Topic: Time of day weather reading are taken

[ryan hothersall]

I don't know about other countries, here in Australia official readings are taken at 9 AM and 3 PM.

I have always wondered why these times?

[SLOweather]

In the days before automated stations, all of the equipment was housed in a Stevenson screen enclosure. Max Min thermometers had to be reset manually, and recording rain gauge and barometer paper had to be changed.

I suppose 9 AM was chosen to be shortly after arriving at work (for sites not manned 24/7), with time enough to ensure that the min temp recorded was really the min. 3 PM was late enough to record the daily max most days, but still with time enough before quitting time. Gotta remember to sling that old psychrometer around, too, and then look up the humidity.

[ncpilot]

That's kinda funny, I was going to say something similar tongue-in-cheek...

9AM is a civilized hour of the morning, and 3PM is early enough so pub time after work isn't adversely affected...

[ryan hothersall]

Thanks.

Sounds logical as people usually start work at 9 AM.

[KeaWeather]

Its 8:30am and 5 pm here in India. Even rainfall is measured upto 8:30