![]() ![]() “It’s reliable and long-lasting, and I got it cheap.” “It’s a semi-pro piece of equipment,” he says. That includes the Davis Instruments ProVantage equipment he uses for weather data. “I like to see how things work and explain it to other people,” he says. They’re unrelenting.”Ī retired pharmacist, Summerville has been working as a science and tech writer for computers and high-tech gadgetry, including a job with Microchip. Arizona tends to be more constant where we have monsoons and it’s hot and humid with occasional surprises, that’s the winters back East. “There will be no rain, and suddenly the weather pattern will flip. “The monsoon season is kind of interesting,” he says. He set himself up with a weather station and broadband at the same time in 2005.ĭavid Durst in the Villages at Rancho El Dorado has a weather station beside his pool. ![]() He became involved with Weather Underground after seeing how a friend was using that weather data as a private pilot. Summerville has been a weather hobbyist since junior high school. “It’s fascinating to be able to know that other people can use the data to see what’s happening,” says Eric Summerville, who has a station at his Hidden Valley home. The “hobbyists” come from all walks of life, but at some point each became so interested in the weather he wanted to be part of gauging it. There are eight private stations in the Maricopa area. WU takes readings every three seconds from these private stations and airports like Sky Harbor and Ak-Chin Regional to create summaries and forecasts. Not to be confused with the radical group from the 1960s, Weather Underground is a collection of data from more than 100,000 official weather sites and home-based weather stations run by weather enthusiasts or hobbyists. “What’s cool about Weather Underground is the network, so even though one station may not be properly calibrated, the network will give you the feel of the overall weather,” says Bryan Snider, who has been contributing data to the system for three years. The unexpectedly fascinating character of Arizona skies unites a motley crew of amateur meteorologists under the Weather Underground umbrella. Photo by Raquel HendricksonĪrizona thunderstorms won’t sneak up on you, but they can be surprising in their beauty and shocking in their intensity. Jeff Price is one of several weather hobbyists in Maricopa reporting data to Weather Undergound. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |