More About Setting up Your Weather Station

Where you put your weather station is important. If you choose carefully you will get the best data you can. Not all weather stations can be placed in the perfect situation but you can do the best possible. If there are some bad points about your weather station site, let people know when you exchange data.
You location may be chosen so that the weather instruments will be safe.

You will also need to put your weather vane somewhere where it can show the wind direction correctly. This needs to be as high up as possible, but you need to be able to see which way it is pointing. It also needs to be as far away from any obstacles as possible. Once again you can only do the best you can. When you put up your weather vane you will need to use a compass to decide where the north arm should point.

When you have finished reading about this you may want to return to the Setting up Your Weather Station page or the Basic Apparatus page. To see what sorts of weather boxes you can use look on the Weather Boxes page.

A Home-made Weather Station

See the links section to find out how to make a variety of weather stations. The video on the right shows an easy-to make weather box. It will just house one thermometer. This one is a Six's thermometer. Find out more about these on the Six's Thermometers page. These give good value as you get three readings; current, maximum and minimum temperatures.

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Choosing Where to Put your Stevenson Screen or Weather Box

Look at these plan views and see what the good and bad points are. All of the locations have short grass, which is correct for taking weather readings.


- this is a fairly ideal location - make sure that the door opens to the north - you may want to put the rain gauge more in the centre of the remaining space.	- these walls can store heat from the sun and later on can give off the heat. - if you had to use it, put the weather station further away from the walls. - you would need to put the rain gauge further away from the walls.

because it is next to a pond this station might give higher humidity readings. - there are often plants round a pool, not short grass - put the weather station in the middle of the grassy space.	- too close to the tree - it will be too shaded - the tree will be like an umbrella to the rain gauge - in this area the instruments would be best in the middle of large space toward the bottom left-hand corner

-- if you have to put your weather station on a wall, do not put it on a south facing wall. - when this weather station is opened the sun can shine on the instruments.	- this site is too crowded with bushes - if you had to use this site, put the weather station in the middle -explain about your rather poor site if you exchange data

Choosing Where to Put your Weather Vane

Look at these pictures and see what the good and bad points are.


- too close to the wall - it will show the wrong direction - it is rather low down	- too close to the building - it is not really high enough to show the direction that the wind is coming from

- the tree and the bush will stop some winds from reaching the weather vane. - this is rather low	- having the weather vane above everything will mean that nothing will affect the wind direction. - it will need to be a large weather vane so that it can be read easily

- this weather vane is a little taller which is good - the tree will shelter the weather vane and stop some winds from blowing on it	- this is a fairly ideal location as nothing is stopping the wind or changing the direction of the wind - it is a little low. Perhaps having it higher might stop anybody from interfering with it