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Misc 2019 Banter & Friendly Conservation
- Thread starter whatalife
- Start date
Tomorrow, not today
Fountainguy97
Member
For all looking into the weatherflow stations.
The haptic rain sensor is a very very new device. It translates rain drop impacts into amounts of precip.
It is a work in progress and has been prone to a lot of issues. Vibrations from cars, planes, and trains cause "false rain" reports. Birds landing on the sensor. Wind during rainfall changes the way the rain impacts the sensor. Just high wind also can cause false rain reports the list goes on and on and on.
Obviously, the programming to break all of these variables down is an insanely complicated issue.
They are about to release (possibly this week or next) a complete overhaul of their rainfall algorithm that should drastically improve the haptic sensor. But it is still a work in progress.
I mean think about it. They are trying to calculate accumulations of rain by measuring the impact of the raindrops,... Sounds like a nightmare for some computer and weather geeks. Think of all the variables involved: wind, size of drops, birds, non-rain vibrations....
Haptic rain sensors probably are the future for precip measuring. Just a lot of bugs to work out first.
The haptic rain sensor is a very very new device. It translates rain drop impacts into amounts of precip.
It is a work in progress and has been prone to a lot of issues. Vibrations from cars, planes, and trains cause "false rain" reports. Birds landing on the sensor. Wind during rainfall changes the way the rain impacts the sensor. Just high wind also can cause false rain reports the list goes on and on and on.
Obviously, the programming to break all of these variables down is an insanely complicated issue.
They are about to release (possibly this week or next) a complete overhaul of their rainfall algorithm that should drastically improve the haptic sensor. But it is still a work in progress.
I mean think about it. They are trying to calculate accumulations of rain by measuring the impact of the raindrops,... Sounds like a nightmare for some computer and weather geeks. Think of all the variables involved: wind, size of drops, birds, non-rain vibrations....
Haptic rain sensors probably are the future for precip measuring. Just a lot of bugs to work out first.
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I wish paid sites would own up to their forecast fails or point out on social media how unlikely it is for widespread flooding to occur. It was limited to about 3 to 4 counties in NC. I’m talking about Robert. Happens every time.
Cad Wedge NC
Member
If you are going to bash Robert, do it somewhere else please! He is well respected around these parts.
He is?
Not so much just Robert, but weather communication in general is poor this late in the game IMO. The public is fed poor money marketing tactics that create fear and eventually poor decision making in future storms.
The small high risk area from the WPC was in a area that most could commonly guess to be the biggest rainfall zone. We had three days of advance moderate risk outlooks. But paid sites created fear for way too many people. How did the forecast fair for Salisbury or Oak Island NC? I don’t think well. And that’s not just cherry picking, many areas didn’t perform.
Cad Wedge NC
Member
Yes, he's been posting with a core group of us since before the Easternwx forum days. Some of that group is here and a few are still over on Americanwx. Life was a lot less complicated back then. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe Wilkesborodude is the reason he stopped posting.
pcbjr
Member
AmWx ... full of egos and devoid of respect ... let's hope that disease never infects this place ...
Snowflowxxl
Member
AmericanWx is a place I haven't been in years, the worst of the worst weather fans post there. Moderators are disrespectful, and posters think they know it all. Robert is respected but it is funny to poke fun at some of his comments about roof collapsing snow and biblical flooding.
Tarheel1
I TOLD YALL IT WASN’T GOING TO SNOW
Member
2024 Supporter
2017-2023 Supporter
2025 Supporter
I’m sure he’s a great met, but sometimes, he overhypes events, but seems like a cool guy, and weather weenie at heart!
Yeah, I have nothing against Robert, but to say he overhypes and busts quite often is very accurate. Him and JB are on the same plane IMO.
Jon
Member
There’s issues sure, but they seem to be due to the user or birds...compared to very advanced pro wx stations this is a huge bang for your buck.
It’s also constantly learning and improving (it’s self learning/smart). My rain totals have been amazingly accurate compared to neighbors’ that have Davis’ and other ridiculously fancy stuff and they seem to over or under estimate. Also I live about 5 minutes from RDU, planes so loud overhead I can’t carry on a conversation in my own backyard....no sensor issues.
IMO haptic will be more accurate than rain gauges of the past, and you can’t ignore the accuracy of the temperature readings without the need of a fan or solar radiation shield. Even pro stations struggle terribly with overestimating temperature, not weatherflow!
The ONLY way wind can cause false rain is if you mount on a hollow 10 foot pole or something. I mounted with PVC piping, filled it with sand. No vibrations and no false rain. The people who complain about false rain due to mounting vibrations have no clue what they’re doing. Some research is needed to mount it properly, but they do have a guide and recommended sighting and mounting options — people just don’t read.
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He stopped posting because he went pay-per-view. Everyone knows that. He also didn’t like the public having access to Tropical Tidbits and other social media outlets providing free content before he could “forecast a pattern”.
Saw some significant flooding today as was leaving Illinois heading into Cape Girardeau, Mo. Man the Mississipi is massive.
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pcbjr
Member
It is awesome to fly over, coming into St. Louis ... though in the Spring when it's flooding one wonders why houses are in some locations ...
It had got to a point a newbie would know something before he did and everyone would wait for his “idea or response”. By then there was nothing to report other than his level of excitement or disappointment in a weather feature. Not to knock his knowledge but times have changed in the weather business when it’s all about money.
We wondered the same thing in the areas we have seen thus far.
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Let's drop the Robert/wxsouth stuff. It's been obvious for years he has his supporters and detractors, no need to continue to beat that horse anymore. Thanks
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I still think to this day that a lot of the venom in that forum's SE wx side spilled over from their super-venomous political forum, where the existence of even just one ounce of respect for posters on the other side of even just one issue is a rumor. One of that board's SE moderators happens to frequent that political forum. Though I always made it a point to be civil in discussions in said political forum and pushed for civility of others, I usually wasn't on his side on issues and therefore was treated like scum by him and others.
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pcbjr
Member
We need a thread for hate and everything goes.
pcbjr
Member
just thinkin' though ... I can drive 30 minutes west and wonder the same about "Three Rivers Estates" and also about those living in the pan of the Suwannee
ForsythSnow
Moderator
No. We are civil here
pcbjr
Member
Glad we found our way out of the 7th Circle (Dante' for reference) ...
pcbjr
Member
FS ... Thanks!
Tarheel1
I TOLD YALL IT WASN’T GOING TO SNOW
Member
2024 Supporter
2017-2023 Supporter
2025 Supporter
See summer whamby thread, thanks
Braves up 7-5 now a 9th inning rain delay..smdh weather south of I85 sucks year round
Where’s the whamby thread?
Where’s the whamby thread?
Fountainguy97
Member
Quite frankly the southeast forum on AmWX is all but dead now.
The crazies have run off most decent posters. It is Crazy how forums have shifted over the years! Will give you some serious nostalgia if you go back and look at some of those old threads.
A key storm that solidified my weather hobby was the December 2010 snowstorm. I was ironically in Erwin, TN visiting family (where I now live) and saw 14+ Inches fall over 2 days.
I went back just today to the old forums from back then. A lot of great friends and posters who I haven’t heard from in years were posting back then!
Snowflowxxl
Member
Yea definitely a lot of nostalgia occasionally going back and looking at old threads of past storms. There use to be a lot more Atlanta area posters back in the TW days, that never seemed to find there way over here. We have some Georgia posters here which is nice, but there used to be some guys who were really smart. Back in the 2013-2014 days when snow actually existed.
Fountainguy97
Member
The last 3-4 winters have definitely been a little on the low side. The culprit is likely this NAO that has stubbornly been positive during winter since 2014.
I guess we just hold our breath for a -nao in winter if we can ever flip that coin to that side again haha
You have to think that the lack of winter events has unfortunately made some weather followers lose their interest over the last few years. It does get very old spending hours following storms only to see an inch of rain haha I can see that any day of the year.
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Brick Tamland
Guest
I never visited the political board, and I was treated like crap from both the main mods there. They both played favorites and let those in the clique get away with trolling, especially one poster who loved to troll me. I think one is just old and crotchety, and the other gets off on the power of being a mod and the male posters flirting with her.
There are still plenty of good people that post at American. But there are some jabronis over there too. The moderation is a bit heavy and it's quite cliquish over there at times. But there are still good people who post there.
This place has certainly surpassed AmWx from a SE perspective. Hopefully, we can all continue to do our best to keep an open and friendly environment and not take on a character that keeps people from wanting to participate. At the same time, it's probably also a good idea for one to think about what one is saying and the reread the post before hitting the Post Reply button. All in all, this board is an excellent example of an online community.
This place has certainly surpassed AmWx from a SE perspective. Hopefully, we can all continue to do our best to keep an open and friendly environment and not take on a character that keeps people from wanting to participate. At the same time, it's probably also a good idea for one to think about what one is saying and the reread the post before hitting the Post Reply button. All in all, this board is an excellent example of an online community.
ForsythSnow
Moderator
There really isnt any balance over there. They have only a few mods it seems and a majority of them like burns and the witch just treat everyone poorly.
Is the witch the lady from Columbia, SC ?
Jon
Member
I never went in politics either.
The flirting was a little pathetic, and she seemed to love the attention of course. A majority of those men on that forum must be so sad and lonely... I’m 33 I was around 23 at the time, it was very creepy to me.
That same old mod is the one that made me quit and come here. I’m sure he’s made dozens leave, he must feel very powerful and accomplished!
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snowlover91
Member
Yeah my Weatherflow station has been great. The ability to link it to Weather Underground and all the other customization options for utilizing the data are legit. The self-learning algorithms they have for the temp, humidity and other factors works very well and adding in rain data will also be useful. The only issue I've had is in heavy thunderstorms it under-reports the rainfall amounts a good bit but the new update will fix that issue. Light to moderate rain it is dead on. No need to worry about a tipping bucket getting clogged with debris or spider webs. I've not had any issues with noise (tractors where I live and lawn mowers) and mine actually has birds that land on it but it's figured out through the AI when they land on it and doesn't report any rain accumulation now.
The lightning sensor is pretty cool and amazing to see the number of strikes in a strong storm. We had one recently where I was watching it on my app and out the window and each time I saw a flash it immediately also updated on the app... ended up having over 2k strikes in that one storm as it moved through.
I have my Sky unit mounted on a pole about 5 feet off the ground in my yard. I know the standard is 10M but since I'm in a wide open area and I don't live 30 feet off the ground I prefer the wind measurements to reflect what I'm seeing at ground level. It's been extremely accurate too and since it doesn't have moving parts it picks up wind gusts really well. The new solar panel for the Sky unit has been nice, no need to change batteries anymore! I agree about the mounting issue, a lot of the people with issues are mounting their units on poles 30 feet tall that sway in the wind and such, not ideal for any weather station but especially one like this. The new updates in the app to see the daily min, max and avg is a nice touch and it's going to be fun to see the station & mobile app continue to get better over the coming years.
IMO for $300 it can't be beat. The quality of the sensors, great customer service and support, continued improvements to the app and accuracy of the AI, easy linking to Weather Underground, and separate temp vs wind/rain sensor is tough to beat at this price point. Adding in the new solar panel for the rain/wind sensor is a nice touch as well and really helps save on batteries. I think this station is quite innovative as I haven't seen anything else out there like it, especially at this price point, and I wouldn't be surprised if other manufacturers start trying to follow suit in the coming years.
The Davis systems for me were too antiquated looking, too much extra stuff to buy to setup for remote access via an app or weather underground, and had a lot of issues with the solar panels failing. I read through the forums and they had widespread issues with that and it was a pain to get those fixed. Some people were having them fail every 6-12 months which is ridiculous IMO.
SimeonNC
Member
Outside of getting and still being five posted for posting a bunch of imby questions when I first got in the board almost four years ago, I have no real gripes with American.
The political side is a way different story, which I admit I didn't handle very well and somewhat made worse because I let certain folks get to me.
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The political side is a way different story, which I admit I didn't handle very well and somewhat made worse because I let certain folks get to me.
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snowlover91
Member
Yeah the witch and burns are the worst. I ended up leaving there after I made a prediction a month or so in advance about when a pattern change would occur from a torch to cooler/below normal. It ended up verifying and she replied that it wasn't a real pattern change even though we went from 70s to upper 40s/low 50s for highs for an extended period and that I hadn't come up with that forecast on my own but copied it from someone else. Then when I tried to reply to it and point out that it was my own forecast and the evidence/research I based it on, she banned me saying I was challenging her authority and a liar. I tried to appeal to another mod that I know, he removed it saying it wasn't justified and that she was abusing her power. She found out and then put the ban right back on and had the administrator of the forum lock my account down so it couldn't be removed until she deemed necessary.