History of DaculaWeather.com

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The DaculaWeather.com web site was created in late February of 2008 and went online around the first of March. The site went through multiple revisions as I learned the ropes of operating a weather site. You learn tips and tricks as you go and the site evolves as you apply the knowledge you get from other sites and site owners. The live conditions updates on this site are all dependant on an AJAX script written by Ken True at Saratogaweather.org . Without Ken, this site and many others, would not be displaying live updates. In October of 2009 the site went though it's first major revision, and was revised again in October 2010. In early 2012 we began another revision of the site, and that style is what you currently see on this page.

Weather Station Hardware

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The first weather station was an Oregon Scientific WMR100b that was purchased in January 2008. While not considered to be the most reliable or accurate weather station, it worked well for about a year or so and was a good starter weather station. Before anyone makes a decision on a weather station purchase, please visit WXForum.net for lots of friendly advice and knowledge. Weather stations vary quite a bit and picking the right one for your budget can be a stab in the dark if you are unfamiliar with all of the issues.

Over time the temperature sensor began to drift and became unreliable and I decided that an upgrade was in order. In October 2009 I purchased a Davis 6250 Vantage Vue from Ambient Weather . The Vue communicated through the Davis 6510 USB Data logger to a USB port on the PC. However, in February of 2017, the Vue was replaced with a Davis Vantage Pro 2 Plus, the top of the line Davis weather station, and that station is still providing data. I have a new replacement station ready to go in place of the old one, and hopefully I'll have that woking soon.

The Vantage Pro 2 Plus (VP2+) is also equipped with solar and UV sensors as well as a 24 hour fan aspirated radiation shield. The new version of the VP2+ also comes with newer and more accurate temp/humidity sensors and a revised rainbucket that helps with accuracy in windy conditions.

The table to the left shows how frequently the sensors update and their measurement resolution. The Weather-Display software updates the conditions approximately every 4 seconds while the AJAX script checks for updates sent to the web site every 8 seconds. It's about as close to real time as you can get.

The sensors are installed at 1950 feet above sea-level at the following coordinates:
Latitude: 34.45901° (decimal)
Longitude: -84.28172° (decimal)
The sensor suite is located approximately 30 feet from the base station in the house and is mounted 5.0 feet high on a galvanized steel pole. It sits almost in the middle of the backyard above the grass and is at least 30 feet away from any vegetation of equal height.
The anemometer is located 7 feet above the roofline for the most optimal location for wind. As in most personal weather stations, sensor location is always a compromise. CWOP Weather Station Siting, Performance, and Data Quality Guide gives this site a score of 18 out of 30. The chart below shows the ideal locations compared to the actual sensor location:

The original weather computer was a Dell Dimension E510 with 1GB of ram and a 320GB SATA drive running Windows Media Center XP SP3, which was eventually reaplceed with a an Intel NUC. I used a NUC NUC5i5RYK which is an i5 processor, 16GB of ram, and a 250GB SSD drive.
I'm now running a 12th Gen Core i9-12900H (2.50 Ghz) with 32 GB of memory, a 1 TB internal SSD, and (2) 2 TB external drives.

Weather Station Software

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I currently use Weather-Display (WD)for all of the live web site updates.The site uses a combination of 8 second data uploads that are read by an AJAX javascript that runs on the opening web page and updates the "Current Conditions". WD also sends my weather data to Wunderground.com and CWOP (Citizen Weather Observation Program) .
We went live on August 1st 2010 with software from WXMesg.com called Weather Message and it allows us to receive and re-transmit weather watches, warnings, advisories and other weather related messages directly from the EMWIN (Emergency Management Weather Information Network) from the National Weather Service, and that is running on the same computer.

Other Sites Using DaculaWeather Data

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My weather information is quality checked by comparing my data with other reference stations in the region. I am notified should my information drift outside certain parameters so that I can take corrective actions. It also helps to validate my sensor calibrations to insure my information is as accurate as possible. My current quality status can be viewed here Two thumbs up for data quality is the best you can get.

All of our weather data and observations from DaculaWeather.com are also transmitted and shared with these weather agencies and weather information services around the country:

DaculaWeather.com is privately owned and operated and is not affiliated with the City of Dacula or with any official government agency. The use of this site is provided as a public service not only for Dacula, but for anyone seeking information about the weather. While most of the data here comes from official sources, this site should never be used to make any critical weather related decisions.

Weather Data Use Disclaimer
The user assumes the entire risk related to the use of this data. DaculaWeather.com is providing this data "as is", and DaculaWeather.com disclaims any and all warranties, whether express or implied, including (without limitation) any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will DaculaWeather.com be liable to you or to any third party for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special or exemplary damages or lost profit resulting from any use or misuse of this data.