(more photos)
Location: The rooftop of the Helwig Recreation Center.
Weather Observations As Of: 05/24/13, 08:06:10.
Sunrise: 05:25. Sunset: 20:11. Moon: Waxing 99% Full.
NPU Forecast Text: Mostly clear with little temperature change.
See the past week/month/year page for graphs of this archival data.
Data frequency: Sub-hour archive records prior to 21 August 2009 are provided in 5-minute intervals. Beginning with 21 August 2009, sub-hour archive records are provided at 30-minute intervals.
Text and image presentations of data: You may see a mismatch between text and image presentations of the data (where both are available). If so, this is probably because your browser is using a cached version of the images. Pressing refresh should fix the problem.
Cumulative reports and archives: Because of some incorrect data (described below), cumulative values in both the reports and archives may be incorrect. This includes:
Bad data: While the list below is not exhaustive, data during the following periods, and all statistics calculating using that data, are known to be incorrect (local time in yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm format): All data prior to 2007-08-02 13:00: Station testing. 2009-05-27 00:10 to 2009-05-27 08:50: Bad archive files. 2009-06-16 21:25 to 2009-06-17 08:20: Bad archive files. 2009-06-21 04:00 to 2009-06-21 16:50: Bad archive files. 2009-06-21 16:00 to 2009-06-21 16:55: Bad archive files. 2009-07-20 01:50 to 2009-07-20 02:40: Bad archive files. 2009-08-19 19:00 to 2009-08-27 18:36: Problems with the data processing server. 2010-10-27 to 2010-12-06: The main unit battery was dying, and so there are large periods spread throughout which are filled with bad data. 2011-05 to 2012-04: The repeater transmitter battery was dying and the temperature and humidity sensors were failing, and so there are large periods spread throughout which are filled with bad data. 2012-05 to 2012-06-14: Replacement station was undergoing testing, and so all data are indoor values. 2012-10-24 13:31 to 2013-02-16 10:00: Problems with the computer that is processing the weather station's data. 2013-04-18 14:30 to 2013-04-19 10:30: Loss of signal. Station changes that affect the archives: The first station operated until 14 June 2012. A replacement station was installed 14 June 2012. All yearly cumulative data for 2012 are incorrect because of the station change and the purge of a few months of 2012 data from the first station. Both the first and second stations are the same make and model.
Bad data: While the list below is not exhaustive, data during the following periods, and all statistics calculating using that data, are known to be incorrect (local time in yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm format):
Temperature dial: The blue needle and number shows the current temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit). The grey needle and number shows the current heat index/wind chill (in degrees Fahrenheit), as applicable. The red and blue ticks show the day's high and low temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit), respectively.
Humidity dial: The blue needle and number shows the current relative humidity, in percentage points. The red and blue ticks show the day's high and low relative humidity (in percentage points), respectively.
Wind dial: The blue needle and number shows the last observed wind direction and speed (in mph), respectively. The red tick and number shows the direction and speed (in mph), respectively, of the daily high wind. (Wind direction is the direction from which the wind is blowing from.)
Precipitation dial: The blue needle and number shows rainfall over the last day. The grey tick and number shows the net precipitation, i.e. rainfall minus evapotranspiration, over the last day (a positive number means a net gain of precipitation and a negative number means a net loss). Snowfall is not measured, and melting snow that has collected on the rain gauge may skew measurements.
Storm definition: A storm is defined as starting when the rain rate is greater than 0.05 in/hr. A storm is assumed to be finished when 12 hours have elapsed without any rainfall.
Our station is a Davis Instruments Wireless Vantage Pro2 Plus™ with 24-Hr Fan Aspirated Radiation Shield. The approximate coordinates for the station are 41.97 deg N, 87.71 deg W, and 617 ft above sea level.
For photos and more information related to this and other weather stations at North Park, please see the department's weather index page and this more detailed description of the Helwig station.
A GNU/Linux server in the Physics Department retrieves the data using wview 5.20.2, a collection of open-source (GPL) programs that interface with the data logger and generate the HTML pages. New data is uploaded to this page, and the web page is automatically refreshed, every 5 minutes.
