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Temperature Spike - Dodgy Data or normal activity

Posted: Mon 30 Jan 2012 9:16 pm
by benjo132
Hi,
I have just had my weather station (a Smart Weather WH2080) setup for a few days and am using Cumulus to log all of the data. Today the temperature has been pretty steady between 3 and 4 degrees once the sun got up. Between 1.30 and 2pm though the temperature rose from around 3.5 up to 8 degrees where it fluctuated around for a good hour before dropping back to 3 degrees (I have attached an image of the chart).

As I am knew to this and this is a big spike in the temperature i am dubious to whether or not this is accurate and could realistically happen or if there is some fault with the thermometer. Any thoughts / advice would be appreciated.

I wasn't home at the time so I cant give any information on whether or not the sun was suddenly blazing however the humidity also dropped a lot during the same time period (also attached).

Thanks,

Ben

Re: Temperature Spike - Dodgy Data or normal activity

Posted: Mon 30 Jan 2012 10:04 pm
by mcrossley
That looks like the remote temperature sensor is mounted somewhere the sun can shine directly on it, or it is mounted above a fence panel etc that was heated by the sun. It looks like it is working properly (a spike will appear as a very sudden momentary increase in temperature) but the siting could be better? The relative humidity will typically drop as the temperature increases - warmer air can hold more moisture than cooler air.

Re: Temperature Spike - Dodgy Data or normal activity

Posted: Tue 31 Jan 2012 2:25 am
by Matt.j5b
I got a similar thing when I had mine exposed to heat, it would be alright overnight but once it warmed during the day, it would be much higher than normal before settling down later in the day. I moved it away from heat and it is all good :)

Re: Temperature Spike - Dodgy Data or normal activity

Posted: Tue 31 Jan 2012 8:25 am
by benjo132
It is currently about 70cm away from a large fence so I guess that could be reflecting some heat back. I am going to be moving it anyway as soon as someone comes round with a big ladder so hopefully that will solve the problems!

Thanks for the advice,

Ben