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Author Topic: Dew triggering rain  (Read 1796 times)

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Offline hankster

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Dew triggering rain
« on: February 13, 2016, 09:32:52 AM »
I activated my BloomSky 2 days ago. I first just had in on the ground in the garden. In the morning I got a notice that it was raining. I moved it yesterday  and it's now about 8 ft. above ground. I got another notice this morning that it was raining. Here in SW FL it can be very humid in the mornings with lots of dew. I suspect the dew is causing the false rain reports. Anyone else having this problem?
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Offline Jumpin Joe

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2016, 09:57:51 AM »
Quote from: hankster on February 13, 2016, 09:32:52 AM
I activated my BloomSky 2 days ago. I first just had in on the ground in the garden. In the morning I got a notice that it was raining. I moved it yesterday  and it's now about 8 ft. above ground. I got another notice this morning that it was raining. Here in SW FL it can be very humid in the mornings with lots of dew. I suspect the dew is causing the false rain reports. Anyone else having this problem?

Funny you mention this.  While trying to get mine working properly, now it is, I had it outside, brought it in and condensation built up and it said it was raining. After it warmed up and the condensation disapated, the rain indicator went away.  Now to mount it in it's permanent resting spot.... Might wait a while to darn cold out.

Joe
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Offline SpringHillWeather

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2016, 11:12:42 AM »
I haven't gotten a trigger for dew but it did sense it was raining while I moved it from one location to another and took an awkward pic.

I guess my sweaty palms on top of the unit triggered the rain event :)



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Offline hankster

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2016, 07:26:35 PM »
I got a reply about this issue from BloomSky Support. They say once they get more stations in an area that they will use data from the area stations to decide if it really is raining. I know in many areas this may work, but it sure wouldn't in South Florida. In the summer it is very common have pop-up thunderstorms that are very localized, some storm cells being only a few miles wide. It can be pouring here and only a 5 miles away it is dry and sunny. I know this can happen anywhere but it is very common in this area of the U.S.
« Last Edit: February 17, 2016, 07:28:38 PM by hankster »
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Offline nincehelser

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2016, 08:25:08 PM »
I've gotten a few false triggers from dew and one from melting ice that collected on the sensor.

My understanding is that they have some algorithm that tries to filter out non-rain events, but clearly it's not perfect.

It seems to work better than I expected, but on the other hand, I've had some rain events missed.  I think that has more to do with problems on the alerting over the network side, side though.

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Offline Maumelle Weather

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2016, 08:42:41 PM »
I received a "it's raining" notification this morning. I chuckled. It was dew on the sensor that had froze and when it started to melt, it gave the "it's raining" reading.
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Offline nincehelser

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2016, 08:45:36 PM »
One thing I've always wondered about...

If you simply use the ground stake in your yard, and have dogs... ?
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Offline Maumelle Weather

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2016, 08:49:32 PM »
We have several dogs, and the ground stake wouldn't be nearly enough to survive. The stake would have to be built of steel before I would even think of mounting it at ground level. Even so, the solar panels wouldn't make it.
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Offline Dennis Rogers

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #8 on: February 28, 2016, 07:42:51 PM »
In a frost I get false rain readings on my Davis Vue. It's when it warns up from being a frost caused it, due to condensation I think
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Offline Wietse-0803

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #9 on: February 29, 2016, 03:11:42 AM »
Dew and frost is ought to precipitate, so don't correct it. Statement from the national dutch weather provider KNMI.
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Offline CNYWeather

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #10 on: February 29, 2016, 09:55:38 AM »
Quote from: nincehelser on February 17, 2016, 08:45:36 PM
One thing I've always wondered about...

If you simply use the ground stake in your yard, and have dogs... ?

That's why I mounted mine up high. Thats the 1st thing I thought of.
I also had to move my soil sensors into a less frequented spot of the dogs.
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Offline PaulMy

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #11 on: February 29, 2016, 10:04:51 AM »
I guess I am not the only one confused http://www.thefreedictionary.com/precipitation, there seems to be a difference of opinion between official EU and US http://forums.accuweather.com/index.php?showtopic=3502, and Canada is suiting on the fence... ;)
 
Paul
 
 
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Offline CW2274

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #12 on: February 29, 2016, 01:18:26 PM »
Just so there's no confusion for those of us in the US, dew or melted frost are not measured forms of precip.
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Offline PaulMy

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Re: Dew triggering rain
« Reply #13 on: February 29, 2016, 03:12:51 PM »
Quote
Just so there's no confusion for those of us in the US, dew or melted frost are not measured forms of precip.

And that is what I have been doing in my CoCoRaHS reporting, so that goes for us (some) Canadians too!

Paul

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