Hello WXForum users!
I know that you guys like weather station pictures, so here I am today showing you a recent installation I partially oversaw at my local park. Our little town that lies along Cayuga Lake has an extremely interesting climate, and many people are interested in the weather. One day, I was ecstatic to find as a weather enthusiast that there was a fundraiser going in order to get a weather station for our park, Myers Park. There were three options for a station ranging from $750 (Davis) to $4500 (MetPak Base Station). Amazingly, our town raised $4,900 out of our $4,500 goal with tremendous support. The most expensive option was purchased - the Gill MetPak Base Station with Windsonic M. This is a professional grade station and costs about six times your average Davis station. It is made of marine grade stainless steel and is equipped with heating equipment to keep components de-iced and working year-round no matter what, and has no moving parts. The anemometer uses an acoustic array (ultrasonic anemometer) similar to newer ASOS systems to measure wind accurately at high speeds. Now that the success story is out of the way, on to the pictures! Just note that I will not embed using BBCode in worry of high-res pictures clogging the post.
Here is a photo of the full setup. (
http://imgur.com/kZitiOp) The station is placed completely to NWS measurement standards except for one unusual limitation - believe it or not, the temp/humidity sensor. The anemometer is posted at 32' AGL and is 10'+ over all obstructions, including the lighthouse. Now, the temp sensor is posted at about 15' AGL, not the usual 4'-6'. This was a limitation because this is a public park area, and it needs to be higher to prevent tampering. I'm just glad it won't be messed with, and it doesn't change things very much at all in reality.
You might be thinking the same thing as me - why is this mounted on a 32 foot pole without a guy-wire setup?! I was worried too at first, especially in the windy conditions this area is subject to. However, once I saw how it was being mounted and put into the ground, and the material and thickness, I wasn't as worried. I've observed it myself in 40mph+ wind gusts and looking straight up from the bottom, the sway is almost unnoticeable. Also, yes, the pole is level, even though it might not look so in the photo.
Here is a photo of the mounting at the base of the pole: (
http://imgur.com/uXW75bx A truck and some heavy machinery got this job done, especially putting up the pole. Yes, as you can see, there is some notable flooding going on. The water is normally about two feet below that metal ridge, but we have flood warnings for Cayuga Lake right now. Yikes!
Now for some of the equipment. Here is a photo of that wonderful ultrasonic anemometer at 32' AGL: (
http://imgur.com/yvzqqUe) I'm very happy to have this placed to measurement standards, because you get some awesome wind readings right here that are comparable to airport stations/official readings to see what really happened locally. The anemometer can accurately measure winds up to 134mph. The anemometer is heated to prevent ice and water from freezing and jamming/snow buildup, which I have seen happen in consumer grade cup anemometers. This is a very rugged unit and is built to withstand falling ice and hail and harsh marine conditions.
Here's a picture of the temperature/humidity sensor and other equipment. (
http://imgur.com/xlhmX40) As previously mentioned, one drawback was that this is located at around 15' AGL to prevent tampering as it is sited in a public park. This is a high quality MetSpec Multi-Plate Radiation Shield. It provides excellent protection to the temperature and relative humidity sensor with its rugged double louver housing. It allows for excellent response to quick temperature changes while protecting the sensors from salt, dirt, hail, etc. Yes, it is naturally aspirated, which reduces the need for maintenance as a result of less moving parts. These sensors report to the hub box (located below, the small box under the mount arm) along with barometric pressure, which is located on the circuit board inside the hub box. The larger box about a foot below the shield houses the heater interface box, communications equipment, and other various types of power equipment and supplies.
Finally, here is a nice picture from afar viewing the awesome setup!
(
http://imgur.com/CgnUUG1)
All of this stuff is on a UPS backup to record and report weather data during the most important times - harsh weather conditions where no power is present. So far, we've had some impressive readings in the 4 months it has been up. It also went through the Northeast Blizzard (2017) on March 14th/15th/16th last month without a hitch, despite losing power for a while. Winds were consistently over 30mph with about two feet of total snowfall. Graph sample with max wind during snowstorm: (
http://imgur.com/93tAyCH)
Also, the station's first high wind warning - sustained winds of 43mph and a peak gust of 57mph. Impressive speeds, with no issues at all. Graph showing winds/stats: (
http://imgur.com/lsXRb0k)
EDIT: Just an hour ago, winds gusted to 60 during a severe thunderstorm. No issues once again - new record!
Graph showing winds: (
http://imgur.com/zi9ndk5)
EDIT: Another new wind record as a bout of gusty winds occurred. 63mph! No issues. Graph and stats: (
http://imgur.com/8sCy455)
Now, of course, here are sites where data is viewable!
Wunderground:
https://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=pws:KNYLANSI4Note that Wunderground is currently not receiving gust data from the station, which makes maximum wind data useless there as it stands now. However, I prefer going to WindAlert, the next site I am linking you to. I greatly prefer its layout for wind anyway, as that is its primary purpose. Wind gusts and sustained winds report accurately here.
WindAlert:
http://www.windalert.com/spot/166152I hope you enjoyed the story behind this amazing weather station, and were not irked by my (hopefully decent) writing and explanations. If I find any issues with this post, I will edit it afterwards. Overall, I'm extremely happy that I'm lucky enough to be located within a mile and a half from this, and use this data to supplement my own PWS and weather-watching needs.
Thank you to the Community of Lansing for funding this project. New additions coming soon as well!
-Ethan