Personal weather station

A personal weather station is a set of weather measuring instruments operated by a private individual, club, association, or even business (where obtaining and distributing weather data is not a part of the entity's business operation). The quality and number of instruments can vary widely, and placement of the instruments, so important to obtaining accurate, meaningful, and comparable data, can also be very variable.

Typical instrumentation includes an anemometer and wind vane, thermometer, hygrometer (for obtaining relative humidity), barometer, and rain gauge. More sophisticated stations may also measure the ultraviolet index, solar radiation, leaf wetness, soil moisture, soil temperature, water temperature in ponds, lakes, creeks, or rivers, and occasionally other data. Today's personal weather stations also typically involve a digital console that provides readouts of the data being collected. These consoles may interface to a personal computer where data can be displayed, stored, and uploaded to web sites or data ingestion/distribution systems.

Personal weather stations may be operated solely for the enjoyment and education of the owner, but many personal weather station operators also share their data with others, either by manually compiling data and distributing it, or through use of the internet or amateur radio. The Citizens weather observer program is one such, and this data submitted through use of software, a personal computer, and internet connection (or amateur radio) is utilized by the National Weather Service when generating forecast models, and by many other entities as well. Each weather station submitting data to CWOP will also have a [http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=CW0146!Round%20Rock&last=120 individual web page] that depicts the data submitted by that station. The Weather Underground is another popular destination for the submittal and sharing of data with others around the world. As with CWOP, each station submitting data to The Weather Underground will have a unique [http://www.weatherunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KTXROUND17 web page] displaying their submitted data.

Many personal weather station operators also post their current and historical data on [http://www.wilcowx.com personal weather web pages] as well.

External links

Popular manufacturers of weather stations appropriate for individual users include:
* [http://www.columbiaweather.com Columbia Weather]
* [http://www.davisnet.com Davis Instruments]
* [http://www.lacrossetechnology.com La Crosse Technology]
* [http://www.maximum-inc.com Maximum]
* [http://www.oregonscientific.com Oregon Scientific]
* [http://www.peetbros.com Peet Brothers]
* [http://www.rainwise.com Rainwise]
* [http://www.txwx.com Texas Weather Instruments]
* [http://www.weatherhawk.com WeatherHawk]

Some creators of software for interfacing to personal weather stations (and in many cases, for uploading data to various entities mentioned above as well as to personal weather station web sites) include:
* [http://www.ambientweather.com Ambient Weather] / [http://www.ambientweather.com/software.html Virtual Weather Station]
* [http://www.joejaworski.com/weather/ Linux software for the Davis Vantage Pro (freeware)]
* [http://www.pc-wetterstation.de/enindex.html PC Weatherstation/WsWin 32]
* [http://www.thunderheadtech.com Thunderhead Technologies/WxSolution]
* [http://www.weather-display.com Weather Display]
* [http://www.weatherview32.com WeatherView 32]
* [http://www.wviewweather.com/ Wview software for Linux (freeware)]
* [http://www.freewx.net FreeWX (freeware)]
* [http://www.softwx.com VP Live (for the Davis Vantage Pro, freeware)]
* [http://www.davisnet.com Davis Instruments]
* [http://sandaysoft.com Cumulus (for Davis Vantage Pro/Pro2, and Oregon Scientific, freeware)]
* [http://meteohub.de Meteohub software (to run on NSLU2 for Oregon Scientific stations)]
* [http://home.comcast.net/~wuhu_software/ WUHU] Weather Underground, CWOP, etc. uploader for La Crosse, Oregon, Peet Bros, Cambell and Davis stations

Places where data collected by a personal weather station may be submitted electronically and thence shared with others worldwide via the internet:
* [http://www.wxqa.com Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP)]
* [http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/index.asp Weather Underground Personal Station Signup]
* [http://www.anythingweather.com/contactjoinnetwork.aspx AnythingWeather Signup Page]
* [http://www.pwsweather.com WeatherForYou + HAMweather PWS Program]
* [http://www.awekas.at/en/index.php AWEKAS Signup Page]
* [http://meteostone.com/registration/ MeteoStone Signup Page]
* [http://www.southwesternweather.net/ Southwestern Weather Network] An affiliation of personal weather websites located in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah.

Resources for the current or potential personal weather station owner/operator:
* [http://www.wxforum.net WxForum.net, an independent and supportive forum of weather enthusiasts, most of whom operate personal weather stations]
* [http://mywebpages.comcast.net/dshelms/CWOP_Guide.pdf Personal weather station siting and setup guide from CWOP]