Columbia Weather Systems

All weather stations manufactured by Columbia Weather Systems can now be integrated into PROFIBUS®, PROFINET® and LonWorks® networks. Interoperability is critical in many applications where weather monitoring is one component of a large automation control system such as process control, building or industrial automation, Adding these popular communication options allows managers invested with these systems to optimize their use of meteorological data for environmental monitoring and device control.

Free weather curriculum for grades K-12 is available online thanks to meteorologist Jim Witt. The WeatherWiz program teaches students to use freely available information to make forecasts like professional meteorologists. This week, Witt will receive a special award from the American Meteorological Society: "For innovative leadership in teaching high school meteorology, mentoring, and inspiring his students to accomplishments in the meteorological community and in life." Offering long-range forecasting services, Witt is dedicated to education and charity. Each year he offers a Hudson Valley Weather Calendar which has raised over $2 million for the Hope for Youth Foundation. Congratulations to Jim Witt and the other AMS Award Recipients! Photo from the 2011 Hudson Valley Weather Calendar

We are now shipping the new Color Weather Display with no price increase over the previous monochrome Weather Display. The Color Weather Display Console displays weather data from your CWS weather station and performs complex computations to display calculated parameters such as wind chill and heat index. The new console contains an industrial-grade, 7-inch WVGA LCD touchscreen panel and is powered by a Single Board Computer with a 200MHz ARM9 CPU. A singular advantage is the addition of Ethernet connectivity. The Weather Display can connect directly to a weather station with the serial port or connect to a Weather MicroServer over a network utilizing an existing Ethernet infrastructure - no extra wiring. The MicroServer configuration also allows for data from one weather station to be monitored from multiple display consoles at various locations. The main viewing screen can be fa...

Gresham Fire and Emergency Services, Oregon's Region 3 Hazmat Team, utilizes a unique dual-mount option from Columbia Weather Systems. Their weather station can be used for both vehicle-mount and portable weather station configurations. On a dual-mount weather monitoring system, mounting hardware is installed permanently on a vehicle and the portable mounting system is stowed. The portable installation includes a tripod mast as well as a weatherproof enclosure with battery pack and transceivers. Weather sensors are easily mounted to either mast depending on the situation. Quick-cable connectors provide sensitive electronic wiring with maximum protection from harsh environmental elements as well as easy installation of the weather station sensor array. For monitoring weather parameters, Gresham uses a Weather Display console mounted inside the vehicle as well as WeatherMaster Software ...

Four Orion LX Weather Stations are used for "isolated weather monitoring for security equipment" at Test Site C-3 of the 46th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Eglin AFB is the premier test and evaluation center for Air Force air delivered weapons, navigation/guidance systems and Command and Control systems. Orion LX Weather Stations utilize the all-in-one sensor head with ultrasonic wind speed and direction, impact rainfall, temperature, humidity and barometric pressure in conjunction with the Weather MicroServer . The Weather MicroServer offers XML, FTP and common industrial interfaces.

Under the hood of LumenHAUS, Virginia Tech's winning entry in the Solar Decathlon Europe. The Orion sensor head is mounted on a tower shown at right. Virginia Tech uses the 4-20 mA option to connect the weather station to a PLC (programmable logic controller). Robert Schubert, Associate Dean of Research, College of Architecture and Urban Studies, reports that "weather station information is used for monitoring outside conditions, as well as taking reactive and anticipatory actions." Such actions might include closing shades and insulating panels based on temperature and/or wind conditions. LumenHAUS is on display at the GreenBuild Convention, Millenium Park in Chicago November 17 - 20. See more pictures on Flickr or Facebook For more information: Orion 420 Weather Station LumenHAUS

Our local Oregon Chapter of the American Meteorological Society is the largest non-student chapter with over 125 members. A record crowd turned out for the annual October Winter Weather predictions -- 350 capacity in the OMSI Auditorium with overflow in the foyer. View the Presentations

Good news for US federal government agencies! We have successfully renewed our Government Services Administration (GSA) contract. Our first Capricorn weather station was awarded a GSA contract about 20 years ago. Contracts are reviewed every five years. This recent contract modification includes updating our GSA products to include all our latest weather stations and accessories such as the Magellan Weather Station ™ with internal compass, the Orion 420 Weather Station ™ with 4-20 mA output, and the Internet-ready Weather MicroServer ™. GSA Contract Number: GS-07F-5454R

In case you've been wondering, results of the Solar Decathlon Europe are in and "lumenHAUS" won! In the photo, the team celebrates their victory with trophy in hand. Congratulations! (Scroll down for more details on the entry.) Photo courtesy of SDEurope.