Topic: What's up with offical ASOS sites in the US?

[JordanFord]

I have noticed countless examples of areas which experience strong solar rad daily... KPHX, KMIA.... These "official" sites often heat up more so than surrounding PWS... This is quite counter intuitive, as one would expect even the best sited Davis stations in a suburb would run warmer than the official climate sites due to proper siting, FARS, etc... In Canada, it is common for official climate sites to be ~1ºC cooler under strong solar rad, I often see the opposite of this in the US.

[CW2274]

I have noticed countless examples of areas which experience strong solar rad daily... KPHX, KMIA.... These "official" sites often heat up more so than surrounding PWS... This is quite counter intuitive, as one would expect even the best sited Davis stations in a suburb would run warmer than the official climate sites due to proper siting, FARS, etc... In Canada, it is common for official climate sites to be ~1ºC cooler under strong solar rad, I often see the opposite of this in the US.

I'm in Tucson and don't see your experience at all. Even if sat side by side, ASOS's use an averaging algorithm that PWS's do not employ making it virtually impossible for PWS's to not have higher 'highs', and lower 'lows'..as a generality, especially the high.

[DoctorKnow]

A lot of the airports have grown around the country, and the sensors have become close to the pavement in a lot of cases. This has resulted in rising temperature readings. I have noticed in the last few years though, that the ASOS sites have been reading a little lower than they were during Obama.