WeatherFlow Tempest Installed

 I haven't had a weather station since the LaCrosse gave up the ghost many years ago. I've watched how the newer stations have come down in price and gone up in capability. And yet what I consider the top of the line Davis was too expensive for me. And the Ambient unit didn't have the wireless range (only 80') to site the sensor where it was convenient.

 In 2018 when WeatherFlow began working on a "no moving parts" station, I was intrigued. How could they manage wind speed/direction without a weather vane and cups? And even more so, how could they measure rainfall without a tipping bucket?

 Two years later they have what I'd call a third generation of the station available and without the long wait times. I ordered one on July 23. It was delivered on July 27.

[commercial photo]

 Wind, by the way, is measured with ultrasonic transducers (the speed of sound varies in moving air) and I assume triangulation gives direction. Unlike cups, the Tempest responds almost to a whisper. There's no threshold that needs to be reached before measurement begins.

 And rainfall is measured with a "haptic" sensor. The unit effectively "listens" to the rain tapping on the top of the unit. Some involved algorithm converts that to rainfall.Other local stations - as well as commercial sources - allow for "Rain Check" which supposedly corrects for errors (the next morning).

 The package arrived mid-afternoon on 07/27/20.

 This is the entire sensor. It fits easily in one hand. Also included is a post mount (see photo), a "hub" which communicates via WiFi), a cord and power transformer. The unit is said to have a thousand foot range.

 I had installed a one inch PVC pipe last week so I could slide the sensor on the top and quickly be in business. I have it at the northeast corner of the garden where there is good air flow, particularly open to the west.

 Here's the Tempest as the storms began rolling in not an hour later. Thousands of nearby lightning strikes were detected.

 But it was the rainfall that interested me most. Would the unit be close? This morning I measured 0.42" in the 20" NWS gauge. The Tempest reported 0.40". The two are separated by a little over a hundred feet. I'd have been happy with a ballpark reading but this was really exceptionally close.

 I have the station setup as "public" so the data is available to view. Click here to take a look.