Amateur Weather Stations Being Recognized by the Pros
In a recent article, the New York Times reported on an amateur weather station in Colorado whose data is being used by one of Denver’s TV stations. The article also notes the growing number of personal weather stations that post their data online.
Quoting from the article:
“We use those reports,” said Mike Nelson, KMGH’s chief meteorologist. “It’s been useful for television to get more reports from all kinds of locales, compared to just the airport. The old joke goes, no one lives out there.”
The difference between temperatures recorded at Hartsfield Airport and in the northern and eastern suburbs has certainly been noticed here in Atlanta. In addition to the temperature variations, rainfall amounts can vary widely as well, particularly during thunderstorm season.
While personal weather stations, including Lawrencevilleweather.com, frequently aren’t set up under ideal configurations (such as having the thermometer properly shielded, set up 4 feet above the ground, on grass, 30 feet away from obstructions such as buildings), they are often set up well enough to provide a reasonably accurate measure of weather differences around a metro area.
The article also notes some of the sites that collect data from personal weather stations, including Weather Underground, Weatherforyou.com, and Anythingweather.com. The data you see on Lawrencevilleweather.com is also reported to Weatherforyou and Weather Underground, and is provided in their local forecasts or lists of personal weather stations.
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