I recently mounted mine on an aluminum pole on a deck on the shore of Lake Huron. It was used years ago for another weather station. I’m pretty sure I need to make it more sturdy but today I noticed sustained winds of 45mph gusting into the 50’s when other stations weren’t reporting nearly that high, and a buoy several miles away was only reporting 20-25 knots.
I was wondering - could a flimsy pole cause high wind readings? Based on experience I’d say the wind was at most 30mph sustained. Any tips on pole mounting to give the best results? It’s mounted along the back of a wooden bench of a beach deck, I was thinking of adding padding and using stainless steel or galvanized pipe.
note that ultrasonic wind speed measurements are better at capturing gusts, but sustained wind speeds should probably measure around the same value, provided the environment is the same.
My pole is swaying a bit more than I anticipated, but I figured it should be ok-ish as it is swaying back and forth so the average should be fine.
I can’t imagine turbulence to be a big factor in your wind readings. I wouldn’t think there would be enough wobble in that pole to make a noticeable wind speed difference on average, either. For a test you could probably screw the flat base to the railing and see how it reads.
