Poll: What Time(s) Do You Reset/record Your Thermometer Readings

[A Winter's Tale]

I'd like to get the most accurate daily temperature readings as I can but I have a problem with times. i.e Minimum Temperatures between 6PM and 9AM are tricky to judge on which actual date the minimum temperature was recorded. Instead of getting data for a specific date, do you for minumum temperatures use two dates i.e Night 17th/18th October. My technique is:

Record Max/Min Temps between 8am and 6pm during one day and to then record max/min temps between 6pm and 8am to get an accurate idea of the min temp of that night but I don't know what I would do if the max temp was during the night and the min temp was during the day,

I would like to hear your views.

[Isolated Frost]

Shouldn't you be in school?

[A Winter's Tale]

Shouldn't you be in school?

I'm on my October Hols.

[Isolated Frost]

I'm on my October Hols.

Ah lucky Scot! Well I have a ws but when I had t-meter it would be 9am.

[gottolovethisweather]

Ditto.

I am also, lucky enough to own an AWS but previously, I made observing to Met Standard timings, i.e. 9am to 9pm or even 9am to 6pm. In the event of an increasing temperature overnight, see if you can possibly track the temperature somehow and see what was being reported at 0:01am.

This can often be a topic of hot debate soothers may well have a differing opinion.

Cheers

gottolovethisweather

[Aaron]

12am.. less confusing that way

[Dorsetbred]

Running a 24 cycle so it resets 9am

[Backtrack]

Shouldn't you be in school?

Shouldn't you of been?

On topic: I have a weather station, it does that mallarky for me.

[Isolated Frost]

Shouldn't you of been?

On topic: I have a weather station, it does that mallarky for me.

Haha alas - smartphones at lunch

[Snowstorm1]

Haha alas - smartphones at lunch

Lunch at 2:13?!

[Isolated Frost]

Lunch at 2:13?!

Aye - timetable was screwed up with cross country and that today.

[Snowstorm1]

Aye - timetable was screwed up with cross country and that today.

Ah right Anyways Id say 9am and 9pm but Ive got a weather station which is fine so I dont have to do it

[Backtrack]

Haha alas - smartphones at lunch

:lol:

I like to have my lunch early.

[johnholmes]

There is no need to get hung up on this. So long as you do it the same time each day it is okay. Yes mother nature at times tips things upside down and we get the highest temperature overnight and the lowest during the day etc but, if you have at least a max and min thermometer or better still an auto station that shows temperatures and time then its not a problem. Just enjoy recording the weather that is what its about.

[reef]

I use midnight-midnight. Its not the official way to do it, but Im at a loss why the 9am-9am system works as it does.

I believe the official way is to take readings at 9am and the maximum temperature goes to the previous day and the minimum to the current. As Im using an AWS this would be extremely difficult to do, not to mention Id have to go back through 30 years of records! You also get anomolies where it could be below freezing all of one day but rise to 5C by 9am which complicates matters.

I did run a trial for a month comparing the midnight-midnight and 9am-9am systems and found very little difference in mean temperatures.

[Richie V]

All my readings are Midnight to Midnight.

[johnholmes]

I use midnight-midnight. Its not the official way to do it, but Im at a loss why the 9am-9am system works as it does.

I believe the official way is to take readings at 9am and the maximum temperature goes to the previous day and the minimum to the current. As Im using an AWS this would be extremely difficult to do, not to mention Id have to go back through 30 years of records! You also get anomolies where it could be below freezing all of one day but rise to 5C by 9am which complicates matters.

I did run a trial for a month comparing the midnight-midnight and 9am-9am systems and found very little difference in mean temperatures.

the old system, by that I suppose we mean the 09Z-09Z, was, I think, started as it was both suitable for part time observers with equipment up to Met O standards, and also because other than the occasional oddity as highlighted by Reef above, 90+% of readings at 0900z and 2100z will cover the correct max and min values. Further to make sure they were allocated to the correct 'day' then there is another data line for observers to fill in that covers the possible max and min occurring in the 'wrong' day, thus enabling the data to be correct. If that makes sense. Again TM will explain this far better than my old brain allows.

I'm not sure about all auto stations but certainly the Davis gives the time of every reading so it is possible where something looks a touch odd to check it out and adjust if its necessary for 09-09z data filing.

Edited October 18, 2011 by johnholmes