More thoughts on weather

Here are some more responses from interviews we conducted.  The question was “How often do you look at the weather conditions.” Two subject with opposite demographics responded to the weather question.One person, a mother and teacher said that she looks up the weather forecast daily. She prepares her son for the day and need  to know what to wear rain gear, snow boots, etc… She is also a very busy person so the weather condition influences where how she gets around – train or car. When it comes to international weather she looks at the weather where her parents live – Ireland. In 2006 during the Europe heat-wave where it claimed many lives, and a stark reminder of the devastating 2003 Europe heat-wave which killed more than 52,000 people died, she recalled constantly watching the weather and communicating with her elderly parents. It would have been great if she had a visual device which signaled eminent danger of extreme weather conditions, freeing her mind to enjoy other actions in life… I also asked if she thinks age is a factor in the frequency of the weather watch. She said when she was younger she almost never looked at the weather. But now that she is a older and mother she sees the need. In her words.. “I think when we are younger one is more ‘I’ centered and generally do not see beyond our immediate scope. As we get older we tend to think about the world and broaden your scope, including weather related disasters. It’s a sign of maturity.” She mentioned that her father was very curious in the weather patterns, much more than her mother, suggesting that there may be a gender interest with respect to the weather. The next subject was a young person from the west coast. He said the during the Summer and Winter he almost never looks at the weather. he just assumes that it will be really hot or really cold.  he could quicker look out the window first then make a weather conclusion…   His thoughts about weather was more limited because it did not have such an impact as the other person.Those were two extreme cases of demographic, which were reflected in their responses.Here are some weather terminology used to describe severe conditions:From the : National Weather Service (NWS) TerminologySevere Thunderstorm: Wind gusts of 50 knots (58 mph) or greater and/or hail three quarters of an inch in diameter or larger.Damaging Wind: Sustained or gusty surface winds of 60 mph or greater.Tornado: A violent local storm of short duration with high-speed wind rotation about a vortex with a funnel extending from the base of the clouds to the ground.Funnel Cloud: A tornado-type funnel extending downward from the clouds but not touching the ground.Tornado or Severe Thunderstorm Watch: Issued by the National Weather Service when conditions for a tornado or severe thunderstorm are favorable in the named area.Tornado or Severe Thunderstorm Warning: Issued by the NWS when a tornado or severe thunderstorm has been sighted visually or detected by radar. The location, direction, and speed of movement of the storm are provided. Residents of the specified area should take immediate safety precautions.Tornado Warning Issued: When a tornado warning is issued for the Claremore area by the NWS, the public broadcast media or any Tulsa televisions station, or the sounding of the civil defense warning sirens.

Our Meeting

People (including myself) are obsessed with the weather. There is even a Weather Museum ! My group and I met today, to discuss and share our thoughts and findings. We shared the basic notion that knowing the weather of where our loved ones are located, can help us feel connected: Are they outside today? Are they shoveling snow? Etc. We also talked about how knowing the weather forecast can be a form of maturity. Allistar has a friend that is a mother, and knowing the the weather conditions helps her dress her child and herself appropriately. Another topic we discussed was having preconceived notions about an area. When ChoRong went to visit San Francisco, she did not pack long sleeves or a jacket because she was operating under the impression that California is always warm. However, when she got there, she really was cold and had to have a friend bring her fall/winter clothes. (In this instance, checking the weather was not a high priority.) Ben’s Mom checks the weather for natural disasters, and also because her husband travels a lot. My grandmother always checks the weather on the east coast, because she moved from the east coast to the west coast when I was little, and wants to reaffirm that she made the correct decision about moving. (The correct decision weather wise at least. ) I think a little part of her gets excited when I tell her that its freezing outside, while she is enjoying 70 degree weather. My sister checks the weather because she wants to know when to mow the lawn. (She lives in New Jersey, and if you’ve never been there before, grass grows amazingly fast.) Anyway, so she wants to see if there is rain in the forecast. And if so, she will plan around her yardwork duties.

deep thoughts on weather

Weather

There seems to be two camps to weather knowledge:
Forecasting: predicting the future weather
www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/
www.weather.com

and
Transferring: transporting your experience into another space.
www.wittich.nl/EN/applications/conventionalinstruments.htm

With forecasting the primary goal seems to be to maximize bodily comfort.
With transferring the main goal seems to be emotional comfort and recognition.

The method of data connection and the dissemination of that data also play a role in what type of information is available. It depends of course on what sensors are used but also what networks are used.

The main difference in origin of information seems to be between personal collection (weather stations, personal observations) and global collection (satellites). Personal weather stations act as communication systems linking individuals and filtering the weather through personal instance. The satellites on the other hand describe large trends and speak of the weather of nations. The interesting thing is if you look at the map of the personal weather stations
(http://www.wunderground.com/stationmaps/gmap.asp?zip=11237&wmo=99999)
they seem to be dense enough to give the same picture and weather information as a large-scale satellite observation.
(http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgarden/pets/map/11237?
name=northeastuscurrenttemps_large&from=36hour_map_large)
This shows how the act of personlized observations can turn into generalized information patterns without loosing specific information. With an inclusive weather station setup it would be possible not only to get the predictive weather of the west coast but to also feel the ambient conditions that another person is feeling in that particular space. This allows (with a recreation of weather variables in your house) you to link all the weather stations along a particular route and go for a drive up or down the coast without leaving your room. It also allows for the direct connection of weather to other personalized trends and activities. Being in the same place as someone has a large emotional impact in terms of bonding and experience. This might allow for people to hang out with the “right crowd” no matter where they are? Don’t know if that is good or bad.

user research

We interviewed our family members (Mom, Dad, Grandparents) to find why they look at weather. A few things in common we find is
- Parents tend to look at weather more often to prepare their children for different weather conditions.
- People living in areas that have typhoon, hurricanes, or snow storms tend to look at weather more often.
- Mandy’s grand mother looks at weather to remind her how miserable Jersey is and how fortunate she is to live in California right now.
- When traveling, people often look at weather of their destination to help them decide what to pack.
- Chorong’s photographer so he looks at weather to decide if he can get a good shoot or not.
- Parents often look up the weather conditions of cities where their children live at.

Interactive Globe

Globe shape can be a form, which can connect an area weather to another. This is an interactive globe toy in toysrus.

Checking temperature from a distance

I found an interesting thermometer. It detect the object’s surface temberature from a distance, without touching it. (I am sorry it’s in Korean.)

I think this is the technology of the thermometer which is using IR radiation.

Ambient weather devices

*Boring ambient weather devices
http://www.ambientweather.com
http://www.weatherconnect.com
These websites have bunch of boring ambient weather devices. However, we can see different existing technologies such as portable wind, UV, humidity, heat, and temperature instruments.

*Brookstone 5-Day Wireless Weather Forecaster
Here shows how does it work.
Pros:
- No monthly fee. Purchase the device and you’re set. (Unless you want weather from some other city; see below.)
- Put batteries in and forget it. It takes a few hours to first gain its bearings and then you’re all set.
- It knows where you are automatically. Take it with you to California, and it’ll work there too.

Cons:
- It only works in big cities. Make sure you check the coverage map before laying out the cash for it. If you live in the middle of nowhere, you’re likely to be disappointed.
- You have to pay extra if you want it to receive weather data for some city other than your own.
- The device becomes a fancy plastic paperweight if Ambient ever goes out of business.

*Ambient 5-Day Weather Forecaster
*Crystal Weather Station (This design seems interesting)
*In-car XM weather forecast for 2008
*Waking up to the weather in living color

ambient weather gadgets

A review of Ambient’s weather forecasting umbrella.

A cube by the same company that changes color. According to how hot/red or cold/blue it is.

Coffee + weather. Need more joe on gloomy days? It’s a coffee maker that displays weather information.

Some MIT kid was trying to display weather condition in closed spaces. Can’t really see much from the photos. It has a video as well but it’s not that impressive.

Predicting weather

Wikihow’s guide to weather prediction.

Weather feeds from the web

Here are some weather feeds from the web.

Yahoo rss feed.

Weather bug rss feed.

AccuWeather rss feeds and blogs. They also got a video feed as well.