Topic: Hourly rainfall posting to Wunderground

[ka5bkg]

I didn't know exactly where to start with this question.

Maybe this is a software problem but I don't know, cause its never happened to me before.

Last couple days on Wunderground my station is reporting 2.01 inches of rainfall.
It did rain here on Wednesday, but not 2.01, we only had 1.10, but why would my station be reporting 2.01 everyday, it does not show up in the display on the console.

Is this a possible software prob or Wunderground problem?

[Mark / Ohio]

I would guess software on this one.  Below is a snip of one possible cause of 3 listed from the Ambient Weather Wiki:

http://ambientweather.wikispaces.com/Rain+Rate+reading+incorrectly

"If there is a bad date record written your database, the rain rate will always read a non-zero value. To review this, select Settings | Database Settings and review the last record on the database (select Recall Record No:). If the date is some time in the future, delete this record. Keep deleting all records until the date and time is less then the current date and time. If this date is in the distant past, correct the time on your weather station clock."

This would probably be the most likely cause as I've had the database issue happen to me several times on my laptop.  Oddly though it has never happened on my desktop PC. 

[ioinn]

I've been having similar problem- Wunderground is showing .12 inches everyday for this month when there is no rainfall.  Actual rainfall amounts are correct.  I've checked my database (VWS) and it appears that its data is correct, shows Total Rain.

[racenet]

WU has always had an issue with the rain data. They do not use your actual rain amount. They use the rain rate and then calculate the rain amount. I've always disliked this method, but that's the way they want to do it.




Bob

[kray1000]

Agreed... WU has never been accurate with their rainfall figures.  Welcome to our club. 

[ioinn]

  How does WU calculate an amount from what should be a 'ZERO' rain rate.  My last math was 0 x  any amount = 0.
I've tried contacting WU support and have never gotten any answers back from them.

[killwilly]

How does WU calculate an amount from what should be a 'ZERO' rain rate.  My last math was 0 x  any amount = 0.
I've tried contacting WU support and have never gotten any answers back from them.

I have sent lots of emails to WU, and never had a reply.

[Impala88]

How does WU calculate an amount from what should be a 'ZERO' rain rate.  My last math was 0 x  any amount = 0.
I've tried contacting WU support and have never gotten any answers back from them.

I have sent lots of emails to WU, and never had a reply.

Same here.  I have had episodes of "phantom" rainfall showing up on WxU.  I have never gotten a response about it from them. 

[wuhu_software]

WU uses the daily rain total supplied by your software, it does not use rain rate for daily rainfall calculations.

More than likely the software is uploading bad data.

A single bad upload will probably throw off the daily rain calculation. They probably take the highest value seen through the day.

To find the bad data, scan the tabular data (link at bottom of page) for the bad upload.

[ioinn]

If I had bad data, wouldn't that same bad data be sent out to all?  And wouldn't my console and my VWS software also indicate it.
My software data doesn't have the errors, PWS Wx isn't showing it either,  so how do you fix what WU is getting incorrectly?

[wuhu_software]

If I had bad data, wouldn't that same bad data be sent out to all?  And wouldn't my console and my VWS software also indicate it.
My software data doesn't have the errors, PWS Wx isn't showing it either,  so how do you fix what WU is getting incorrectly?

There is no guarantee with software, it might upload correctly to one server and not another.

What you need to do is become familiar with the WU tabular data on your station history page (link at the bottom of the page), find the rain information (first row is the header, showing you what each piece of data is), spot the problem in the rows of data, then forward that information to the software developer.

Odds are that it is uploading a single bad packet of data, that it turn spoils the data for the entire day. Granted WU could try to decipher good data from bad, but they assume that the largest non-zero daily rain data value is valid.

[ioinn]

I checked my WU data and it showed 0.12" each day for over a week, BUT the graph is showing nothing. 
This is at least 2nd or 3rd time that I'm aware of that WU is reporting Ghost rain info.
I guess I will learn to live with it. 

[wuhu_software]

I checked my WU data and it showed 0.12" each day for over a week, BUT the graph is showing nothing. 
This is at least 2nd or 3rd time that I'm aware of that WU is reporting Ghost rain info.
I guess I will learn to live with it. 

What is your WU id?

[ka5bkg]

I would guess software on this one.  Below is a snip of one possible cause of 3 listed from the Ambient Weather Wiki:

http://ambientweather.wikispaces.com/Rain+Rate+reading+incorrectly

"If there is a bad date record written your database, the rain rate will always read a non-zero value. To review this, select Settings | Database Settings and review the last record on the database (select Recall Record No:). If the date is some time in the future, delete this record. Keep deleting all records until the date and time is less then the current date and time. If this date is in the distant past, correct the time on your weather station clock."

This would probably be the most likely cause as I've had the database issue happen to me several times on my laptop.  Oddly though it has never happened on my desktop PC. 

Mark I'm just getting back to you're reply, been busy for a while at work on my end.
Not being 100% familar with VWS that sounds complicated.

Tell me if I'm correct or not.

Thanks,
Brian

[Mark / Ohio]

....Not being 100% familar with VWS that sounds complicated.

Tell me if I'm correct or not.

Thanks,
Brian

After you do it 2-3 times it gets easier.   

It sounds more complicated then it really is.  Every time I've had it happen it was a future date which means it shows up as the last record in the database.  When you go into the settings it shows you at the top "Total No. Records" that are in the database which in the picture below is 19985 (yours may be different).  So if you type that number into the "Recall Record No." box toward the bottom, then try to step up or down a record using the arrow buttons next to the box, you'll probably find the bad one pretty quick if there is one by watching the "Year" box.  If you do find a future date list just click the delete button.  It can take some time for the software to delete the record so be patient if the program acts like it freezes up for a short period.

[ka5bkg]

....Not being 100% familar with VWS that sounds complicated.

Tell me if I'm correct or not.

Thanks,
Brian

After you do it 2-3 times it gets easier.   

It sounds more complicated then it really is.  Every time I've had it happen it was a future date which means it shows up as the last record in the database.  When you go into the settings it shows you at the top "Total No. Records" that are in the database which in the picture below is 19985 (yours may be different).  So if you type that number into the "Recall Record No." box toward the bottom, then try to step up or down a record using the arrow buttons next to the box, you'll probably find the bad one pretty quick if there is one by watching the "Year" box.  If you do find a future date list just click the delete button.  It can take some time for the software to delete the record so be patient if the program acts like it freezes up for a short period.

Mark thanks so much for the help, it took a little looking for what I needed but did exactly as you described and the bad data appeared.

Yes it was more complicated that it seemed.

After I cleared the record on the database, the "Hourly" rainfall fixed itself on Wunderground...

Again Thanks for the tip.

Brian


BTW, if you are interested here's the link to my station on Wunderground.

http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KTXBRENH5