Topic: humidity out reading very high

[tom03087]

My Davis 6152 arrived today. I had time to set up the station but have not installed the serial logger or the vitual weather software yet. All the rteadings look to be in line except the outside humidity. The inside humidity is reading 74% and based on local weather stations that is about right. The outside is reading 92%. I do live on the lake and the station is set up about 30' from the lake. I do not have a lot of options to get further away and still be in a clear spot, away from hottop, and the house. Is this the impact of being to near the water or should I try something else? Any help would be appreciated.

Tomorrow or saturday I will try and install the 6510 serial logger and the internet edition of VWS. Any suggestions or things I need to be careful with? I had heard that I need to be careful how i set the logger uo on the station. Want to avoid as many rookie mistakes as I can.

[ncpilot]

I think I can speak for others, but YMMV, you'll find that you'll start trusting your weather stats at your location, no matter what the "official" values are at the airport...

For me, this is especially true of rainfall and humidity, due to my proximity to water, and the prevailing winds... The airport is far enough inland that the seabreeze line doesn't always reach it, whereas it will easily go past my house, so I'll get a humidity spike, while the airport can be 30-40% lower.

Same with rain, we tend to get narrow bands of rain, so 1/2 mile north of me they'll get hammered with 2", and I might get .1"...

Anyway, it doesn't take much of a breeze across a body of water to affect your local humidity, especially only 30' away! I'm maybe 1.5-1.75 miles inland from the ocean (yeah, makes me look forward to Hanna... not  ) and the seabreeze has a major effect...

Thing is, you're not trying to match the readings at the airport, or someone else's station (unless they are next door), you want accurate readings at your location. If that means you are affected by the lake, then you have correct readings...

My viewpoint anyway...

[Anthony]

Remember Temp, hinidity & rainfall can vary, sometimes greatly over short distances. As mentioned. don't worry about matching your readings.

[George Richardson]

Hello,
Site your station as best you can for your property. CWOP has a great guide "GUIDE". Live with your station for a week or so before going live to the web, there may be setup adjustments you would like to make. Find some means other than VWS to report to CWOP ( I use VPLive. It solved my problems which were the same as NiceBill's in another thread recently.) As far as humidity at the lake site, you could/should eventually get a sling psychrometer to verify what you have versus what someone 20, 50, 100 miles thinks you should have. You might check this out: http://weather.gladstonefamily.net/site/C6097 . You will see that I speak from similar condition.

Good Luck

George

[tom03087]

Thanks for the advice. You have a beautiful site looking at your pictures.

[ncpilot]

Got to thinking more about local conditions and siting... as Hanna bears down and I can hear the wind really blowing through the pines...

I'm sure the wind is blowing harder than what I'm picking up, since I've got no real good location for the anemometer that's clear of trees.

OTOH, it is accurately indicating the wind that my house is experiencing, which fortunately IS less than what it might be in the free and clear.

But I guess that's the point in a way--what you experience for humidity is valid because the lake does affect it. And what I'm experiencing for wind is also valid, because that's what's hitting the house (besides all the green pine cones )

I am assuming though that all attempts have been made to reduce as much as possible any artificial effects on instruments...

[WeatherBeacon]

I share Marc's philosophy about station readings. My neighborhood is laden with tall oaks, pines, and maples, so the wind speed measured by my station is always lower than that measured at the airport 8 miles away. But I say that's okay, because I want my station to reflect the actual conditions in my neighborhood. So I don't use an adjustment factor or an offset for my wind readings in an attempt to mimic what the wind speed might be if there were no trees in the neighborhood.

As another example, suppose because of your proximity to the lake your neighborhood truly is more humid than "normal". If you used an adjustment factor or offset in an attempt to mimic the humidity reading at the nearest official station where it is less humid, then your station might indicate "Clear" when it might actually be foggy at your house. Would you want that?

As Marc said, that's my opinion, and other people undoubtedly have different opinions. In the end, you have to weigh the pros and cons and decide what you want your station to measure, whether it's the true conditions in your neighborhood or to mimic the conditions at the nearest official station.

Regards,

Kevin...

[Anthony]

I want my readings to show as accurately as possible what occuring at my house. After all. That why I installed the station.

[floodcaster]

I had a similar concern years ago after I set up my first wx station. My dewpoint seemed high compared to some surrounding sites. I purchased a sling psychrometer so I could calibrate my station. As it turns out, my station and sling agreed. We have some small lakes (large ponds really ) nearby and I'm sure this accounts for my slightly elevated dew points. You always need to be careful when comparing your station to the nearest awos or asos as conditions can differ very dramatically over short distances. Good to hear you're concerned about accurate weather observations. Happy weather observing!

[blackjack52]

My Davis 6152 arrived today. I had time to set up the station but have not installed the serial logger or the vitual weather software yet. All the rteadings look to be in line except the outside humidity. The inside humidity is reading 74% and based on local weather stations that is about right. The outside is reading 92%. I do live on the lake and the station is set up about 30' from the lake. I do not have a lot of options to get further away and still be in a clear spot, away from hottop, and the house. Is this the impact of being to near the water or should I try something else? Any help would be appreciated.

Tomorrow or saturday I will try and install the 6510 serial logger and the internet edition of VWS. Any suggestions or things I need to be careful with? I had heard that I need to be careful how i set the logger uo on the station. Want to avoid as many rookie mistakes as I can.

I noticed you posted at 10p., which, from my experience, the humidity is usually higher at night. Maybe due to low/no wind.  DP is a better, less realized, indicator. 
Like others, I have no offsets.