My full parameter weather observing station is a model #6152 Davis Vantage Pro2 with model #7747 fan aspirated instrument shelter kit and model #6332 wireless wind vane/anemometer transmitter kit. It's tied to my personal computer with the Davis 6510SER data logger/PC interface. Wind data uploads occur every 1-2 seconds, barometric pressure every 60 seconds and temperature related parameters every 10 seconds. As far as software I use the excellent Weather Display v10.37j b15, Weather Display Live v5.03 and VP Live v1.1.9 I have a dedicated computer for the weather software. It's an old computer running a 634 mhz Intel Celeron Pentium III processor with 512 megs of RAM, a 60 gig hard drive and runs the Windows XP Home SP2 OS.

The model #7747 fan aspirated instrument shelter kit comes with only one solar panel that produces 1.5 to 2 volts under optimum solar conditions. This underpowered the ventilation fan in my opinion, so I added a second 2 volt solar panel in series with the first one. I now get 3-4 volts and the fan does a much better job aspirating the shelter.

All weather observation parameters are in real time to the Internet via a T3 speed permanent broadband connection. My weather station is part of the partnership between the National Weather Service (NWS) and private volunteer Citizens Weather Observer Program (CWOP) and is ID'ed as #AR692/KN4LF. The weather observation data enters NOAA Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS) in Boulder, CO, where it enters the weather forecasting model's and 500 other end users.

Check out the yearly average flash density of lightning per km2. The red and yellow colors represents the lightning strike bull's eye of the western hemisphere.

STRIKE ALERT PERSONAL LIGHTNING DETECTOR

A massive positive polarity lightning bolt taken recently in Australia

PENINSULA FLORIDA RIDGES AND HIGHLANDS
CLICK TO ENLARGE

By the way my hand held GPS receiver says that the ridge tops out at 280 feet not 260 feet AMSL and my weather station location 238 feet not 218 feet AMSL. My Kestrel 3500 digital altimeter says 222 feet. Which is accurate an old USGS topographic map or modern GPS or altimeter unit?! To further complicate matters there is an error on the topographical map. It shows a second area to my NNE at 230 or more feet when that location is actually on a slope well under 230 feet.

Several microclimates exist on and adjacent to my property. My property is approximately 1/3 acre in size, of which the Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station sits on the SW corner at an elevation of 218 feet AMSL. The land elevation approximately 100 yards north and south of my property is approximately 2 feet higher. To the west of my property is an approximate 5 acre open meadow that sits approximately 2 feet lower and to my east a natural drainage corridor that once led to Scott Lake but has been altered into a closed pond that sit's approximately 3 feet lower. The property is wooded with five oak trees, one unidentified tree and one camphor tree, with the only clear spot being on the SW corner where the weather station is located.

During night time under radiational cooling conditions (clear sky, calm wind, low dewpoint) my weather station location runs approximately 5 degrees warmer than the surrounding region lowlands which are 100-150 feet lower. Basically the wind almost never stops blowing here on the hill at night time due to a Katabatic (down sloping) wind flow. The low spot's on the west and east side of my property have their own microclimates and run approximately 6 and 8 deg. colder when dry than my weather station location. The cluster of oak trees run approximately 5 degrees warmer than my weather station location but as I recently trimmed them all back dramatically the difference should be smaller during the next winter season.

As an example as follows are area minimum temperatures for early Wednesday morning February 7, 2007 under radiational cooling conditions.

44 deg. 218 ft My Location CWOP #AR692/KN4LF 5.7 miles South Lakeland Suburban

41 deg. 180 ft NWS CWOP #C5838 Providence North Lakeland Suburban
42 deg. 142 ft COOP NW Plant City Urban
41 deg. 141 ft FAA SW Lakeland Linder Regional Airport Urban
38 deg. 140 ft CWOP #C6582 Kathleen NW Lakeland Suburban
40 deg. 135 ft IFAS FAWN Balm Rural
39 deg. 128 ft ASOS FAA Bartow Municipal Airport Suburban
40 deg. 128 ft NWS CWOP #CW4013/KI4EFL East Plant City Rural
42 deg. 125 ft NWS CWOP #AP566/KQ4KX SE Lakeland Suburban
38 deg. 121 ft NWS CWOP #AS291/WC4PRM-9 Polk City NE Lakeland Rural
42 deg. 120 ft KFLLAKEL6 FDOF 5.8 miles South Lakeland Urban
40 deg. 069 ft IFAS FAWN Dover Rural
37 deg. 059 ft NWS CWOP #CW2979 Valrico Suburban
41 deg. 023 ft FAA Vandenberg Airport East Tampa Suburban

During cold air advection conditions at both day and night my weather station location temperature runs approximately 1-2 degrees colder than the surrounding lowlands depending on the steepness of the lapse rate. Being on an exposed ridge approximately 100-150 feet higher than the surrounding lowlands average wind speed is approximately 20% higher. During subfreezing cold air advection events if the wind direction has a NNE-NE component I can on occasion see lake effect snow showers.

As an example as follows are area maximum wind gusts for Saturday June 2, 2007 as T.S. Barry traversed the region.

45 mph 218 ft My Location CWOP #AR692/KN4LF 5.7 miles South Lakeland

31 mph 154 ft ASOS FAA Plant City Municipal Airport
35 mph 141 ft FAA SW Lakeland Linder Regional Airport
36 mph 136 ft NWS CWOP #CW7718 Lakeland Linder Airport
39 mph 128 ft ASOS FAA Bartow Municipal Airport
33 mph 128 ft NWS CWOP #CW4013/KI4EFL East Plant City
28 mph 125 ft NWS CWOP #AP566/KQ4KX SE Lakeland
35 mph 144 ft ASOS FAA Winter Haven Gilbert Airport

Also during cold air advection conditions when the wind direction is from the N-NE at both day and night my weather station location dewpoint runs approximately 5 degrees higher than the surrounding lowlands. This is due to being on the down wind side of Scott Lake.

I also see a bit of an enhanced Anabatic (up sloping) wind flow at daytime primarily from the NNE-SE. During summer time quite frequently a cumulus or cumulus congestus cloud will form over the Lakeland Highlands (my location) part of the Lakeland Ridge.

Check out the WFLA Doppler radar image below. If you look due SSE of the word Lakeland and NNW of the word Bartow you will see what looks like a blue and orange speck. It is a lone cumulus cloud that formed over the highest part (266 feet) of the Lakeland Ridge.

WFLA 8 DOPPLER RADAR IMAGE 01/06/06
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CWOP PROVIDED MAPS & MORE OF MY WEATHER STATION LOCATION SITE

FLORIDA WEATHER FACTS   FLORIDA DAILY WEATHER DISCUSSION   FLORIDA HISTORIC COLD WEATHER ARCHIVE
FLORIDA RAW WEATHER FORECASTING PRODUCT LINKS
MY VERY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH FL LIGHTNING BOLTS

HARMFUL MAN INDUCED CLIMATE (GLOBAL WARMING) CHANGE REFUTED


KN4LF 160 METER (MF &HF) RADIO PROPAGATION THEORY NOTES

KN4LF 2008 DAILY SOLAR SPACE WEATHER & GEOMAGNETIC DATA ARCHIVE

KN4LF 2008 DAILY LF/MF/HF/6M FREQUENCY RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION FORECAST & ARCHIVE

SUBSCRIBE TO LF/MF/HF/VHF FREQUENCY RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION EMAIL REFLECTOR

LCD CONSOLE DISPLAYS & DEDICATED COMPUTER
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TWO WEATHER STATIONS
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FLICKR SLIDE SHOW PHOTOGRAPHS OF MY WEATHER STATION

NWS TAMPA BAY, FL SKYWARN OPEN HOUSE 01/21/06
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In the photograph above from left to right Don Jeerings KI4EFL, Dan Noah WX4DAN Warning Meteorologist and myself Thomas Giella, KN4LF.

You can contact me at
kn4lf at arrl dot net

CLICK TO ENTER

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NWS OFFICE TAMPA BAY, RUSKIN, FL SKYWARN
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2008 WEATHER EXTREMES
          DEG F     "      %       "
MONTH   MAX/MIN 24 HOUR MAX/MIN MAX/MIN
          TEMP   PRECIP    RH        BP
JAN       82/27   1.19  100/25  30.65/29.86      
FEB       85/37   1.04  100/22	30.43/29.76       
MAR       88/39   1.43  100/24  30.39/29.77      
APR       88/42   3.01  100/32	30.23/29.83      
MAY      
JUN       
JUL       
AUG        
SEP       
OCT       
NOV       
DEC    

2008 WEATHER AVERAGES
MONTH     MEAN   MEAN   MEAN        MONTH
          MAX    MIN    MONTH  DEP  PRECIP  DEP
JAN       71.8   50.4   61.1  -1.4  3.36  +0.91 
FEB       76.6   54.4   65.5  +1.1  2.24  -0.51
MAR       77.7   55.5   66.6  -2.5  4.11  +1.15  	
APR       81.0   59.2   70.1  -3.1  6.48  +4.44
MAY 
JUN       
JUL 
AUG      
SEP        	                             
OCT      
NOV    
DEC      
Total                                     16.19                                           
Ave

2007 WEATHER EXTREMES
          DEG F     "      %       "
MONTH   MAX/MIN 24 HOUR MAX/MIN MAX/MIN
          TEMP   PRECIP    RH        BP
JAN       84/34   0.85  100/26 30.44/29.81
FEB       83/29   0.97  100/21 30.46/29.75
MAR       85/39   0.53  100/19 30.41/29.77
APR       89/44   0.76  100/21 30.31/29.65
MAY       93/53   0.44  100/26 30.20/29.80
JUN       95/65   2.00  100/42 30.21/29.59
JUL       97/71   2.12  100/40 30.15/29.86
AUG       98/72   1.73  100/39 30.12/29.86    
SEP       95/69   1.34  100/43 30.11/29.80
OCT       92/63   1.52  100/44 30.15/29.71
NOV       84/43   0.02  100/32 30.27/29.75
DEC       83/36   0.39  100/40 30.36/29.72 

2007 WEATHER AVERAGES
MONTH     MEAN   MEAN   MEAN        MONTH
          MAX    MIN    MONTH  DEP  PRECIP  DEP
JAN 72.4    53.2   63.1  +0.6   2.56  +0.11  
FEB 70.6    48.1   59.6  -4.8   2.14  -0.59
MAR 79.1    55.4   67.5  -1.6   0.68  -2.70 	
APR 80.7    57.5   69.3  -3.9   2.36  +0.32
MAY 86.7    65.2   76.1  -2.8   1.42  -2.39
JUN 89.6    71.2   80.5 - 2.2   8.92  +1.92      
JUL 92.4    72.1   83.2  -0.8   8.13  +0.62
AUG 93.3    74.7   84.0  -0.1   8.11  +0.77     
SEP 90.2    73.1   81.7  -0.9   3.66  -2.67        	                             
OCT 85.5    70.6   78.1  +1.5   4.37  +2.08     
NOV 77.7    56.3   67.0  -2.9   0.06  -2.06      
DEC 77.2    55.3   66.2  +2.3   0.74  -1.40     
Total                           46.80 -2.33                
Ave 82.9    62.7   72.8  -1.5   

2006 WEATHER EXTREMES
          DEG F     "      %       "
MONTH   MAX/MIN 24 HOUR MAX/MIN MAX/MIN 
TEMP PRECIP RH BP 
JAN     82.9/31.8 0.30  100/15 30.48/29.79 
FEB     85.4/25.3 2.52  100/17 30.44/29.70
MAR     87.0/37.0 0.14  100/18 30.34/29.77
APR     92.2/49.0 0.65  100/16 30.24/29.79
MAY     95.0/52.0 1.87   96/22 30.15/29.76
JUN     96.1/63.0 2.33  100/24 30.15/29.76
JUL     95.2/68.7 1.74   98/28 30.20/29.88	
AUG     95.4/68.2 3.14  100/31 30.14/29.68
SEP     92.8/60.4 2.42  100/38 30.09/29.82
OCT     90.4/46.2 0.96  100/23 30.21/29.74
NOV     84.6/35.9 0.83  100/32 30.28/29.68
DEC     83.0/39.0 1.06  100/43 30.44/29.84

2006 WEATHER AVERAGES 
MONTH     MEAN   MEAN   MEAN        MONTH 
MAX    MIN    MONTH DEP PRECIP DEP 
JAN      73.0    49.2   61.6  -0.9   0.41  -2.04  
FEB      71.6    45.8   58.7  -5.7   4.13  +1.40
MAR      79.0    51.5   65.3  -3.8   0.14  -3.80	
APR      86.1    60.1   73.1  -0.1   0.82  -2.04	 
MAY      88.1    63.6   75.8  -3.1   3.44  -0.37
JUN      90.8    71.8   81.3  -1.4   7.28  +0.28
JUL      90.5    72.2   81.4  -2.6   8.48  +0.97
AUG      91.4    72.1   81.8  -2.3   9.60  +2.27
SEP      89.3    69.8   79.6  -3.0   6.77  +0.44   	                             
OCT      84.4    62.6   73.5  -3.1   1.27  -1.02
NOV      75.0    53.6   64.3  -5.6   1.14  -0.98
DEC      75.0    57.4   66.5  +2.6   2.63  +0.49
Total                                46.21 -2.92                
Ave      82.9    60.8   71.8  -2.3

2005 WEATHER EXTREMES
          DEG F     "      %       "
MONTH   MAX/MIN 24 HOUR MAX/MIN MAX/MIN 
        TEMP PRECIP RH BP 
JAN 
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG       
SEP    95.7/67.6 1.34  100/39 30.09/29.82
OCT    89.4/44.1 4.17  100/30 30.29/29.37  
NOV    77.6/40.6 1.41  100/36 30.26/29.70
DEC    78.4/34.2 0.67  100/26 30.26/29.73

2005 WEATHER AVERAGES
MONTH     MEAN   MEAN   MEAN        MONTH 
          MAX    MIN    MONTH DEP PRECIP DEP 
JAN 
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG        
SEP      89.6   71.6    80.6  -2.0  4.51 -1.82     	                             
OCT      83.0   66.1    74.6  -2.0  6.78 +4.49
NOV      77.4   58.1    67.8  +0.3  2.74 +0.84
DEC      65.6   47.9    56.8  -7.1  1.25 -0.89
 Total 

Visits Since 09/01/2005