They appear to be the technology behind Weatherbug…
And they happen to have a station less than a mile from my house (according to the CWOP mesonet map).
This is really great for me since my station and the METAR disagree at times on humdity and temperature.
This morning:
I say it’s 71.2F and the AWS station says it’s 70.6F
I say it’s 30.07" of pressure and the AWS station says 30.07"
I say it’s 78% humidity and the AWS station says 79%
I wonder if they just gave a station to the Omaha Box Co. or what.
This is cool…
I say it’s 72.5F and the AWS station says it’s 71.7F
I say it’s 30.08" of pressure and the AWS station says 30.08"
I say it’s 76% humidity and the AWS station says 75.5%
Ah… yes…
They also receive information from the “weathernet” . Several TV weather stations donate weather stations to local schools, then they get the local exposure, and let you know what is happening in the weather at Slippery Rock High School , in Itchy Armpit, Iowa or some place like that.
I would guess that unless you are out in the sticks, there is a local school nearby that has such a setup. So the close values you see are very probably values from near your area. they also sell weather equipment.
But that is a very nice thing to have. My wife claims if I want to see weather, I should go outside sometime. Odd ? Why would I want to do that? I have WeatherDisplay and other gagets to do that for me. :roll:
[rant] I have found that AWS “weatherbug” is not as nice as it appears on paper. First for the cost of the stations (I thought I read over $1,000) they are just standard passive radiation shields, rain, and wind. I have not looked at one from closer than 15 ft, but they appear to be very similar to the VP… for $1,000 you could get the fan-cooled radiation shield, wireless, uv and solar sensor. Also, maybe it is just my area, but every single school seems to put it on the roof! I know that AWS can’t control this, but I always find the readings very off. I trust WU stations private stations much than AWS. Lastly, the weather bug program, IMO is buggy, slow, full of ads, and no aviable for linux.
[/rant]
