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We've Changed Our Format ...
Media producer Martin Carroll and scientist Janet Barnes are probably the only Davis weather station users to install their Vantage Pro2 on a buoy. But they have good reasons! The data this weather station collects will be used by the University of Maryland to monitor conditions in the Chesapeake Bay. "This buoy is not going in the water," Martin wrote. "It's about to be moved to a location right on the water front at a visitor center at the University of Maryland, Solomons. The data collected from the on-shore location will be used at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, Maryland for both research and for display at the University along with the Calvert Marine museum. I monitor the data and produce the multimedia. The information is sent to many locations for both research and public use." (You can see it on the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory web site.) Martin didn't have to think very long when asked what kind of station to install. "I myself use a Davis station at my house so when asked to set this up I naturally used a station I have been more than happy with!"
Last February, we featured Miguel Doura and his high altitude Vantage Pro2 Plus at base camp at 14,400 feet (4300 m) on Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina. He was kind enough to send us this beautiful portrait of his sun- and snow-loving station. Miguel says there is a "mushroom cloud from a little big storm over the summit." Whether it's a little big storm or a big little storm, it is gorgeous, Miguel. Miguel also thought we all might like to know that the Vantage Pro2 has been reporting UV Indices of 16 (the maximum) every day for several hours at midday. UV Index is very important to would-be climbers of the highest peak in the Americas, and the highest outside of Asia. Miguel hangs out at the base camp during climbing season, December through February, painting the beautiful scenes around him. You can see some of his artwork, along with some amazing weather data, on his Aconcagua Now web site. >> Back to Menu
Ivan and Susan Cross sent us this glamour shot of their Vantage Pro2 basking in a Pacific Northwest sunset. All three of them (Ivan, Susan, Vantage Pro2) live on Camano Island, Washington, where such scenes are routine. It is interesting to note how Ivan and Susan mounted the anemometer above the rain collector. This will give them more accurate wind data, while allowing them easy access to the rain collector, and keeping the temperature and humidity sensors at the recommend height. More pretty pictures and pretty weather data can be found on the Cross's Camano Island Weather site. >> Back to Menu And Still Snowing(!) in Arizona
"Once in a blue moon," writes Jerry Madero, of usually sunny Cornville, Arizona, "we get a snow flurry or two. This is the first snow that has covered the ground in three years. This is my intrepid Vantage Pro2 after surviving its first snow." "Back in 1967, they had a two-foot snowfall here in the Verde Valley. It must have been the '100 Year Snow' because it has never happened since then. I had to shoot this photo before official sunrise otherwise the snow would have been gone." Well, there might not have been enough fluffy white stuff for a snowman, but there was enough for next year's Christmas card from the Madero's! >> Back to Menu
Animals As Meteorologists (Or, Happy Groundhog Day!) We're still having nightmares about the discovery of the fossilized vertebra of a 43-foot long boine type snake who gorged on tasty crocodiles near the equator in South America 60 million years ago. A snake who, if he happened to slither by in one of those nightmares, would come up to our waist! Once we get that image out of our head, we come back to an interesting side note of this discovery. The snake has allowed scientists to tell something about the weather back in the good old days of the Tertiary Age. They postulate that a cold-blooded snake that big would need quite a bit of heat to stay alive. It would need an average temperature of about 86 - 90F (30-34C) and that is quite a bit warmer than what it is today (about 83F). This is information that scientists will use to get a better idea of the effects of global warming, and we are sure, to fuel any arguments about the severity or causes of global warming. While it is pretty modern to be using extinct animals to answer questions about our future weather, people have been looking to living animals to tell us about the weather for eons. Before there were Vantage Pro2s, there were birds, ants, bees, and wooly bear caterpillars. Woolly bears are the black and brown, furry larva of the tiger moth. It was thought that the color and thickness of the caterpillars shaggy brown middle could predict how cold the coming winter would be. It seemed like a good idea, but biologist Charles Curran studied woolly bears for years and found that neighboring caterpillar groups had very different predictions. So much for woolly bears. How about black bears and furry hares? Native Americans said that bears and hares could both predict the coming winter: bears snuggled deeper into dens and hares got furrier paws. What about pigs making nests and ants blocking entrances to nests? What about our dog shedding copious fur clumps every spring? There are dozens of animal "predictors" - from the sudden disappearance of bees on flowers to how the cat washes her face. Alas, it seems you gotta stick with the Vantage Pro2 for weather prediction. Usually, animal behavior is indeed predictive of long range weather and some short range weather. They do "predict" that winter is coming, and it will be cold and food will be scarce. Bees do "know" a big rain storm is coming and return to their hives. Gulls come onshore before the wind gets too strong to fly in. But usually, we could infer the same information even without a Vantage Pro2. What about the interesting fact, you ask, that there were oddly low numbers of animals killed by the extensive flooding of the 2004 tsunami in southeast Asia? Almost all the animal deaths were to animals confined or caged. Why were no elephants killed? Can elephants and other animals predict earthquakes and tsunamis? Well, maybe they are not so much predicting the quake as they are literally hearing it. Elephants and other animals can hear infrasonics, sounds in a range much lower than humans. They also have four huge feet firmly planted on the ground. Infrasonics, although out of human hearing range can make some people feel queasy and anxious, so even animals who don't hear like elephants may "sense" them as well. If you are not a believer in Punxsutawney Phil's ability to predict how many more weeks of winter there will be, you are probably a sane and intelligent weather buff, but not that fun to hang around with on February 2. >> Back to Menu
Do I Need a Fan Aspirated Radiation Shield? Johnny Merideth, of Kentucky, is thinking about buying a weather station. "I have looked, researched, interviewed and read about nearly every weather station imaginable," Johnny wrote to our Customer Service staff. "What seems to be becoming ever apparent is that Davis makes the best. From people who own them, to the number of functions they possess, through hurricanes and blizzards, it seems to be the standard weather station. In fact I've never even heard of someone who was dissatisfied with their station or the company's service in standing behind it. So it looks as if I'm going to buy a weather station, it's going to definitely be a Davis." (So far, we think Johnny is one smart Weather Buff.) But he then posed a good question and we thought you all might be interested in the answer. He wonders whether or not he should buy the Vantage Pro2 with Standard Radiation Shield or the Vantage Pro2 with 24-Hour Fan Aspirated Radiation Shield. "On your web site, it states that the fan aspirated shield provides more accurate data in hot climates where there is little to no wind. I reside in Kentucky where we have, at times, some very hot summers. In your expert opinion would it be sensible to purchase the one with the fan aspirated shield or is that perhaps better suited for a climate that routinely has hot weather most of the time and less distinct seasons? While I'm sure a number of factors come into play is there an idea how much difference in temperature accuracy could potentially result by not having the fan aspirated shield? " This is a great question because the answer encapsulates so much of what we seek in a weather station in terms of cost and accuracy. And it is a great question because it allows us to highlight what we think is one of the most amazing features Davis offers! First, let's think about what a temperature sensor does. It is simple to think that it measures the temperature of the air around it, and our temperature sensors do a very good job of that, with an accuracy of +/- 1 degree F (+/- .6 degree C). Our passive radiation shield keeps direct sunlight off both the temperature and humidity sensors, allowing them to measure the ambient air temperature/humidity, and is very accurate when there is a breeze flowing through it. But when there is no wind, the air inside the shield is still, and if there is also high solar radiation, it tends to warm up. (And what happens to relative humidity when the temperature goes up? Right, it drops.) During a cloudless, windless night, a passive radiation shield will also report a temperature that is too high. At night, solar radiation is not the issue, but terrestrial radiation is. (These errors are true for any weather station with a passive radiation shield, not just Davis stations.) In many locations, these conditions happen rarely, but every place on earth has these conditions occasionally, particularly at night. But many of our weather station users do have these conditions often and/or want a station with the highest possible accuracy in all conditions. So our design engineers created an elegant and economical solution: the 24-hour fan aspirated radiation shield. The solar powered fan pulls the air through the shield, and has rechargeable batteries that run the fan all night. The temperature and humidity sensors are then measuring closer to ambient conditions. Tom Raymond, one of our amazing tech support team, recommends a fan aspirated radiation shield when you are in an environment that has relatively no wind flow or very little wind flow, or if you want the best possible accuracy in all conditions. The accuracy of the temperature in the passive radiation shield can vary up to 4 degrees F (2.2 degrees C) depending on the wind speed and solar radiation intensity. If you already have a Vantage Pro2 with a passive radiation shield, you can add a Daytime Fan Aspirated Radiation Shield Kit. The fan in this accessory will not run at night, but it will help correct errors that occur during days when there is little wind and high solar radiation. You can read more about this in A Comparison of Five Radiation Shields which compares five radiation shields. >> Back to Menu
Ryan Hoke is still in high school, but he knows just what he will be studying at Mississippi State University this fall: meteorology. He plans to use his degree, his love of weather, and his unruffled charm as a television weather broadcaster. The young weatherman is already a sort of institution in his hometown of Fisherville, Kentucky, where he keeps the public informed of local weather on his Ryan's Weather web site and in weekly videos he produces and posts to his web site. He has even been a guest weather broadcaster on WAVE TV 3. (A video of him on WAVE TV 3 is pretty impressive. It looks to us like he has been doing the weather in front of a camera for years!) And he is not just a proud weather geek, he's a proud, entrepreneurial weather geek! Check out the store on his site where he sells such very cool things as tee-shirts that say, "I'm a Weather Geek. Are YOU?" (Altogether now: "Yesssss!!") And what kind of station does the Boy Wonder use? Of course, it's a Vantage Pro2. Ryan was featured in a story by Charlie White in the Courier-Journal. If you happen to run into Ryan, you might want to ask for his autograph now and beat the crowds. >> Back to Menu Davis Hosts International Distributors
If there is anything as universal as the weather, it's Davis weather station distributors! Davis weather stations are measuring Malaysian typhoons and Russian low temps, Australian heat and Argentine UV indices, South African wind speeds and Turkish humidities. Our international distributors are a quickly growing group of weather- and tech-savvy business people who must understand our products as well as our own engineers and tech support staff. Every few years, we invite them to Hayward and bombard them with information about what our design, manufacturing and technical crews have been doing. This year, distributors from 28 countries including Singapore, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, France, Thailand, Spain, Peru, Mexico, Australia, Malyasia, Finland, South Korea, Denmark, United Kingdom, Slovakia, Romania, Argentina, Russia, Taiwan, Switzerland, Slovenia, Italy, Bulgaria, Turkey, Czech Republic, Germany and New Zealand descended on the San Francisco Bay Area for a few days of intense training and even a little bit of sightseeing. While we hope they all extended their knowledge of our products, we have to say, we always learn a lot from them too! This year, we were even more impressed with their abilities and were excited by their zest for Davis products. >> Back to Menu
Sometimes a cloud produces rain that evaporates before it can reach the ground, but can be seen as streaks or a wispy fringe under a cloud. What is this phenomenon called? Sparkly Pipe Cleaner Crown Dissuades Birds
Jerry MacFarland, of Belews Creek, NC, is already thinking of spring even though this winter's ice and snow are still lingering. Spring will bring longer, warmer days, green leaves, flowers and birds... birds? Oh no! "Here is a photo of my Vantage Pro2 using some of the tips your readers have suggested for keeping birds away from the rain bucket," Jerry wrote. "I used the chicken wire idea at first but found that small birds could still sit between the upright wire pieces. I added some chrome colored pipe cleaners which collapse under the weight of even the smallest birds and scare them away; thus a clean rain bucket." Good thinking, Jerry. And if any of those birds take up pipe-smoking, they'll have nice pipe cleaners handy. Jerry has been a Davis weather station user since the 80's when he installed his original Weather Monitor II. "It was zapped by lightning in late 2006 and was replaced with a wireless Vantage Pro 2. Recently I added the WeatherLinkIP to my system and enjoy telling friends how they can access my weather data.The only thing left to do is have an electrician install an outlet near my station so I can install a Rain Collector Heater. Where I live, we get mostly frozen rain and ice storms in the winter and I would like to have a more accurate rainfall total." Darin Ziegler, of Colorado Springs, Colorado was happy to see a familiar, uh, face, up on top of Pikes Peak: the Vantage Pro2 that lives on top of the summit house. Since he has a Vantage Pro2 himself, he got a kick out of taking photos and has posted them on his web site, alongside some nice photos of other (living) wildlife Jo Hunter thinks the weather in her home town of Buda, Texas, is fascinating. So she decided to put put a feed from her Vantage Pro2 onto the microblogging/messaging system, Twitter.The RSS feed that drives this comes from her main web site (RSS stands for Rich Site Summary, a format for delivering regularly changing web content.) She adds, "And thanks for a great weather station, it is rock solid!" As we say in Texas, it ain't nuthin'. Course this ain't our first rodeo, so we can't help but make a station that's finer than a frog's hair. Just the same, we're happy as a gopher in soft dirt that y'all are walkin' in tall cotton. And we ain't woofin'. >> Back to Menu
Question 1: Can you snow ski in Arizona? We're packing our snow board and sun block! Skiing in Arizona, with snow conditions comparable to Utah and Colorado, might be one of the best kept secrets of southwestern snow bunnies. You can ski just a few hours from Phoenix at the Arizona Snowbowl near Flagstaff, or Sunrise Park Resort in the Arizona White Mountains. You can even ski near Tucson at the Elk Ridge Ski Area or Mount Lemon Ski Valley. There's great cross-country skiing at the Flagstaff Nordic Center and Wing Mountain Cross-Country Ski Trails. We tend to think of Arizona as a hot desert environment and forget that plenty of Arizona is up high enough for great snow skiing conditions. >> Back to Menu Question 2: How often is Punxsutawney Phil right? Phil is right about 37% of time. Just a hare above random chance. >> Back to Menu Question 3: When we speak of wind direction, are we talking about the direction the wind is blowing from or direction it is blowing toward? Wind direction is the direction from which the wind is blowing. A north wind blows from the north toward the south. So if you stand facing north in a north wind, the wind will hit your face. If you blow on the weather vane on your anemometer, you will see that the pointed end turns toward you, or into the wind, pointing in the direction from which the wind is blowing.
>> Back to Menu Question 4: Sometimes a cloud produces rain that evaporates before it can reach the ground, but can been seen as streaks or a wispy fringe under a cloud. What is this phenomenon called? Virga. It can be very beautiful, especially during an American southwest sunset, when the colors of the sunset on the virga make it look like red or orange streamers are curling down from the clouds. For some pretty photos of virga in Australia, click the gallery at Australia Severe Weather . (We love the "hole punch" cloud images - virga can cause these weird and interesting cloud phenomena.) >> Back to Menu Question 5: Can you spot the non-Texan in this conversation? It's Peggy Sue, known as Margaret Susannah in her hometown of London. And not the London in Kimble County, Texas. The one in England. >> Back to Menu 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, see the links for catalog requests on our web site at www.davisnet.com/contact/catalog.asp. What do you think of our new E-news format? 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 Davis E-News. Member participation is what keeps the Davis E-News alive and kicking. Well, that’s it for this edition. You’ll be hearing from us again next month! The Davis Weather Club E-Newsletter is published by Davis Instruments. Vantage Pro2, Vantage Pro2 Plus, Vantage Pro, Vantage Pro Plus, Weather Monitor, Weather Wizard, WeatherLink, WeatherLinkIP, Weather Envoy, and Perception are trademarks of Davis Instruments Corp. |
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