MIA station wind reports

[jamesschmitt]

Many missing wind reports missing from stations actually are available and NOT down as iwindsurf reports. Why don’t they get their act together and get these up to speed?
For example John Day Dam has been reported as down for ages but the weather data does exist:
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&ei=U7AYXbDcIp_F0PEPlYKrsAc&q=john+day+damn+weather&oq=&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-serp.1.0.41l3.0.0..29767...0.0..1.311.595.2-1j1......0....1.......3._10wdT7B5VY

[windfind]

Hi James,

Some large companies appear like they have thousands of actual physical weather stations covering every interesting location in the USA. In reality, these are "Virtual Stations".

Industrial grade sensors, like the ones we manufacture and install, cost thousands of dollars plus installation and repair costs. So an extensive network would cost many millions of dollars.

To avoid this expense some companies present "Virtual Stations" which appear to show the current wind at a location. In reality the wind report is simply a model forecast for that location.. The link you posted appears to lead to such a "Virtual Station"

(Here is a brief description of a "Virtual Station" : https://support.hydrawise.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008970333-Virtual-Weather-Station-

Such stations are only as accurate as the model they are based upon. And in the Gorge, the models are often way, way off since they can not even resolve the walls of the Gorge.

That said... we are always looking for real public domain sensors over the entire USA to supplement our own sensor network.

The problem with public domain sensors is that they are not located to meet the needs of our customers for accurate wind information and they are often poorly maintained. For example, the public domain sensor at Stonehedge near the Wall has been reading North for years.

Lastly, we are working on getting a real sensor in the John Day Dam area on our maps. Stay tuned

Meanwhile, this video shows what it takes to install our real weather stations: https://windnotes.smugmug.com/Videos-WindsurfKite/1-Gorge-Videos/i-CN8Fm92/A

Mike Godsey
iwindsurf.com/ikitesurf.com
Weatheflow.com

[jamesschmitt]

Thx for the info and update!

[Gorgekiteboy]

It would be nice for all of us users to know if a sensor is a real one or "virtual"(fake).

[windfind]