My WeatherFlow came in 3 weeks ago and I’ve been contemplating just how to mount it, given the need to avoid vibration for the Sky unit. Now Hurricane Florence is on the way and I’d like to get it up, even in a temporary way, before next weekend.
Some particulars…I’m in the Piedmont area of North Carolina, about 180 miles from Wilmington, which is the likely area of landfall. From the forecast so far, it will then come barging inland, with the center passing somewhere pretty close by.
I have a 16’ +/- heavy duty fiberglass extension pole that I was planning on using for a test mount. Strapped to the deck railing that should get me 5’ or so above the peak of the roof and 8-10’ away from the edge of the roof. I can guy this to increase its rigidity and better secure it.
I’d love to have a “baptism by fire” of the unit, but I don’t want to unnecessarily risk it. Input will be gratefully welcomed.
I’ve given this speech in another forum before, in response to someone asking if they should take their Davis Vue down as a hurricane approached their location. The most fitting death for any weather station occurs not from UV radiation rotting the plastic, but from getting obliterated trying to record the conditions during an extreme weather event! Put it up, and make sure that you have a USB power battery brick to run the Hub in the event of a power drop.
A speech that I probably don’t need to give here is the dangers of flooding being more important than wind strength…especially inland. Be safe, and evacuate to higher ground if you live i a low area prone to flooding…
Let me make the decision easier. I have a new-in-box Sky from the last August 2018 production run in my hands. I will trade it for the first Sky that is confirmed to have been damaged by a tropical cyclone event, to add another broken unit to my collection of cast-off weather station hardware…
vreihen, you’re right, of course. Ships in port are safe, but that’s not ships are for. Up she goes.
I also appreciate the concern for flooding, but where I live, if we experience an actual flood, most of this county will be under water. Biggest water worry I have is it getting in the basement.
Current forecast has Florence as a minimal hurricane/heavy tropical depression by the time it gets here. My house is pretty much surrounded by trees, so they’re going to break the wind to some extent. I’ll guy the heck out of it and see what happens.
I have the station up, with the wind/rain sensor up in a “temporary temporary” way. I wasn’t able to use the fiberglass pole because my idea for guying things wouldn’t work. So this is Plan B, a 4 section aluminum pole that extends something like 22’. In this picture I don’t have the last section up. I’m waiting until I guy it tomorrow for that.
As you can see, There’s a lot of trees. It looks like that picture in all directions. Obviously my wind data will be different than a perfect site would render, but perfect isn’t to be found around here.
Thanks for the link and I agree, we get weather systems here on the east coast of Australia called “east coast lows -or Tasman Lows” which are designated as cold core lows - basically a cyclone/ hurricane without the warm water- Will be watching the progression of the system.
I have a 1/4” plant support stake driven in the ground over which I placed a 10’ pvc pipe. I will probably add a grounding stake into the ground alongside with tie wraps for battery maintenance & easy replacement. If there’s too much pvc flexing I will fill it with expansion foam and/or a broom handle inside
Our weather situation has changed a bit. We’ll be getting less wind and more rain. Yay!
I’ve guyed the push-up pole, and so far we’ve had gusts to 26 MPH. Everything is still where it belongs. There have been two false rain alerts so far. I’m also going to put up a manual rain gauge just to see how the station does when the rain gets here.
