Borth and Ynyslas Weather Station Information

Weather Station Overview

The Borth and Ynyslas Weather Station is based at Ynyslas approximately 200m East from the Mean High Water Mark at 52° 31′04″N, 4° 03′06″W.

The station itself a Davis Vantage Pro 2 which consists of an anenometer to measure wind speed and direction and an integrated sensor suite shown on the left. The integrated sensor suite houses a barometer to measure barometric pressure; a thermometer/hydrometer to measure temperature and relative humidity; and a self-tipping rain gauge to measure precipitation. The wireless integrated sensor suite runs on solar power and has a lithium battery to provide backup at night and during cloudy, wintry weather.

The sensor suite uses "frequency hopping spread spectrum radio technology" to transmit the data to a data logger and console situated within the house. This is then connected to a computer which uses "Weather Display" software to process the data, create various reports and charts and upload them to the web.

Anenometer

The anenometer includes both wind speed and wind direction sensors and has been wind-tunnel tested to speeds in excess od 170 mph. The sensors are mounted on a telegraph pole 6m above the ground in as exposed a position as is practically possible.

Anenometer positioning is critical as even small obstacles can affect the reading. However, it is also very difficult to find a site that is accessible, within easy reach and as exposed as one would like. I shall be monitoring the readings over the next few months and if necessary may mount the anenometer on an extension pole on top of the telegraph pole... If I can face climbing the pole again!

The anenometer has a range of 2 to 130 knots and a resolution of 1 knot. Readings are updated every 2.5 seconds

Rainfall Collector

The rainfall sensor is a self-tipping bucket capable of measuring rainfall in 0.2mm increments. Rainfall data is updated every 10 seconds. It has a range of 0 to 9999mm per day or 0 to 9999mm per storm (rounded to 1mm at 200mm and above)

The rain collector is designed to meet the guidelines of the World Meteorological Organization and is laser-calibrated for accuracy.

Integrated Sensor Suite

The integrated sensor suite contains the thermometer, the hygrometer and the barometer. These sensors are housed within a radiation shield to protect the sensors from solar radiation and other sources of radiated and reflected heat.

The Integrated Sensor Suite is mounted approx. 2.5m above the ground away from any sources of heat such as walls or tarmac.

• Temperature is updated every 10 seconds with a range of -40C to 65C and a resolution of 0.1C
• Humidity is updated every 50 seconds with a range of 0% to 100% and a resolution of 1%
• Barometric Pressure is updated every 15 minutes with a range of 880mb to 1080mb and a resolution of 0.1mb

Other Readings

In addition to the measurements made directly from the sensors listed above other parameters can be derived from these readings. These include:

• Dew Point
• Wind Chill
• Heat Index
• Cloud Height

Sample Pages

A list of some sample pages (using old data) can be see below. There are many more pages than this and the real ones are updated every minute.

• Weather overview page
• The Wind page
• The Moon and Sun page
• The 24 hour weather graph page
• The 24 hour wind and barometer graph
• The All Time Records page

Registration

To cover the running and maintenance costs of the weather station Forces-of-Nature is chraging a small (£20) annual fee to access the live data. This contribution helps keep the weather station up and running and is hopefully a small price to pay for local, up to the minute weather data from Borth. If it saves you one trip a year it will hopefully be worth it, or better still if it means you get a session on the water that you otherwsise wouldn't it would be a small price to pay.

Click here to subscribe to the Borth and Ynyslas weather station, or E-mail us to subscribe offline.