Columbia Weather Systems

Join us in welcoming Rafael, our new Lead Systems Integrator. Rafael has a background in tele-communications, inventory management, and electrical engineering.  He has also served with the U.S. Navy in Iraq as a Gas Turbine Operations/Maintenance technician.  Rafael looks forward to utilizing his technical military training at Columbia Weather. 

Helen Hinds (center, widow of Gene) with members of the Hinds Family who are owners of Columbia Weather Systems: Paul and Julie, James and Nancy, Tom and Judy, Nader and Martha (Hinds) Khoury We’ve made no secret of the fact that Columbia Weather Systems is a family-owned small business. Today we’d like to offer a glimpse into the family. Last week we celebrated the retirement of one of the CWS owners, Paul Hinds, president of Hinds Instruments, from which CWS was spun off in 1997. It was a bit of a history review. In 1971, Hinds International was started by Gene Hinds, joined by his eldest son Paul. In later years, sons James and Tom also joined the company as it grew. Rebranded “Hinds Instruments”, the company narrowed its focus to manufacture two very different scientific instruments – photoelastic modulators and weather stations. Gene retired in 1995 passing ownership of the company to the three sons who were active in the business, along with their spouses. The elde...

Our met sensors aren’t detecting any “pie in the sky” for National Pi Day. But if you want to test your skills, CWS customer Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers the Pi in the Sky Challenge. Give it a try and learn how that magic number is used in rocket science at NASA! https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/nasapidaychallenge

One final quote as we wrap up this series on 5 Reasons Why Incident Command Needs a Weather Station: "As fire service leaders, it is essential that we assure our personnel have the right information , and that it goes to all the right people at exactly the right time  so everyone is empowered to make the right decisions ,"  says Todd LeDuc in a recent Fire Engineering article. Extreme weather, hazmat, wildland, whatever the situation, weather stations can provide meteorological information on-scene and up-to-the-minute to help you make the right decisions.

With their ability to improve situational awareness, DRONES are becoming increasingly valuable to incident response. Also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), drones are used for package delivery such as defibrillators, search and rescue, and communications. During Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath in 2017, drones were deployed to assess the extent of damage, presence of hazardous materials, and search for survivors. Last month, two teens stranded off the coast of Australia were rescued by a drone, which was able to launch a self-inflating raft into the water in under two minutes. Fire Chief Jonathan McMahan of College Station, TX reported a recent incident: “Fast moving urban interface wildland fire in south College Station yesterday … 10 exposed houses protected, and fire stopped close to an apartment complex. 2 fire department drones in the air providing immediate situational awareness to the incident command team.”* Weather conditions are a critical factor in drone oper...