transmitting data in the face of extremely harsh
conditions. From a former member of the 'Chosen Frozen' who worked
surface and upper air stations in the Canadian High Arctic, my hat
goes off to them. Collecting data is not always an easy task at
the best of times."
Everyone including
Nin, the cat, got down the mountain safely, but the loss has caused
plenty of hardship. You can read about the fire and the resulting
problems on the Observatory's website.
The estimate of $50,000 in damages has left the Observatory hoping
you and other weather enthusiasts will be able to help by contributing
to the Fire Recovery Fund. Read more about what you can do here.
Weather
Check Quiz Question 1: Our good friend Ann Ziety used to think
working at the Observatory would be wonderful because she suffers
from hylophobia and thalassophobia but has conquered her ailurophobia.
Since there are no forests (fear of forests: hylophobia) or seas
(fear of the sea: thalassophobia) up there (but there is a cat!
- fear of cats: ailurophobia), she thought she'd just fit right
in. But the above news has exacerbated her pyrophobia, which is
complicated by extreme brontophobia. Now what's the poor dear terrified
of? (We here at the E-News only deal with linonophobia and touch
of criticophobia…)
Scott
has Fond Memories of Linda
Our quiz question
in last month's issue about the likelihood of a hurricane hitting
southern California brought back some fond memories for Scott Owen
of San Diego. Back in 1997, he met the lovely Linda, Hurricane Linda
that is, almost face to face.
Surfer Scott
wrote that Linda "followed the perfect path to give great surf to
Southern California. She tracked straight up the coast of Baja California,
and then turned due west and headed for Hawaii. Hurricanes develop
the best swell from their front right quadrant, since they rotate
counter clockwise. The path that Linda followed aimed that front
right quadrant swell straight up the coast. Since she moved in a
straight line for a few days, the fetch was long enough to generate
a large interval ground swell."
"During Hurricane
Linda," Scott remembers, "we just happened to be on a surf trip
in Baja California Norte. We were listening to weather radio just
in case we needed to get out. We were camping at Punta San Jose
(about 60 miles south of Ensenada), which faces due south. The first
day had perfect, solidly double overhead A-frame peaks in the middle
of the lagoon. It was the best surf I have ever seen. The next day
when we awoke, the ocean literally looked like corduroy fabric all
the way to the horizon. The waves were easily 20 feet-plus on the
face and coming in sets that lasted 45 minutes. I stayed on shore
and took pictures. I saw my friends get some great waves and pay
some serious rent."
In true weather-nut
style, Scott tells us that he has kept the March issue of National
Geographic, which featured Hurricane Linda on the cover, "just for
the memories." She's still being remembered by National Geographic
today, and you can find a nice portrait of her on their website.
Scott said that
if you look at the enlarged picture of Hurricane Linda, "you can
click and see the cover shot I described. It is really impressive.
We were camped on the coast directly below the space between the
"n" and the 'd' in 'Linda'."
"If we would
have had access to that satellite image at the time," Scott added,
"we might not have stayed!"
Weather
Check Quiz Question 2: When we think of May, we think of: tornados! (You didn't say "flowers" did you? If so, we may reconsider your membership in this elite club.) The United States has the honor of having the most tornados in the world, mostly in the Midwest's "Tornado Alley." How many states have "hosted" tornados? How many tornados can we expect this (and every) year? If a tornado approaches, is it a good idea to open the windows to equalize the pressure and prevent the house from "exploding?"
Why
Do Crickets Chirp?
Lynn Thomson
liked the cricket-chirp thermometer we told you about in our last
issue. But being a curious scientific type she asks the next question:
Why do crickets chirp anyway?
Well, it could
be because they, as a more advanced race of bugs than they get credit
for, really love the weather and have figured out this way to broadcast
their weather data. Then again, maybe not.
According to
the bugologists of the world, crickets chirp mainly to catch the
gals. Only males chirp and they do so to tell the females in the
area a thing or two about themselves. They've got a whole repertoire
of songs: some to say "over here, honey!" Some to whisper sweet
nothings once she wanders over, and another to tell the competing
males to keep away. Fighting and warning are also chirpable events.
The chirp of a mature guy is different from that of a youngster.
Crickets can disguise their "voices" to sound farther or closer.
If the colony is upset, the chirps will get more boisterous. The
goal is often to be loud, so that females who might be far away
will appreciate a distant, but strong, fellow and take off in his
direction.
The chirp is
created, not by rubbing the legs together, but by rubbing one wing,
equipped with a sort of bow, across a ridge on the other wing. There
are even lefties and righties in the cricket world!
Darryl
Gwynnes, on his bug website for kids, describes some African
tree crickets that have figured out how to chew leaves into a megaphone
that turns up the volume of their chirps. Now that's a smart bug!
Weather
Check Quiz Question 3: It's 3 a.m. and we can't sleep because
some macho cricket has been chirping the weather report all night.
He has obviously developed a very effective megaphone system. Since
we can't sleep, we lie awake and think of food. Which would be a
better source of protein, as well as being low in fat: A. Two hard-boiled
eggs, B. Eight ounces of crickets, C. A cup of mealworms, or, D.
One pint Haagen-Daas Vanilla Swiss Almond ice cream?
Extra
Credit: Caterpillars are also good weather-bug. They emerge from their cocoons when the barometric pressure is falling. And there is good reasoning behind this. What is it?
Full
Moon and Cold Weather: He Thinks They Relate
Mike Gosvold,
who lives in chilly Holcombe, Wisconsin, has a challenge for the
Weather Club members.
"Despite the
answer to Weather Quiz Question 4 in last issue concerning the moon's
affect upon our weather," Mike wrote, "I maintain that it sure seems,
at least here in northern Wisconsin, that the season's first frost
and coldest nights often coincide with a full moon. Seems to me
that sure as shootin' if you look up on those cloudless, stillest,
crispest, coldest fall or winter nights, a big full moon will be
hanging there."
"Do you suppose
that any of your readers, especially from the northern states, would
be able to or interested in a challenge to plot daily low temperatures
against the phases of the moon? I think that would be an interesting
project for someone who has more than a couple of year's data to
draw from. I'm wondering if my 'coldest at the full moon' theory
has any credibility or if it just seems that way to me."
What do you
say, northern-staters? A challenge has been offered!
Virtual
Vantage Pro Provides Much Needed Entertainment to Bored Southwesterners
"Down here on
the Colorado/New Mexico border entertainment options are pretty
slim," writes Jan Emanuel Gautreaux, "but I couldn't believe I caught
myself playing the Virtual Vantage
Pro while I have the real one
in the next room! It sure got me to laughing."
Poor Jan. Even
the weather seems a bit dull in her area. Jan, who uses her station
in serving as a NOAA weather spotter, said drought has been the
big weather news during the last year, and she found herself getting
very excited over readings of .01 or .02 inches of rain!
Well, Jan, we're
happy to help out. (Wish we could help out with the rain situation!)
We've added
another bit of entertainment to our webpage. The college-level text,
Introducing Physical Geography, by Alan and Arthur Strahler, includes
a supplemental CD which elaborates on the textbook material. The
chapters on Weather and Climate on the CD feature an interactive
weather station exercise using our photo images. Check it out and
see how well you can use the data your weather station is giving
you.
Easter
Typo Leaves Bunny, Others, Confused
Our dear readers
have really let us down. In response to last issue, we got nine
comments on our strange typo, but only one from a person who noticed
our snazzy new HTML format! (Thank you for noticing, Max Riseman
of So. Portland, ME. An extra chocolate-covered marshmallow egg
for you!)
The typo, first
returned to our attention within seconds by nit-pick-whiz Walter
Fortner, of Milwaukie, OR, concerned the wrong date for Easter this
year. Ole Karstad, of Nicollet, MN, said the typo was just too easy
and that we were "begging to be corrected." (Now we're begging your
pardon!) Will Holcomb said his wife told him the date we printed
was wrong (good boy, Will, wives are always right), and Jerry Trusty,
of Granada Hills, CA, had to look on two calendars before he could
believe we'd made an error. Paul Sullivan, who kindly said he makes
typos now and then himself, asked if we were sure of being sure
of the date. (We sure were - darn it.)
And Joe Neiderholer,
of Illinois, wondered what part of the universe we were in. We told
you last issue, Joe. We live in the very same universe as you, precisely
the same galaxy, and even the same solar system. When we say we
live in California, we mean California, Mars, where Easter never
falls on April 20. (We don't even have an April 20th!)
(Our question
to ourselves: How do you mistype "20" as "11"? Thank goodness the
Easter Bunny is not a subscriber!)
Thanks, guys
(and Mrs. Holcomb), as well as co-nit-pickers Allen, Nathan, and
Dave.
Weather
Check Quiz Question 4: What's the weather like on Easter Island?
Extra
Credit: Why is Easter Island called Easter Island?
Davis
Stations Help Weather Volunteers Do Their Good Work
We have a big
E-hug for all those who responded to our call for stories about
weather volunteers. We are hoping to see some of their stories in
their local media. It's about time somebody recognized the important
work weather volunteers do. Every one of those who responded (as
of e-press time) deserves a full page story (and we just might be
doing one on each of them), but we just have to share a short version
of their work with you here. We say, wow!
Gary Oaks,
of Burlington, WI, uses his Weather Monitor II to send data to the
NWS office in Milwaukee, WI. Among other duties, he is a ham radio
operator who is involved with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service/Civil
Emergency Service program as well as being the Skywarn Coordinator
for Walworth County. His system runs 24/7 on its own computer!
Gary Oaks' command center features plenty of high tech gadgets - each one part of a life-saving volunteer program.
Robert Thompson
of the Mathematics and Engineering Department of Lane Community
College in Eugene, OR, oversees a campus project that centers on
a Vantage
Pro Plus sitting on top of the Math and Science building,
which is connected to the campus network. The entire campus community
uses the data including the college PBS radio station, KLCC, which
broadcasts current weather conditions.
"The Health
and PE departments use the data to advise athletes of health related
weather conditions," Robert wrote. "And math and science students
use the information for student projects. Even the local TV station's
meteorologist, Joseph Calbreath, references our station."
Bob German
of the Corona (CA) Fire Department posts data from their weather
station on the Internet for community members to access. Kenneth
Elliston collects weather data from 12 weather stations in eastern
Oregon and western Washington, which he then passes on to the Oregon
Emergency Management Weather Net via ham radio.Weather Alert Group
members Lee Graham and his wife watch for tornados near their
Ashland, Nebraska home, and post current conditions on the Internet
for community access.
Weather spotter
Dean Henson, of Pineville, KY, is a Naturalist at Pine Mountain
State Resort Park. He uses his station as part of his educational
programs for park visitors.
The local media,
and the community, benefit from weather watchers who report to local
newspaper, television and radio stations. Angela Corelis,
of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, who uses her Health Enviromonitor
and the National Weather Service office in Fairbanks. Her input
has been so useful, she and the NWS office are planning to set up
more stations for a better compilation of ground reports. Gary
Townley reports to Penn State's Observation Pages as well as
the Connecticut Weather Center.
Weather Watcher
Glenn Cook, of Olanta, PA, has reported on everything from
wall clouds to 18" of snow for the local news channel. The NWS has
issued warnings and downgrades based, in part, on his reporting.
Don Drusch, of Bemidji, MN, and his Vantage Pro are Skywarn
volunteers who also report to the local TV station, the NWS, in
Grand Forks, ND, and the Soil and Water Conservation District in
Beltrami County. Skywarn member and ham radio operator, Bill
Crawford, of Tuolumne, CA, uses his Weather Wizard III to make
daily reports to the Daily Union Democrat in Sonora.
Bill Gravell,
Encinitas, CA; reports to the APRS network and the Weather Underground.
Weather spotters Ron Daldoss, San Diego, CA; David Riester,
Orlando, FL; Robert Woodson, Jr., Raleigh NC; Dennis Paull,
Half Moon Bay, CA; Kent Miller, Santa Rosa, CA; Keith
Franz, Lincoln, IL, and Don Jackson are all on duty gathering
and reporting vital information on their local weather.
And even though
we are not sure they have an official "Volunteer Week" in the Netherlands,
Jeff Simmelink of Sittard, The Netherlands, uses his Vantage Pro Plus to maintain a current weather website as well as providing
his regional TV station with data and giving weekly weather talks
on the local radio station.
We are mightily
impressed and very proud to be part of this work. Thank you to all
who responded!
Weather
Check Quiz Question 5: Glenn Cook has reported on wall clouds. What is a wall cloud?
You're
Brilliant! Answers to Quiz Questions
Question
1:
Ann quakes at the thought of fire! She is also terrified of thunder
(good thing all the Brontosauruses are gone, or we're sure she'd
fear the "thunder lizard" as well.) We're scared to death of string,
and yes, critics. (Lots more fears can be found on Michael Quinion's
website.)
Question
2: All 50 states have been visited by tornados. The Midwest
can expect about 850 of the unwelcome guests every year. In the
past, people were told to open their windows. However, that advice
is no longer sound. In the 1970's, it became clear that the pressure
inside a tornado is only about 10 percent less than inside the house.
The idea that houses "exploded" came from the way many houses looked
after being hit - with all four walls collapsed. This happens because
the tornado's winds lift up the roof - much the way airplane wings
are lifted - and that allows the walls to collapse. Opening the
windows won't help, and might get you hit by debris. The safest
place is underground. Next best is a small interior room on the
lowest floor of a sound building. Bathrooms, the plumbing of which
can reinforce the walls, are often a good choice. Most victims of
tornados were in a mobile home - not a very safe place to be. (Sources:
The Weather Wizards 5-Year Weather Diary, Algonquin Books;
The Rough Guide To Weather, by Robert Henson.) The folks
at the US Storm Prediction Center
spend their days watching thunderstorms and potential tornados in
order issue tornado watches and warnings.
Question
3: As soon as we finish licking the lid of the Haagen-Daas container,
we'll tell you that eggs are about 13% protein, and about 9% fat.
Just let us have a few more spoonfuls of ice cream, and we'll tell
you that the crickets would be a better choice than the eggs, because
they come in at 24% protein, and the same nice low level of fat
(9%). We'll just go ahead and scrape the bottom of the Haagen-Daas
container for the last little bite before we remind you that everyone
knows mealworms are too hard to digest compared to crickets. Having
just packed in 1200 calories of ice cream, which is only 4% protein
and 18% fat (that's 60% of the calories) we say, if you choose the
crickets (or the eggs) more power to you. (Bug nutrient source:
David
Pickering's webpage. Ice cream nutrient source: Haagen
Daas!)
Extra Credit:
What do we usually expect after a drop in barometric pressure? Storms! The newly emerged butterflies or moths use the high winds of the storms to help them get to new feeding areas.
Question
4: Although officially a part of Chile, Easter Island enjoys
much more rainfall than arid Chile. There are basically two seasons
the wet one and the dry one. The warmer wet season, from December
to May, is just a bit warmer and wetter than the dry season. The
driest month, October, averages just under three inches of rain,
while the wettest, May averages five inches. Humidity hovers in
the 70th percentile, and temperatures range from balmy high 70'sºF
in February to still balmy high 60'sºF in August. No hurricanes,
only rare thunder. Nary a snowflake. Sounds wonderful. (From a terrific
book, The Rough Guide To Weather, by Robert Henson. This
book was recommended by E-News reader Jan Emanuel Gautreaux for
its lovely photographs and is amazingly complete world weather pages.)
Extra Credit:
Easter Island is a remote volcanic rock in the South Pacific, 2000
miles from Tahiti. Admiral Roggeveen "discovered" the island on
Easter Day in 1722 -- hence the name. But its original name was
"Navel of the World," or Te-Pito-Te-Henua. Check
out Jean-Christophe Vanderhaegen's website, "Rapa
Nui Syndrome," for more about Easter Island.
Question
5: If you're worried about tornados, you better know what a
wall cloud is, because they often either accompany or precede tornados.
When the rain-free base of the clouds rotating beneath a severe
thunderstorm abruptly lowers into a circular, low hanging cloud,
"severe weather spotters know that the cloud is a visible manifestation
of the tornado mesocylclone," writes Walter A. Lyons, Ph.D.,
in The Handy Weather Answer Book. (What a great book! It
is just one great Weather Check Quiz question after another!) In
other words, a funnel cloud could be born from the wall cloud. "The
rotating wall of clouds has been known to appear as much as an hour
before the actual touchdown of a tornado."
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!
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