Stormfly

Sleet/ZR mixed here, 28/28. Cleared the lane, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

About 5" here. Have not been outside to see how bad the crust is. Accurite anemometer cups frozen (nothing new there LOL) and one of the ultrasonic stations reporting crazy numbers due to rhimed over sensors. TEMPEST seems OK surprisingly enough and winds out of NE seem to be picking up. Looks like some nasty patches of ZR coming this way. Need to jump on the blower NOW as I'd rather clear three feet of snow than 5" with hard crust on top. That stuff is nasty! I really hope this doesn't turn into Carmageddon II where we get .3" accretion followed by over a foot of snow sticking to it. The tree damage and cleanup this way was probably one of the worst storms in recent history including 1999 and 1994. It does look very pretty, there's just something about a row of 85' tall spruce trees decorated with the white stuff.

30/11. Wow, Bob Chill is back, that means this system is legit!

Speaking of cars, this did NOT happen on the weekend (Wed IIRC) and was a nightmare for those caught in it. Its intensity and snowfall caught many off guard.

The big ones almost always happen on weekends.

Needs beans!

We had Gottleib's Flying carpet. Picked it up used in 1978. Lots of fun!

Raises hand... 966Mb (recorded). Enough said!

Nice flakes now. Driveway starting to cave. Roof and solar panels covered on shop. 28/27

We don't get them of significant intensity in our area (thank goodness!) but it's possible and has happened. The 1998 storm that hit Canada is probably the worst in somewhat recent times. I remember seeing pictures and videos on the news. I also worked with families that were in the middle of this and it was a life threatening and changing event they will never forget. RE: So naturally when talk of significant icing (> .25") comes up, I always think of those storms. Especially at night, the flashes, the humming, cracking branches, et al. This is probably the closest to what we experienced on Feb 04, 2014 here: And amazingly, our power never went completely out for significant time during that event! Lots of booms, humming, flashing. A friend of mine was out for 12 days due to that and it took 1 1/2 days to clear out the trees on his lane so he could get out! Anyone here have stories to share? Please do!

Yes I know it wasn't a widespread event. The 6 hours of ZR was actually pretty bad for us, still have tree limbs needing to be removed from that. I love the beauty of an ice storm event and even the sound especially at night. But the huge crack and thumping as large limbs succumb to the weight of the accreting ice come crashing down, the reality sets in of the cleanup that follows which isn't always fun. And the power flashes and surges that accompany them inconvenience many.

I'm thankful for the 10" we got in December because if we didn't we'd be in worse shape (snow-wise) than last year at this point. I guess if I really want it to snow I should sell the plow and blower. Isn't that how it always works?

They don't stop at stop signs either!

Is that ice accretion total?! Yeah last time we had anything close to that was Feb 2014.

Sad but true! Surprise events like January 25, 1985 and January 25, 2000 are the best! Something about the 25th of the first month and guess what? Looks like Jan 25 2021 may deliver something.

Is that with raincheck? I had over 2.82 (!) yesterday according to the sensor, actual was 1.02" and now raincheck is showing .81".

Light ZR, glaze forming on trees here. 31.6/31.4

Wind is a mixed bag TBH. Not necessarily on speed but I'm on the fence as to what numbers I'm seeing vs. time. In other words if the anemometer was next to me and if I put a fan in front of it what is shown on the app? Not just a delay but adulterated numbers? I wish there was a way to have access to a raw output of the (wind) sensor. I get it, it's wireless with limited power available. While I don't have a full blown wind tunnel to test at my disposal I do have fans and a smoke chamber used to test cooling systems. I've used this to validate some all in one stations (reasonably accurate but slow response) and professional ultrasonic instruments so I'm going to put this to rest. And on a funny ending, last night at midnight we had some, shall I say, private fireworks, aka noisy things that go up a few hundred feet and go boom! At midnight I did see an indication of moderate rain under a clear crisp sky with a nearly full moon! The sensor is like that and is known to register loud impulse type noises as drops of rain. No surprise there.

I do remember the java based maps! Flash is going, good riddance! Since subbing to Radarscope Pro tier 2 I haven't used the web based as much. Also and don't forget COD! The downloadable animations with prior 200 frames in GIF format are nice.

Back in the days, pre-internet, no ham shack was complete without a Heathkit station! Holy grail was the ID-4001 system and (of course) the ID-5001 system that came later. Capable of good numbers and true realtime readings. Rainwise was another option. None were particularly cost conscious of course. Unless you have a grant or specific reason to spend upwards of $50k for a truly professional station that is designed to last for decades, there are plenty of choices for the consumer/prosumer out there. I recently connected a WeatherFlow Tempest unit and still am evaluating it. For the money (approx. $300 USD) and no recurring fees, it seems like a solid unit. Many will be happy with its compact form factor (HOA/WAF friendly!) too. It's not without quirks, of course, but from what I'm seeing so far it seems like a safe bet if spending over $700-$1000 for a fully featured station like the Davis 6163 is out of your budget. Wind accuracy not only depends on anemometer design itself but location. Most home sites aren't very friendly for accurate wind measurements using standard rule of 10 meters AGL for anemometer and three times height for ANY obstruction. With ultrasonic anemometers we like to see 1km from any tree line or tall buildings, etc. A lot of the home stations also have a slower reporting rate without memory/buffer meaning that the wind reading captured happens to be whatever is happening at that time of reporting. Optimally, the system is reading continually in between reports and shows min/avg/gust/max values. Ultrasonic instruments can sample much faster, some programmed as high as 100Hz! So if the post time (in the example of a remote site that's autonomous) is every 60 seconds, there will be 6000 data points! 10-30Hz is more typical with these setups and where precision is needed heaters and other mitigations are required to maintain repeatability for ultrasonic anemometers as well as sonic thermography.

Temp accuracy looks good. The shield works. But like anything else location is everything. Mine is up on a tower. The rainfall for Monday now shows 1.51 so it was corrected. Still a bit high but my tipping bucket probably needs to be calibrated because it seemed a bit low a 1.03". I need to put a CocoRahs in the pasture!

Haptic rainfall sensor definitely needs processing! It reported just over 3" for us today where the (real) gauge shows 1.03".

Mounting practices particularly with wind. I guess the more inputs the better for any forecast but we do need accurate data! Ultrasonic sensors are far more sensitive than inertia based sensors as well. But this AI they're using isn't much different than so called computational photography in mobile phones which attempts to compensate for the physical limitations of tiny sensors and lenses.

Yes I have one, just got in hand on the 5th. I have been experimenting with various heights above ground level and comparing to reference (Vaisala) instruments. It has its pros and cons and the amount of stations that are online is quite impressive. However, with data collection one must consider all the variables in various locations and the skill/training of the owner. I suppose with the sheer number of stations the bad eggs can be sorted out. The price point is attractive and the mount/appearance is appealing to most novices, etc.

Looking forward to rain and mud in the pasture. Then we freeze over in Feb. Those are the worst.