Topic: Windy station name and declination

[davidmc36]

So a couple questions about my station on Windy.

I know at one time a couple months ago I was on Windy and it had a "Is this station yours?" question displayed when I clicked on this station. So I went into the area of site to register my station for upload. I can see when logged into Windy the API for my registered station.

But this is displayed when I click for 'Stations in my Area' This is my station. But the name is not attached. Just says "WiFi Logger" Does the site actually know this is mine?

Also interesting it shows declination of 13 deg. Could this cause error if they are giving correction and my station already does? Or it should and does not? What should my station be sending?

I wonder if anybody has any insight about this. [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[galfert]

The name WiFiLogger is what you named your station on Windy. Go to your Windy station configuration and rename it whatever you want to call it.

https://stations.windy.com/stations

Click on the pencil icon to edit your station.

The magnetic declination is just for the purpose to be used by someone at your location with a standard magnetic compass. The declination shown gives that person the ability to orient themselves to find true North at that location, so that they can use the wind information. This has nothing to do with your data. 13 degrees W means that magnetic North is 13 degrees West (direction, not temperature) different than true North. The Windy site was created with the intention to be used by people that need wind information like sailors, RC aircraft pilots, paragliders, surfers, kite flyers....etc. Therefore it is useful for these consumers of this data to have an easy way to find true North without complexity, and they can do so with just a simple compass. The magnetic North location on Earth is constantly moving (even more so in recent years), therefore having up to date magnetic declination information is useful.

[davidmc36]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

I know the principle of declination having been in aviation for 35 yrs in The Arctic. What I don't know is for sure how I set my anemometer nor do I know for sure what Windy is expecting. Mag or True?

[galfert]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Go to https://stations.windy.com/stations
Login with your Windy account credentials.
You should see your station settings like this screenshot below.
Your station name is in red where I circled it. Click on Pencil icon to edit the name:
 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I know the principle of declination having been in aviation for 35 yrs in The Arctic. What I don't know is for sure how I set my anemometer nor do I know for sure what Windy is expecting. Mag or True?

Everyone's anemometer to should be oriented to true North. There are several way to find out what true North is...
- Use a magnetic compass and implement the 13° W declination correction for your location
- Use a GPS compass app on your mobile
- Use a map of your area
- Use the North star
- ...etc.
(only mentioning this for completeness and for the benefit of others that may stumble on this thread)

From page 21 of the Davis VP2 manual:
https://www.davisinstruments.com/product_documents/weather/manuals/07395-234_IM_06312.pdf

Note: If your anemometer arm is not pointing true north, you should recalibrate the wind
direction reading on your console. See “Calibrate Wind Direction Reading” on
page 27 for more information.

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

[davidmc36]

True North rings a bell. Should be 99.9% sure I did it to the manual.

That's where I have been. Entered the the name a couple times. It doesn't change.

So I have done the steps. No hidden key. Maybe I will ask them.  I'm doing something wrong.

[galfert]

True North rings a bell. Should be 99.9% sure I did it to the manual.

Simple enough for you to check. See where the anemometer arm is pointing and determine if that is true North.

That's where I have been. Entered the the name a couple times. It doesn't change.

So I have done the steps. No hidden key. Maybe I will ask them.  I'm doing something wrong.

As a test I just renamed my Windy station and the change took effect immediately. I see the new name in both my station's account setup and on the Windy map.

Can you do a screenshot of your Windy stations page? (same as mine up above):
https://stations.windy.com/stations/

[CW2274]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

Just for clarification, if one uses a METAR sequence, that's magnetic.

[davidmc36]

I'll have to eyeball the arm next time I  yard.

Whatever I entered is not that station. I just deleted it. More research required.

[davidmc36]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

Just for clarification, if one uses a METAR sequence, that's magnetic.

Unless U R North of YFB 

[CW2274]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

Just for clarification, if one uses a METAR sequence, that's magnetic.

Unless U R North of YFB 

I have no idea what that means, but am assuming it's got something to do with being up by the pole. Please elaborate.

[galfert]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

Just for clarification, if one uses a METAR sequence, that's magnetic.

I'm confused by your statement. METAR is true North. ATIS is magnetic North.

[CW2274]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

Just for clarification, if one uses a METAR sequence, that's magnetic.

I'm confused by your statement. METAR is true North. ATIS is magnetic North.

Well I'll be, you're exactly correct. I figured it would be magnetic since it's aviation related. Obviously I had forgotten that part when learning it 25 years ago. Thanks.

[galfert]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

Just for clarification, if one uses a METAR sequence, that's magnetic.

I'm confused by your statement. METAR is true North. ATIS is magnetic North.

Well I'll be, you're exactly correct. I figured it would be magnetic since it's aviation related. Obviously I had forgotten that part when learning it 25 years ago. Thanks.

It is actually a bit more complicated which is why there is often confusion. The ASOS/AWOS that is used for the source of wind information displays magnetic wind on the operator display, but the ASOS encodes the wind to true North for use in the METAR and SPECI reports.

[CW2274]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

Just for clarification, if one uses a METAR sequence, that's magnetic.

I'm confused by your statement. METAR is true North. ATIS is magnetic North.

Well I'll be, you're exactly correct. I figured it would be magnetic since it's aviation related. Obviously I had forgotten that part when learning it 25 years ago. Thanks.

The ASOS/AWOS that is used for the source of wind information displays magnetic wind on the operator display

Well, yeah, considering I stared at one everyday at work for 30 years...I'm all over that part.

[davidmc36]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

Just for clarification, if one uses a METAR sequence, that's magnetic.

Unless U R North of YFB 

I have no idea what that means, but am assuming it's got something to do with being up by the pole. Please elaborate.

YFB is last one North using Mag runway designations. Farther up is True.

[davidmc36]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

Just for clarification, if one uses a METAR sequence, that's magnetic.

I'm confused by your statement. METAR is true North. ATIS is magnetic North.

Is what I (and many others) normally refer to as METAR what you are referring to (more correctly?) as ATIS?

(What we look at is displayed with Mag or True as applicable)

[CW2274]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

Just for clarification, if one uses a METAR sequence, that's magnetic.

Unless U R North of YFB 

I have no idea what that means, but am assuming it's got something to do with being up by the pole. Please elaborate.

YFB is last one North using Mag runway designations. Farther up is True.

I did not know that, but makes sense. Thanks.

[CW2274]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

Just for clarification, if one uses a METAR sequence, that's magnetic.

I'm confused by your statement. METAR is true North. ATIS is magnetic North.

Is what I (and many others) normally refer to as METAR what you are referring to (more correctly?) as ATIS?

(What we look at is displayed with Mag or True as applicable)

METAR is the written sequence of an observation and the wind measured is displayed as true. An ATIS is the spoken form of the METAR, be it automated or cut by a person and the wind is issued in magnetic, mostly for aviation purpose, but anyone can use it.   

[davidmc36]

We always just refer to the Nav Can Page as METAR

https://flightplanning.navcanada.ca/cgi-bin/CreePage.pl?Langue=anglais&NoSession=NS_Inconnu&Page=Fore-obs%2Fmetar-taf-map&TypeDoc=html

[davidmc36]

This is not what I have on station name, I named it 'Morewood Ontario'. That's why I wonder if they are even linked. But I don't see any other station named 'Morewood'

Windy expects true North as does every other online weather service.

Just for clarification, if one uses a METAR sequence, that's magnetic.

Unless U R North of YFB 

I have no idea what that means, but am assuming it's got something to do with being up by the pole. Please elaborate.

YFB is last one North using Mag runway designations. Farther up is True.

I did not know that, but makes sense. Thanks.

It gets so close to the wobbly Mag Pole that it becomes useless. They take heading off GPS every so often and check DG or Electronic Gyro does not drift in flight.