Re: [Paddlewise] Home weather stations

On Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 4:30 PM, Paul Montgomery <paul_at_paddleandoar.com>
wrote:

> NPR had a bit on home weather stations and it piqued my curiosity so
> I googled weather stations and found out what a large fan base they
> have. All kayakers are IN the weather, but is anyone here INTO the
> weather?


I've found that the weather service does a much better job of predicting
weather than I can with even the most elaborate home weather station. And if
I'm going to do it then I need to look at the sky and cloud formations as
well as the barometric trend and wind direction. So, as far as I'm
concerned, all I need is a recording barometer of some sort and my eyes and
ears.

When we were cruising on our sailboat, Kibitka, we had a little brass
barograph that sat in the corner above the chart table and faithfully penned
a line corresponding to the barometer onto a piece of graph paper. I didn't
even have to change the paper that often until because in the higher
latitudes there was never any overlap and in the tropics it was almost all
overlap (I just looked for the out-of-normal). Too bad the little device was
expensive - and we sold it with the boat.

At our latitude (about 48N) whatever you see 200 miles west is probably what
you're going to get within 24 hours; at least in the areas west of the
Cascade Mountains.


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
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