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Nine current weather factors for the New Wilmington area can now be retrieved from the Field Station on the Internet by accessing "Weather Underground" and requesting weather conditions for zip code 16142.  And the basic weather data that appear on ¾¨Ó㴫ý's home page are also from the Field Station's equipment in the Robert Travis Weather Station.

These additions to the Field Station's function and accessibility for College and community became available in 2011 through the combined efforts of Dr. Douglas Armstead, assistant professor of physics, and William Quigley, web developer at ¾¨Ó㴫ý. 

Weather Underground is a commercial real-time weather service that provides weather reports for cities and regions across America and the world on .  Information comes from the National Weather Service, airports and personal weather stations. WU is an alternative to Weather Channel begun in 1982.

Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, WU was founded in 1995 as an offshoot of the University of Michigan's weather database.  The service has grown independent of the University to provide weather details for print sources in addition to its online presence. In 2005, Weather Underground became the weather provider for Associated Press. 

¾¨Ó㴫ý's weather station, named to honor Dr. Robert Travis, professor of biology emeritus, is situated about one mile southeast of downtown New Wilmington at an elevation of 1010 feet above sea level (most of New Wilmington is at 1000 feet).  The system is a solar-powered and wireless VantagePro2 model manufactured by Davis Instruments.  A total of 35 weather parameters are clocked at regular intervals and downloaded to a computer in the Nature Center.  Nine of these parameters are accessed on the Internet by Weather Underground.  These are:  air temperature (as Fahrenheit or Celsius), on-going precipitation, wind speed at 5 meters above ground, wind direction, wind chill, humidity, dew point, barometric pressure and ultraviolet index. 

Five-day weather forecasts, atmospheric conditions of visibility, pollen count and radar maps are added to the WU web page for New Wilmington from the National Weather Service and the nearest airport in New Castle.  Google Earth satellite maps are also accessible for our area through the WU website.

A potentially useful piece of information reported from the Field Station on WU is the Ultraviolet Index.  "Ultraviolet" refers to radiation that is in the wavelength range of 10 to 400 nanometers -- below the visible light that humans see as violet.  The UV Index is an international standard measurement of intensity of the ultraviolet radiation from the sun that reaches the earth.  The Index range of 0 to 16 predicts risk of skin damage -- the higher the index, the greater the risk of exposure.  The UV Index takes into account clouds and other local conditions. 

The Environmental Protection Agency flags an "alert" when the UV Index rises to 6.0 or higher; but even lower values are "time for sunscreen."  A UV Index of 9.0 or 10.0 is a high alert and greater than 11 signifies an extreme risk of skin damage, including cancer.  In summer, particularly, check Weather Underground for 16142 to make wise choices on exposure to the sun.  Sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher is generally recommended. 

The American Cancer Society reports potential damage from ultraviolet radiation in three wave length ranges:  UV-A rays (longest wave UV) cause cells to age and can cause some damage to cells' DNA; they are linked to long-term skin damage such as wrinkles, but are also thought to play a role in skin cancers.  UV-B rays (medium wave UV) can cause direct damage to the DNA and are the rays that primarily cause sunburns; they are also judged to cause most skin cancers. UV-C rays (shortest wave UV) are absorbed by the ozone layer and do not significantly penetrate earth's atmosphere; therefore they are essentially absent in sunlight that reaches the earth.  Unintentional overexposure to UV-C causes skin redness and eye irritation, but does not cause skin cancer.

Although not reported on Weather Underground, instruments in the weather station also measure soil temperatures in increments of 15 cm (about six inches) to a depth of 75 cm and total solar energy reaching the earth in our locality.  Data of solar energy are being accumulated for correlation with the electric power generated daily by the 11 solar panels at the Field Station. 

Weather data of varying degrees of sophistication have been logged with weather instruments at ¾¨Ó㴫ý's Field Station since 1980.  The acquisition of electronic data began in 2001 and further upgraded in 2008.  2011 marks the beginning of online accessibility.

We may not always like the weather that comes to us but we certainly must try to understand it . . .  so we can live with it.

Clarence Harms, Director
Field Station
724-946-6001
harmsc@westminster.edu

¾¨Ó㴫ý sophomore Amber Yanchar giving instruction on weather maps at a recent weather workshop

The VantagePro2 solar-powered, wireless system that collects huge amounts of data

Mike Heasley '84 with archived weather chart records from his days as a student technician at the Field Station

Dr. Douglas Armstead next to a computer screen showing daily spikes of UV radiation