Weather Sensors for Charlotte Harbor
Punta Gorda Boaters Alliance, in collaboration with Peace River Sail and Power Squadron, is working to establish a network of weather sensors on the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor to provide area boaters with near real-time wind, temperature and pressure reports.
While there are a few weather reports available around Peace River and Charlotte Harbor, none of the readings are from on the water. Access to some data requires paid membership.
<< Sailflow, by WeatherFlow Inc., data sensors
“This project will provide free access to current and archived weather data to the public,” says project coordinator Ron Jones.
The initial proposal is to install a weather sensor on Peace River Marker 4.
Punta Gorda Boaters Alliance is coordinating with U.S. Coast Guard officials to obtain permission to mount the equipment on the Aid to Navigation. If approved, the data would be transmitted from the sensors to a receiving station located in the Learn 2 Sail facilities at Bayfront Center.
The data would then be distributed via Internet to web pages where near real-time information could be viewed on computers and mobile devices.
SW FL MADIS data points in SW FL
In addition to benefiting area boaters, this effort will feed into the National Weather Service MADIS (Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System) project and provide another data point for forecast models to use to improve area forecasts and warnings.