First version of my weather station
Having been a weatherman for over twenty years has clearly left it marks with me and the state of the atmosphere and its short term fluctuations and long term changes are still a keen interest of mine. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that at the beginning of April 2012 I have set up this very basic weather station near the top end of the field. Restricted by the absence of electricity to run a computer and me not being present there on a daily basis it doesn’t actually report live weather data to any of the on-line weather websites but at least captures the basic values of rainfall, maximum and minimum air temperature and is therefore more of a climatological station. What I hope to achieve under these limiting circumstances is to at least collect these three values on a monthly basis and create a set of data that might over time indicate changes in current weather patterns.
The raingauge used is a Climemet CM1016 that holds up to 225 mm (about 9 inches) of rain, which is more than enough for most months, and a fairly basic and easy to handle and reset minimum/maximum thermometer, designed for use in greenhouses and grow rooms but also outdoors, which I housed underneath two up-side-down plant pots to avoid direct exposure to sunlight.
After almost six months of running both the rain gauge and minimum thermometer seem to deliver fairly accurate readings which compare well to surrounding weather stations in Penllyn, Ynys Mon and Eryri. The maximum temperature though tends to be several degrees too high as the improvised plant pot solution is obviously not up to standard and will need rectifying.
To this end I have already part-assembled a makeshift ‘Stevenson screen’, using louvre panels normally used for airing of bathrooms. When complete it should have a solar panel on the roof to run a small fan inside in the hope that the airflow will markedly reduce the over-reading in strong sunlight. I shall endeavour to complete and set up this improved device by the end of this year and also add on another sensor to capture the grass minimum temperature, which is taken at 5cm (2 inches) above ground.
A summary of the readings taken so far will be following shortly!