Topic: Goldstar Stations

[Jáchym]

OK.  Beat this!

I helped my brother-in-law set up his station on wunderground yesterday afternoon.

His first report to wunderground was at 2:49PM August 20th.

Today, August 21st it has a gold star!

Must be a real talent

[vreihen]

I was wondering if the metric for receiving a gold star might involve the number of page views of that PWS' data?  It would make sense, especially with WU more concerned with eyeball counts and ad impressions than actual weather these days.....

[nincehelser]

I was wondering if the metric for receiving a gold star might involve the number of page views of that PWS' data?  It would make sense, especially with WU more concerned with eyeball counts and ad impressions than actual weather these days.....

Well, my brother-in-laws gold-star station now has 10 views.  I'm guessing 4 or 5 of those are mine.

[Jáchym]

I was wondering if the metric for receiving a gold star might involve the number of page views of that PWS' data?  It would make sense, especially with WU more concerned with eyeball counts and ad impressions than actual weather these days.....

Well, my brother-in-laws gold-star station now has 10 views.  I'm guessing 4 or 5 of those are mine.

 

[Evening thunder]

My station gained goldstar status a few days ago.. but this morning it seems to be gone again 

Edit: Ok now it's back so that was probably a glitch

OK.  Beat this!

I helped my brother-in-law set up his station on wunderground yesterday afternoon.

His first report to wunderground was at 2:49PM August 20th.

Today, August 21st it has a gold star!

Same near me. A new station appeared on Sunday to become my 2nd closest, it had only been reporting for a couple half hour periods with the rest of the data via catch up, and was reading over 5C, around 10F too high when I saw it, but it was already goldstar!

[Jáchym]

My very badly sited, inaccurate, cheap WH1080 is a permanent star

[moehoward4]

I've always gotten 'Gold Stars' for my stations, in my own mind, because I don't upload any data to no one but my external HD and those that call looking for info.

[M0TTB]

Maybe they will be introducing a 'goldstar pws only' layer to the wundermap, none of my local netatmo stations seem to have a goldstar, so maybe it's finally an option to get rid of them 

There are a few famous 'Goldstars'' over in the UK, a friend of mine has a magnificent vintage BSA Goldstar motorbike, worth a fortune. I think BSA also named an air rifle 'Goldstar'. Seem to remember 'Goldstar' was also brand name for some cheap nasty home entertainment equipment, vcr, tv's and whatever.

[SpringHillWeather]

none of my local netatmo stations seem to have a goldstar, so maybe it's finally an option to get rid of them 

I checked my area and sorted the stations by Precipitation.

I couldn't find any Netamo's with Goldstars but the BloomSky's do. 

Maybe its how many data accurate points are sent?

The BloomSky on WU reports (4) Temp, Dew, Pressure and UV.

The Netamo on WU reports (3) Temp, Dew and Pressure.

Does this make sense?

[hankster]

Does this make sense?

NO

Our local airport which is a NWS station doesn't even have a goldstar.

[Jáchym]

Does this make sense?

NO

Our local airport which is a NWS station doesn't even have a goldstar.

LOL, I was just replying to his post, my reply had exactly two letters And it showed me there was a new reply posted while I was typing and I see someone was reading my mind

[hankster]

Maybe there are now so many Netamo's and Bloomsky's that they are now the normal and the "real" weather stations are now the outliers?

[Jáchym]

This is exactly what I said at the beginning of this thread and in other threads too, I completely agree. The problem is that the only way the algorithm can check station accuracy is obviously by comparing it to nearby stations (it obviously cannot detect the real conditions at that place). And so if there are 5 poorly shielded stations near you that show a temperature several degrees higher than your  much more professional and well sited station, which one do you think will be the odd one out...

[CW2274]

Maybe there are now so many Netamo's and Bloomsky's that they are now the normal and the "real" weather stations are now the outliers?

I've preached it. Police your own, because sure in hell no one else properly can.

[SpringHillWeather]

Does this make sense?

NO

Our local airport which is a NWS station doesn't even have a goldstar.

You're right, none of the 3 major Airports in my area get a GoldStar.

The mystery continues 

[SpringHillWeather]

Maybe there are now so many Netamo's and Bloomsky's that they are now the normal and the "real" weather stations are now the outliers?

I've preached it. Police your own, because sure in hell no one else properly can.

Now that statement deserves the Goldstar and 2 thumbs up 

[floodcaster]

This is exactly what I said at the beginning of this thread and in other threads too, I completely agree. The problem is that the only way the algorithm can check station accuracy is obviously by comparing it to nearby stations (it obviously cannot detect the real conditions at that place). And so if there are 5 poorly shielded stations near you that show a temperature several degrees higher than your  much more professional and well sited station, which one do you think will be the odd one out...

Yes, the "nearest neighbor" approach doesn't work unless those are sites that are known to be accurate. The idea is good but unless you can setup some reference stations it won't be a valid approach. PS...my location was awarded the Goldstar for one day only. 

[Jáchym]

LOL, my highly inaccurate, poorly sited station, which btw. is currently showing 7 degrees more than the nearby airport (it is sunny...) is a permanent star

https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=IJIHOMOR28

[Jáchym]

Guess which one is mine... (of course a goldstar station...)

[reeniewhalen]

I don't know how they come up with "5 consecutive days". My network provider throws me off-line quite a few times a fortnight.
Mine got a gold star, just hope like the Olympics, the IRS don't want me to pay tax on my gold medal!
Last time i got a gold star was at kindergarten.

[hankster]

Yes, the "nearest neighbor" approach doesn't work unless those are sites that are known to be accurate. The idea is good but unless you can setup some reference stations it won't be a valid approach. PS...my location was awarded the Goldstar for one day only. 

Even if they are known accurate that still wouldn't work. It is common in the area that I live to have very small areas of microclimates. It is not unusual in the summer to have small cells of thunderstorms that are only a couple miles in diameter. That can easily drop the temps in those areas 15 deg, raise the humidity 20% and have wind speeds that can exceed 20MPH of stations only a mile or two away.

[SpringHillWeather]

LOL, my highly inaccurate, poorly sited station, which btw. is currently showing 7 degrees more than the nearby airport (it is sunny...) is a permanent star

https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=IJIHOMOR28

Jachym, your sending data to MADIS with that broken station???   

No wonder they think there's Global Warming..... 

[CW2274]

Yes, the "nearest neighbor" approach doesn't work unless those are sites that are known to be accurate. The idea is good but unless you can setup some reference stations it won't be a valid approach. PS...my location was awarded the Goldstar for one day only. 

Even if they are known accurate that still wouldn't work. It is common in the area that I live to have very small areas of microclimates. It is not unusual in the summer to have small cells of thunderstorms that are only a couple miles in diameter. That can easily drop the temps in those areas 15 deg, raise the humidity 20% and have wind speeds that can exceed 20MPH of stations only a mile or two away.

Granted the T-storm wouldn't sit on your (or your neighbors) porch forever, but your basic reasoning is spot on.

[DoctorKnow]

LOL, my highly inaccurate, poorly sited station, which btw. is currently showing 7 degrees more than the nearby airport (it is sunny...) is a permanent star

https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=IJIHOMOR28

Jachym, your sending data to MADIS with that broken station???   

No wonder they think there's Global Warming..... 

He could simply extend the phone cord down below the roof and place the sensor there... That is the right thing to do if you are going to upload to MADIS.

[hankster]

Granted the T-storm wouldn't sit on your (or your neighbors) porch forever, but your basic reasoning is spot on.

That's true. But since these generally happen in the evening they tend to cool down the area for the remainder of the day. Not uncommon to see 10-15 deg difference that sets in and stays there while to other areas can take late into the night to get down to those temps. Add on top of the the difference in humidity/rainfall and there can be a lot of differences that will last for hours.