Of wind and Microweather

Interesting day on Saturday. Cracked windshield on my car from something that fell off the roof (no other cars hurt, just mine!) and lost shingles on the roof. The insurance company is sending out an estimator to look at the damage. It got me thinking about automation though. I did 90% of the reporting process online before I had to talk to a person. I also was impressed by the reality of wind. My weather station recorded a high wind gust of 54 mph. That isn’t huge, but my wind gauge is below tree level on my deck. There is no way that it can record the maximum wind gusts.

I did, using the Micro-weather concept (many shared weather stations) to view incoming wind gusts. Some of the upwind stations report 60 and 65 mph gusts. It makes me wonder just how far away my missing roof shingles traveled. It also made me incredibly glad that we don’t have the boat in the water right now. That kind of bumping isn’t good for the finish on the boat. Plus I would have been a nervous wreck. Worried about the boat and the house!

An interesting storm and of course, my proof that Micro-weather is valuable. First, because I knew the storm was pretty severe. Second, because I knew what the temperature was at my house, and what the wind was at my house. Finally, because I am a huge weather geek! Now, I have to spend a day at the house waiting for the adjustor to arrive. If it weren’t windy right now, I would fly the drone up to take pictures of the damage to give to the Adjustor. But, flying above the house means that the drone gets the full force of the wind, much harder to control when it is 10-12 mph.