Topic: Disappointed in my Mk III this morning

[ggsteve]

We are having our first significant snowfall of the season.  Nothing special, about 6" of sticky, moderately heavy snow.  About an hour ago I noticed that the wind speed went to zero and stayed there, despite occasional gusts and a steady NW breeze.  The pictures tell the story.  The anemometer has caked over with snow and stopped spinning.  Direction is still functioning, but I would think a weathers tation made by a company in Maine with decades of experience would be able to handle a small snow storm better than this.

[txweather.org]

wow sorry about that

[DaleReid]

Don't get your undies all in a bundle.

Things happen.  By looking at how well all the other stuff is covered with sticky snow from the direction the wind was blowing, I don't think you're doing too bad.

I have pictures of my Rainwise with a coating of clear ice going around with icicles hanging off it, and one later one when the coating of ice was much thicker and it was stopped.  At the same time the Davis was froze solid, and the Peet brothers was the same.

Even my $1250 (list) RM Young 05103 was suffering.

Young makes an 'alpine' model that is black to get some heat from the sun if there is any and a special slippery coating over it and while it wasn't out for that storm, has iced over with enormous wet flakes finally (like a beaver dam) bridging the gap and all came to a halt.

I don't have any ultrasonics, but I'm darned sure they would have been covered too with that kind of condition.

Well, remember you still have the Beaufort scale to fall back on....

[CW2274]

You wouldn't work if you looked like that either. 

[kcidwx]

Then buy a heated ultrasonic. Problem solved.

[ggsteve]

You're all right of course.  The situation has actually gotten worse.  The temp has dropped from 32 to 28 and that sucker is froze up.  Lonnie at Rainwise told me they tested the battery by putting a fully charged unit in a chest freezer for 6 months.  We'll see how long it takes for the solar panel to clear and how well the battery lasts in the mean time.

[ggsteve]

You wouldn't work if you looked like that either. 

You should have seen me when I came in from snow blowing!

[CW2274]

You wouldn't work if you looked like that either. 

You should have seen me when I came in from snow blowing!

Ick. You can have it. We're pushing 80F in a few days! 

[ggsteve]

You wouldn't work if you looked like that either. 

You should have seen me when I came in from snow blowing!

Ick. You can have it. We're pushing 80F in a few days! 

Well that's the funny part.  36 hours ago we weren't supposed to get anything and the sun went down hast night in the pleasant 50s.  I was stunned to get the no school call this morning. 

[CW2274]

You wouldn't work if you looked like that either. 

You should have seen me when I came in from snow blowing!

Ick. You can have it. We're pushing 80F in a few days! 

Well that's the funny part.  36 hours ago we weren't supposed to get anything and the sun went down hast night in the pleasant 50s.  I was stunned to get the no school call this morning.

Heard yesterday that this will be an omega block, so things could stay this way for some time.

[VaJim]

I think the real question is how did it freeze up?  I mean I've had mine running in some Virginia style snow and it ended up getting pretty covered with snow. However, there was always a breeze to keep it moving.  In this case it almost sounds like the cold air came in rather quickly and quietly and settled on a moisture laden surface. 

This is another vote for NOT putting stations way up on roofs and the such.  I understand that not everyone has the perfect location and in this case even if it was at ground level I wouldn't touch it until it thaws out.

Good luck!

[ggsteve]

Right about high noon today I noticed the anemometer spinning again as the sun hit it. 

This is another vote for NOT putting stations way up on roofs and the such.  I understand that not everyone has the perfect location and in this case even if it was at ground level I wouldn't touch it until it thaws out.

Good luck!

I plan to move the main unit to the back yard this Spring, but even when I do I plan to leave the anemometer where it is, so I guess I could still have this problem in the future.

[VaJim]

Right about high noon today I noticed the anemometer spinning again as the sun hit it. 

This is another vote for NOT putting stations way up on roofs and the such.  I understand that not everyone has the perfect location and in this case even if it was at ground level I wouldn't touch it until it thaws out.

Good luck!

 I plan to leave the anemometer where it is, so I guess I could still have this problem in the future.

how do you do that?

[cospringswx]

2 feet of snow here last week and my Vue spun the whole storm.

[DaleReid]

Wait, the banner on your reply says it is 44.8 degrees there.  You can't have any snow left with temps like that.

[cospringswx]

Wait, the banner on your reply says it is 44.8 degrees there.  You can't have any snow left with temps like that.

Lol. Got alot left.

[ggsteve]

Right about high noon today I noticed the anemometer spinning again as the sun hit it. 

This is another vote for NOT putting stations way up on roofs and the such.  I understand that not everyone has the perfect location and in this case even if it was at ground level I wouldn't touch it until it thaws out.

Good luck!

 I plan to leave the anemometer where it is, so I guess I could still have this problem in the future.

how do you do that?

Rainwise sells a package with a 50 foot Cat5 extension cable and a cap of some sort to separate the anemometer from the main sensor array.  I'm hoping I can substitute a 100' cable because for my application I don't think 50' is long enough.  I don't have too many details on it but Lonnie told me they sell them.

[VaJim]

Right about high noon today I noticed the anemometer spinning again as the sun hit it. 

This is another vote for NOT putting stations way up on roofs and the such.  I understand that not everyone has the perfect location and in this case even if it was at ground level I wouldn't touch it until it thaws out.

Good luck!

 I plan to leave the anemometer where it is, so I guess I could still have this problem in the future.

how do you do that?

Rainwise sells a package with a 50 foot Cat5 extension cable and a cap of some sort to separate the anemometer from the main sensor array.  I'm hoping I can substitute a 100' cable because for my application I don't think 50' is long enough.  I don't have too many details on it but Lonnie told me they sell them.

ugh...good luck with that.