Automatic Weather Stations

I thought I would take some time to explain the data that our automatic weather station provides. The station samples conditions once per second all day and all night and is saved in a data base. The data is displayed online every 10 minutes. Be sure to read the Weather Station section on this website to learn more.

The basic observation looks like the first graphic below. The graphic is a snapshot of the weather at 10:20 a.m. this morning. To see the current 10 minute observation just click on the first observation graphic below.

Click this graphic to see the current observation.

The next graphic is the forecast for Cedar Falls, Iowa as of May 24, 2023. The data for the graphic is provided by the National Weather Service Office at Des Moines, Iowa.The red line is the temperature. Blue bars (there are none today (5-24-2023) display the probability of precipitation.

The temperature (red line), relative humidity (blue dashes), and dew point (green dots) are displayed on the next graphic. When temperature or the dew point change the relative humidity changes. When temperature increases/decreases the relative humidity decreases/increases and when the dew point increases/decreases the relativity humidity increases/decreases. Temperature and dew point may increase/decrease together or move opposite to one another.

Next up is barometric pressure, which is the pressure the air exerts. It varies as weather systems move through our area. Low pressure systems lower our air pressure and high pressure systems increase the air pressure. As different systems approach or leave our area the pressure will change.

Wind speed and direction are displayed in the next two graphics. Wind speed is on a typical graph with time on the lower axis and the speed on the left axis. The direction chart displays the time on the bottom axis and the direction (in degrees) on the left axis. North is zero and 360 degrees (bottom and top of graph). So north may appear on the top or bottom horizontal axis.

The rain graph displays the current rain total and the rain rate in inches to .01 inches of rain. The rain rate is in inches per hour.

Solar radiation units are displayed in watts per square meter. The graphs are smooth on days with constant solar radiation. That will occur on clear days or when the sky is overcast with a uniform cloud layer. Partly cloudy days show widely varying amounts of solar radiation as clouds cover and uncover the Sun.

The soil temperature is in degrees F and shows the variations from day to night and from wet to dry soils.