The weather station in that German town wasn’t just a one-man job. But what’s exactly the difference between a personal weather station (PWS) and a weather station that is run by the national weather organization of your country? The Types of Weather Stations While installing a personal weather station, compromises are going to have to be made. It isn’t easy for individuals to abide by all these standards. There also should be no obstructions in the near vicinity of the station. The thermometer should be in the shade, still well-ventilated. The anemometers (for measuring wind) for example should be placed 10m above ground level, while temperature and humidity sensors should be placed 2m above ground level. All professional weather stations need to abide by these standards.

The organization defined a set of standards for installing weather instruments. The WMO is a United Nations organization to encourage and organizes international cooperation on the grounds of weather, climate and hydrology. In 1950, the world meteorological organization (WMO) started operations. Until the mid-20th century, most countries and weather organizations had their standards and practices regarding the installation of their weather stations. Some weather stations also measured wind speed and wind direction and other weather-related parameters. These stations consisted of devices to measure temperature, air pressure, humidity and precipitation. Over the following centuries, many new weather stations were constructed. The measurements of the weather instruments were carefully noted down, even in the middle of the night. It is the oldest mountain-top weather station and has one of the oldest continuous meteorological datasets.īefore the era of computers and digitalization, all data must be collected manually at fixed times. The weather station opened in 1781 and has had a continuous dataset of the weather since 1781.

One of the first weather stations is deemed the weather station on the top of the Hohenpeißenberg mountain in the German town with the same name. This combination of weather instruments is what we call a weather station. Since the mid-19th century, these instruments have been used to measure various weather data. Different weather instruments have been around for a couple of centuries.

Wunderground personal weather station