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Posted: January 02, 2023
Read more »People from right across the UK ask us every day: "Which is the best weather station for home use?" Our simple guide below will help you narrow down to the right choice for you.
Things to consider:
- What information you would like the weather station to provide?
- Accuracy & robustness required.
- Would you like to be able to view your weather station data when you're away from home via a smartphone app/website?
- Is the look of the main indoor unit important to you (it might be the first thing you look at each morning).
- Do you live in a stone building or have other significant solid structures between where you would like to place an external sensor and the main indoor unit? This could mean some lower-end wireless weather stations would struggle to communicate between units.
- And of course – your budget to buy a weather station will have a bearing on which is best for you.
Helpful links
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Posted: October 27, 2022
Read more »Since pre-historic periods men and women have looked to the sky and wondered what the weather was going to do - perhaps for planned hunting trip or drying pelts gathered from such a trip. Originally it was assumed that the sun ruled the earth’s weather and it was therefore worshipped as a god. Of course in many ways, arguably, we now know that premise to be more or less correct. It is worth remembering that during much of the Bronze Age period climatic conditions in the UK and Europe as a whole were much warmer than those we currently experience, allowing expansion and exploration northwards, although this trend was reversed during much of the cooler Iron Age period.
As soon as mankind adopted an agrarian lifestyle however, having some understanding of the patterns of the weather became essential for crop cultivation. If the crops failed because of drought or flooding, then the villagers would starve. In fact we know that as early as about
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Posted: April 21, 2021
Read more »If you have been doing some research already on a weather station for your school, you will have seen there are various weather stations on the market that are able to store data on a PC for later analysis, to create graphs, generate summaries, and more. There are two weather stations that we recommend for use in education: the Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 range, and the Davis Instruments Vantage Vue. Other models are too basic, not robust enough thus their longevity is short, and do not give the accuracy required.
Our Top Recommendations for School Weather Stations
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Posted: March 25, 2021Categories: About WeatherRead more »
There are lots of sources of information for weather terms online - we've selected a few that we think may be of interest.
Cloud Base
The cloud base is often calculated by measuring the Temperature and Humidity. This way is hugely simplified compared to how professional meteorologists would do it, however the basic principle is the same.
A professional meteorologist would use a chart called a Tephigram which will give them the various temperature and humidity readings at various altitude. The altitude is measured as a pressure rather than a height: as height varies according to the environmental temperature.
If you imagine a ball of air in front of you, under normal circumstances it will exhibit the same properties as the air around it in terms of temperature and humidity. This is what is being read by your weather station. If you were to lift this ball of air to say a different altitude, the ball will now expand due to the lower
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Posted: June 29, 2020Read more »
Davis weather stations routinely last over a decade with minimal maintenance. But it's never a bad idea to do annual preventative maintenance on your system. This year your trusty, hard-working, never-miss-a-data-packet station can get the royal treatment!
Here’s a step by step tutorial on how to do it. Your station will thank you with more years of reliable data.
We have a Complete Tune Up Kit for Vantage Pro2 and Complete Tune Up Kit Vantage Vue, with everything you need to give your station a spa day. You’ll save money and time.
(We've also got videos to walk you through
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Posted: January 03, 2018Categories: Tips and TricksRead more »
For most uses, its best to take a pragmatic view of where to install your weather station. Bear in mind that you want readings for your location 'warts and all', and not a open space somewhere else. Very often the location will be affected by the local urban, commercial, geographic and vegetation topography.
Temperature and Humidity Sensor
Your temperature and humidity sensors are best located in a shaded environment out of direct sunlight and weather. The north facing side of a wall or fence is good, but bear in mind radiated heat from an occupied building. A purpose-made screen will help, or even a home-made one such as a white ice cream tub with ventilation holes. Force ventilating the screen will further improve accuracy and response.
If you have to mount it in a sunny location, then shade it behind something e.g. a shiny biscuit tin lid painted black on the reverse.
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Posted: December 20, 2017Read more »
Firstly, to cover off measuring the actual depth of snow. By far the simplest method is to use a ruler! Remember that its just an indication of how much snow is on the ground, not how much snow has actually fallen, much may have melted or sublimated (evaporated, which can occur in very dry, sunny or windy conditions). Find a flat area (such as your lawn) away from drifts or any obstacle likely to have caused an obstruction to falling snow; even trees and bushes 2-3 metres away can create areas of uneven depth, especially when it has been windy. We measure to the nearest cm and report the snow depth at least once a day, at 09Z, if possible.
The amount of snow can also be measured by what is known as its 'water equivalent'. The problem is that unless you've got a heated rain gauge (and the UK Met Office does use these), any snow will not drip through into the tipping bucket mechanism either at all or at the time corresponding to that in which in fell in, unless it is very wet. If too
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Posted: November 23, 2017Read more »
Davis are top-quality USA made weather instruments, built for long-term accuracy and reliability. However, they still benefit from a little TLC from time-to-time to help them continue to perform to their potential. Read on for tips on how to maintain and clean a Davis Vantage Vue or Davis Vantage Pro 2 Weather Station.
Anemometer
Your anemometer should provide years of service. In some areas however, spiders and insects can affect operation. If wind speed seems low, use an allen key wrench to loosen the setscrew on the side of the wind cups. Remove the wind cups, and clean the exposed portion of the shaft with a damp cloth
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Posted: November 22, 2017Read more »
We learn to live with the weather from almost as soon as we are born. It affects our moods, our health, our work and indeed the relationships we have with others. It is worth understanding a little more about the topic simply because there is little else that has so much of an impact on our everyday lives. We may try and shut it out, create our own micro climates: central heating, air conditioning and double glazing but one way or the other it is likely to affect us. The price we pay for our consumer services is very often in some way dictated, to a greater or lesser extent, by what the weather has been doing in the past month. With the greater emphasis we now place in the 21st century on understanding climatic change and the influence that this also has on our society, there has never been a better time to understand something of the basics of the science of meteorology; the weather.
The definition of the science of the weather
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Posted: November 20, 2017Read more »
We may find a number of elements causing problems outside in the garden during the winter months. These include frost, and penetrating cold, high winds, heavy snow and heavy rain causing waterlogged ground.
Usually dry winters present the least problem, not least because even a dry winter sees far less water loss through evaporation and transporation than even a mid autumn month. However, with dry winters can come chill northerly or easterly winds of course. Whilst very cold weather is often blamed for plant loss, in fact it's usually the combination of the wind with very cold temperatures. Such early cold in November and early December is particularly problematic, as deciduous plants are very vulnerable then- because they are not yet fully dormant. Longer periods of severe weather (of more than a week) will also likely be damaging later in the winter. It is possible to minimise the damage likely by both wind and penetrating cold, though.
Strong
