Skyway Sensor readings

A couple of you guys made some phone calls/emails and helped to speed up the recovery of the SW meter recently. It is now back up.
In the past couple of days we have had some pretty decent wind in the mornings that taper off after about 10 am. Then the winds pick back up as the land cools (last night right at 6:45 it went straight to about 18 to 22 mph from literally 6 mph in about ten minutes). That's a good scenario for trying to figure out how well the sensor is doing its job.

I was out there both mornings and last night and gave a little looksy at the wind graphs from the SW sensor to try to calibrate the sensor readings to what I experienced at the riding spot. This is my guess at how the sensor is working. (the sensor reads mph, not knots)

Alright, long story short. Whatever the SW sensor reads when E or ENE, just subtract 4 to 5 mph and that's what it is blowing where we ride.
That's actually pretty good. Last season, it was common to get a reading of 17 and only have 8 or 9 at the riding spot.

Hopefully the sensor is consistent, but always just reads a little high. That'd be awesome

The SW meter has historically always been more accurate, in terms of representing the wind at our riding spot, with winds with more East in them. In other words, when it's NNE or NE, the SW sensor is at "it's worst", tending to read way high. We've had winds with more East lately, so we will see in the future how the sensor fares with NNE and NE winds.

Anyway, so far so good. Imo, if the sensor is saying 17, it's probably 13 or so and might be worth the drive. If it's saying 17 to 23, it's definitely worth it. Just remember, don't bother in the morning (most days, not all) if you are leaving your house past 8 am, cuz it commonly dies by 9:30.

Hope that helped one person (two would be even better)

[CrazyJay]

Scott, where r u seeing the skyway meter reading?
not here: http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/por...tbscreen.shtml

[CrazyJay]

Oh my bad.. It looks like the SKYWAY is now labeled C-CUT.

Oh. That's a good point. I left out what I was using to get the numbers... (duh).

I have been using Imightsurf. It lists the data in mph. Thanks Jayson, (nice editing skillz).

http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwher...1&timeoffset=0

http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwher...149&siteID=812

[CrazyJay]

BTW.. if you are looking at IKitesurf the readings for the Skyway are usually 8-10 higher than actual at the frontside. This is only on E, NE, or SE wind.
If you are looking at PORTS:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/por...tbscreen.shtml
Then E, NE or SE wind is usually 5-6 higher than actual.

SW, W, and NW winds are pretty accurate on PORTS.

This site
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/obhistory/KSPG.html

is currently down. It is Albert Whitted. I have found that it is usually dead on for Lassing. Also, I usually add about 15% to whatever value and it's a pretty good approximation of what's happening at the SW from NNE to SE.

Once it's up and running again (I hope), looking at both it and the SW sensor should give us a very good indication of what is a goin' on

(Bayflite showed me this sensor)

Originally Posted by CrazyJay

BTW.. if you are looking at IKitesurf the readings for the Skyway are usually 8-10 higher than actual at the frontside. This is only on E, NE, or SE wind.
If you are looking at PORTS:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/por...tbscreen.shtml
Then E, NE or SE wind is usually 5-6 higher than actual.

SW, W, and NW winds are pretty accurate on PORTS.

Yep.