Back Yard Forecasting I have been interested in the weather and climate for many years now, but predicting a forecast has always been beyond me. I truly admire those of us who can forecast the weather, as it involves a very deep understanding of our climate and the atmosphere to be able to do it accurately. Professional weather forecasters have often been to university and studied for years to attain the necessary knowledge. Even amateur forecasters have usually had to study their craft for years before being able to forecast the weather. Although I am fascinated by the climate, I think I will always leave weather predictions to others who are more able. Despite this, and without needing any particular advanced knowledge of the atmosphere, it is surprising what you can find out just by taking a few simple measurements from your back garden. Since becoming more than just an armchair enthusiast, it has dawned on me that setting up your own weather station can be a relatively easy and cheap thing to do. Deciding on whether you use simple traditional instruments or the electronic type is probably the first step. If you choose to go down the traditional route, you can often find some of the instruments in most good garden centres. There you should be able to find thermometers, rain gauges, wind vanes and possibly barometers and humidity gauges. You may even find an anemometer too. The next step is finding out where to position everything. Personally, I think the best thing to do is to buy or even build a Stephenson screen, which is a special ventilated cabinet that has to be positioned in your garden with the front facing north and as far away from walls or buildings as possible. These can be obtained in kit form, which makes them easy to assemble. Inside your Stephenson Screen, you can fix the thermometer, the humidity gauge and barometer. Some types of rain gauge can be fixed inside the screen too. For the purposes of taking your own readings, any weather vane and anemometer must be housed at least 10’ high and away from the influence of any fences or buildings. One idea would be to fix a weather vane to a shed roof or something similar. Alternatively, you may decide to purchase the latest type of digital equipment. This is where it could get expensive though, but a fairly basic kit can start from around £40 if you hunt carefully. The digital route is most probably the best way forward, but as I say, it could be expensive if you buy a more advanced weather station. Some digital stations can be linked directly to a computer, and this means that your readings can be stored and referred to with very little personal input. By linking to your computer you can then feed that information directly to a web site and have your own weather station that can be viewed on the Internet by anybody day or night. © Brian Taylor 2002