Jul 25, 2007 4:47 pm US/Eastern
WeatherWise: Build Your Own Weather Station
by Mish Michaels
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Weather in New England is the best weather in the country -- that's because it is always changing and often extreme. It makes tracking weather interesting and fun, and with the right weather equipment you can keep track of storms and sunny skies just like the pros.
If you step behind the scenes of the WBZ weather center, you'd find Ken Barlow busy forecasting and executive weather producer Terry Eliasen creating graphics for the evening broadcast.
"The weather office never closes," said Terry, who is a meterologist.
But you don't need fancy equipment like a Weathernet web cam or a big staff to track the weather. Just a few simple instruments will do the trick.
A thermometer is a must. We have some vintage ones donated by Dick Porter, the self-proclaimed "Thermometer Man" who runs a museum in Onset.
Thermometers are best kept in an instrument shelter like the one donated by the Blue Hill Weather Observatory. It had been on the summit since the 1930s. We fixed it up and its now home to our barograph which was donated by Robert White Instruments.
A barograph is a recording barometer that will display, track and record the changing pressure.
When Hurricane Gloria passed by Boston in 1985, a recording barometer showed how the air pressure plummeted.
This rain gauge keeps tabs on what falls from the sky.
It measures to within a hundreth of an inch and it can measure up to 11 inches of rain before it needs to be emptied
Our WBZ wind sock shows which way the wind is blowing, just like a wind vane. An anemometer tracks wind speed.
My favorite is the sunshine recorder. Now it's not a magic crystal weather ball, rather it burns a record of daily sunshine onto a card.
Sunshine recorders are quite expensive but most of the weather tracking equipment at WBZ is very affordable.
If you would like to track weather in your backyard, check out this
slideshow for help with getting the equipment you need.
Share your weather observations with the WBZ Weather Team. Send an email with your name and location to
weather@wbztv.com to get started.
Learn more about tracking weather and short term forecasting (nowcasting) at our
WeatherWise Exhibit at the Museum of Science, Boston.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Slideshow: Build Your Own Weather Station
Behind The Scenes Of The WBZ Weather Center
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