Getting weather info for siting a house

[Patt]

Hi,

We're going to be building a home in the next couple of years on a lot that we just bought.

I'm thinking that a weather station would be a great way to get data to tell us which way
to "point" the house in order to take maximum advantage of wind in the summer (we're in
the central Arizona desert).  Also, it'd be kind of cool to know just how warm it gets here, and
how much rain we can expect in a year.

A few things are keeping me from just throwing up a station and getting on with it:

1)  There's no electric power on the land at the moment.
      Do the stations run on batteries?  If they do run on batteries, could I just take a laptop
      out to the land once in a while and download the data?

2)  There's evidence that good ol' boys occasionally use the area for nighttime drinking despite
      the no-trespassing signs.
       Any ideas on making the station as vandal-proof as possible?

3)   I'll be using the station mainly for recording wind direction, wind speed, temperature, and
      rainfall.
       Doesn't seem like I need a terribly sophisticated model.  What should I be looking at
       when I go to buy?

Thanks for any help you can give.
       

[DanS]

You sure are up against a real challenge. Personally I'd go for a less expensive but gets the job station because being unattended with night time party folks around, well... I want to do a similar thing up at our cabin in the hills but fear it would no longer be there on our following visit. Possibly a Fine Offset ( http://www.foshk.com/ ) station? Ambient sells them with their name (ws-2080), also know as Zephyr. They buffer/store data that could be retrieved later. They also seem to be reliable and accurate from what the members on here are saying. Here's a good place to look, http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=8230.0 .
Good luck and welcome to the forum Patt.

Dan

[Bushman]

You need to be a bit more creative. <insert evil laughter here>.  Use some chain link panels (8') to box your weather station then put all sorts of radiation warning signs on the fence.   

[beaudog]

Around here those signs would be full of bullet holes inside of a week.

I would think that sun direcion would be far more important than wind direction.  Morning and afternoon shade is what you need in the desert.

[Patt]

DanS,

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll take a look at those models.

Around here those signs would be full of bullet holes inside of a week.

I would think that sun direcion would be far more important than wind direction.  Morning and afternoon shade is what you need in the desert.

You're right, the sun is the primary concern.  I should have written that I'd be using the wind information for placing breezeways and windows.

[ed2kayak]

How far is the nearest weather station?  Could you model from it?

[Patt]

How far is the nearest weather station?  Could you model from it?

Trying not to seem dense here...  I'm not sure what you're asking.

Are you talking about an amateur station like I'm thinking about putting up?  Or do you mean
an "official" ws, like run by the government or a TV station? 

When you say "model from it", do you mean duplicate what they've set up, or do you mean just use their information?

So much to learn.... lol

[Bushman]

Around here those signs would be full of bullet holes inside of a week.

Sounds like a great place to live.  Not. 

[DaculaWeather]

Patt, I'd be afraid that the good 'ol boys would put holes in my weather station. I'm not so sure putting one up is a good idea right now. I think what ed2kayak was saying is where is the closest real weather station and base what you want to know on what they've recorded. Maybe find some personal weather stations (if there are any) and try to come up with some averages from their data.

[Wx4U]

Central Arizona would indicate that you would be in the general area of Phoenix. There are several airports in the area and the runways are aligned with the prevailing wind direction (most likely NE-SW in this area). A wind compass is required for the construction of runways. These consist of wind direction and speed with percentage of the time the wind is blowing for 36 points of the compass. Unless you are locating in a mountainous area the wind will not vary much. So,I suggest you google the nearest airports and check the airport diagram. Each runway will have 2 digit number at the end of the runway to provide the direction. (For instance, Chandler 04 - 22, meaning 040-220.
Bob