Windplots

Rider : Paul Betts at Lake Evergreen Photograph : Lou Pignotti

Hello everyone,

The link below this paragraph, (wind conditions) is for displaying wind readings in the vicinity of Evergreen Lake.The readings may not always be current since I may not upload to my site on days that are not very windy. Click on the current wind conditions link below and make sure to read the station date at lower center of the graph.That will tell you if the data is current.

Click on the wind conditions link to see uploaded data from my station.

Click here for wind conditions (on windy days when I'm uploading my graph)

Here are the yearly summaries of wind conditions from 1999 to 2002.There are some months that are missing because my station was inoperative while I was moving the wind sensor to a less obstructed location.

Wind Summary

Some information about my Station:

I have a Davis Weather Wizard III. It interfaces to my computer with their software WeatherLink ver 4.04 and interfaces to the web with their WeatherLink Toolbox ver 1.4.
It is very easy to set up and use. Davis has , in my opinion , good support for their products.
Here is their link Davis Weather Stations

My, computer while running the WeatherLink software ,downloads data from my weather station and places on a graph on my computer screen. Next, a screen snapshot is taken automatically with a utility called Groone's KwikPic. You can find it here with other software Groone writes. KwikPic was free but the author asks for a small donation if you use it a lot to cover some of his expenses. Well worth some type of donation. It is a handy utility. You can find it here. http://www.groonesworld.com/
Next, the WeatherLink Toolbox uploads it to my webpage on a scheduled basis.

My station is located about one mile southwest of the most western part of Evergreen lake.
Click here for a map

Wind readings may be slightly lower when the wind direction has a northerly component. I have trees north of my house that block the wind somewhat. True north is probably the worst so far as accuracy but it gets better as you move south in either direction. East, southeast, south, southwest, west are unobstructed. Northeast and Northwest are pretty good but starting to get marginal.

        About the NOAA Rapid Update Cycle Maps ( RUC Maps)

          The RUC maps are NOAA's detailed forecast maps that go from 12 hrs all the way out to 48 hrs. The map times are given in "ZULU" time ( this is the time at the prime meridian) They are read just like standard military time, minus five hours. When we (here in the central time zone) are in daylight savings time, we are five hours behind the time at the prime meridian. Six hours when we are in standard time. For example when a map says 12:00Z 12-5=7 so it is the forecast map for seven AM . Typically a map will say something like   21- hr fcst valid 18- Apr-04 18:00Z This translates to 18-5=13 . In military time 13 o'clock is 1:00 PM So this map is the 21 hour forecast for April 18 , 2004 at 1 PM etc.

       The 12 , 24 , and 48 hr links below are for wind conditions in the North Central part of the country. The NOAA RUC MAPS link below is to the RUC map home page. From here one can get many different types of forecast maps for different areas of the country.Go to the links in the frame on the left side of their homepage to choose .

         NOAA RUC MAPS

      Some Links to the Wind

WINDSURFILLINOIS Reid's site. It's got some good forecasting tools,information on Illinois lakes, and a message board so you can get the scoop from some of the local sailors.

NOAA 12 HR RUC MAPS

NOAA 24 HR RUC MAPS

NOAA 12 HR RUC MAPS GUST

NOAA 24 HR RUC MAPS GUST

High Resolution Rapid Refresh

The HRRR is fully dependent on the hourly-updating RUC, to be replaced by winter 2008-09 by the experimental RR.

The Rapid Refresh is the next-generation version of the 1-h cycle system, planned to replace the current RUC in NCEP operations by early 2010.

USA Wind Statistics

Intellicast Wind Forecast

Intellicast Current Winds

Unisys Surface Winds