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08 June, 2011

Weather Web's Tentacles

Ever since my weather station went live (http://winjama.blogspot.com/2010/10/oldfartitis-moves-in-for-kill.html), I've always wondered how to connect with the Belize National Meteorological Service (http://www.hydromet.gov.bz/), so that some of the weather information my station works so hard to produce can be put to good use.

For a couple of days, I looked at their website and didn't see any way to let them know I had a station and was willing to share information. Finally, I thought, "Hmmm, why don't I write them and see if there's a way to share the data with them?" So, I did.

I emailed Mr Dennis Gonguez, Chief Meteorologist, and asked him that very question. I also gave him the technical information for my station, so they could find it's information on the Internet, and asked if they had plans in the future to utilize stations such as mine.

After wishing him good luck with the current hurricane season, I hit the send button.

I was pleasantly surprised when, the very next day, I got an answer from Mr. Gonguez thanking me for the information on my station. He told me they would use the data from it to supplement their other observations.

He also asked if I knew how to contact the other weather station up in Consejo Shores.

Finally, Mr. Gonguez provided a link for several other weather stations around Belize.
  • Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico
  • Grand Caribe in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye
  • Ladyville, BWB, Belize
  • WishWilly, Calabash Bight, Roatan Island
Mr. Gonguez asked if I could give him an email address for the station in Consejo Shores. After a bit of Internet sleuthing, I was able to send him an email address for that station.

Apparently, they do fold in the data from all these stations into the weather product they produce for the whole country.

So, along with the Consejo Shores station and Winjama Weather Station... well, the coverage isn't fantastic, as far as amateur stations go, but it's far better than nothing.

Hey, it's nice to know that we're doing our bit to help with hurricane preparedness in Belize.

You can see the current and historical information for Winjama Weather by clicking on the Weather Underground link on the right column of this page. Enjoy.
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5 comments:

  1. JRinSC8/6/11 15:56

    My browser (Firefox 4.0) may be screwing up but I cannot find the weather link in your right column.

    I'm going to try with IE and see if it makes a difference...


    Julian

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stan and Regina8/6/11 19:11

    Your weather station and the information you share are much appreciated! Way to go Dave!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dave Rider8/6/11 19:37

    Hi Julian,

    Let me know and I'll see what I can do. May have to include just a text URL as well.

    Cheers,
    Dave

    Hi Stan and Regina,

    Glad you like it. To be honest, the hardest work about it was setting up the hardware itself. Well, that and making sure the batteries were inserted correctly. After that, it almost runs itself.

    Cheers,
    Dave

    ReplyDelete
  4. JRinSC9/6/11 05:52

    Interesting... I click on the open space below where it says the weather station is and I go to the weather!! But no icon or art is visible there... must be something on my end. I pass the cursor over the clear area and a link will flash up at one spot... I'm afraid I found the enemy and it be me...

    Julian

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dave Rider9/6/11 10:37

    Hi Julian,

    I just looked up on Blogger help site about what is going on. Unless I'm not asking the question right, I didn't see anything that gave a hint of what the problem might be.

    Probably is you, but, then again...

    Cheers,
    Dave

    ReplyDelete

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