Home Weather Stations: How to Build a Weather Station

Meteorology is an interesting subject, and it can get even more interesting if you create your own weather station. You will be able to predict the weather in your area, and thus become the amateur meteorologist of your neighborhood. With time, you will get more acquainted with the weather phenomenon and get well versed with geography, all while you have fun.

A weather station is a setup which facilitates the observation of prevailing atmospheric conditions to predict information about anticipated changes in the weather and climate, by using various instruments and equipments especially designed to study weather. While studying weather conditions one has to take into consideration the various factors, such as temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind speed and direction.

How to Build a Weather Station

Though there are various sophisticated weather instruments designed to study weather as well as its minute details, having your own homemade weather station, and being able to forecast weather yourself sounds quite interesting. It also helps you to understand the weather patterns, thus making studies more enjoyable. Before you start building your own homemade weather station, you need to be well-equipped with the basic knowledge about the weather principles. Read books and study material which throws light on the weather of your region. Understand the uses of various equipment used to forecast weather, and how they are supposed to be used.

Once you are well-equipped with the basics of weather forecasting, it's time to begin building your own weather station. It is important to have the weather station and measuring equipment at the right place. For instance, you can't have the rain gauge, used to measure rain, under a tree. An ideal spot for the weather station would be somewhere towards the northern side of your house. The basic easy-to-build instruments you can use in your homemade weather station include a barometer, rain gauge and a wind vane.

A rain gauge measures the amount of rainfall. Take a cylindrical container made of glass or plastic, and having a flat base. The length of the sides and mouth of the container should be same. Take a marker and start marking from the base of the container taking the interval of half inch. Now your rain gauge is ready. You can keep it on open ground. Make sure it is away from obstruction such as buildings or tree branches. You can plant it into the ground to keep it safe from the wind. After regular intervals, check how many inches of water is collected in it. This will be measured as rainfall in inches.

A wind vane gives the directions of the wind. In order to make a wind vane, take a piece of wood approximately 12 inches in length. Make vertical slits at both the ends. Cut out the head and tail of an arrow, preferably on aluminum sheet and insert it in the slits of the wood, such that it resembles an arrow. Make a hole in the center of the wooden piece and nail it into a vertical stick. Rotate it a couple of times to make it loose enough to move freely. Now your wind vane is ready and you can plant it outside on a significant height. The head of the arrow will point the side from where the wind is blowing. A compass can be used to name the exact directions. Record the observations in your weather journal.

A barometer is an instrument used to measure pressure conditions prevailing in the atmosphere. It's simple to make your own barometer for your home weather stations. Take a small can or a jar and a half-cut balloon. Cover the mouth of the jar with the balloon and secure it with a rubber band. Take a straw and attach it to the balloon lid, such that three fourth of the straw hangs out. Take a paper and attach it in such a way that the straw acts like a pointer on the paper. The straw will point lower when the air pressure becomes low and will raise when the pressure become high. Mark regular readings on the paper itself.

Remember, it's a continuous learning process, so it is very important to keep a note of your observations. Maintain your own weather journal, wherein you can note down all your observations according to the date and time. Collecting the data on day-to-day basis is important, as inappropriate data collection may lead to wrong conclusions, and hence hamper your predictions.