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How’s the weather where you are?

Small talk about the weather will be given new meaning when Stoke Gabriel’s new automatic weather station is officially opened this week. Richard Tully, chair of Stoke Gabriel Parish Council, will officially open the computerised weather station this Friday (October 6). 

Attached to the roof of The River Shack on the edge of the Mill Pool, the weather station is in a prime position to record current weather conditions, said Dr Neil Millward whose idea it was.  Solar powered sensors record rainfall levels, relative humidity, wind direction and speed, temperature and barometric pressure.  The information is uploaded every five minutes onto a webpage.  Anyone who has an interest in the weather, whether a sailor, gardener, walker, student, or just for the small talk, can now log on and find out about the weather in Stoke Gabriel.   

Neil first had the idea for a weather station when he and some friends got together to sail model yachts on the Mill Pool and wanted to know if the wind conditions were right.  Neil said he had come across someone who had their own weather station a couple of years before and it had occurred to him: “If it was of interest to me, then others might be interested too.”

When an enthusiastic friend committed £200 straight away to the idea, Neil decided to find out if other organisations were interested too.  Stoke Gabriel Boating Association, the parish council and the primary school were all keen and Friend Computers Ltd based in Paignton, donated some of the computer equipment.  Owners of The River Shack, Tim Dyer and Lexi Showell, agreed to have the computer and screen in the café and Perry Lugg, the freeholder, agreed to have the instruments on the roof.  “Raising the funds and getting help from various people have been rewarding activities and show what a high level of community spirit there is in Stoke Gabriel,” said Neil.

 Although the weather station cannot forecast the weather like the huge Met Office computers: “It has the advantage of being absolutely local,” said Neil.  The Met Office might forecast widespread frost or heavy rain but the detailed information from the weather station would confirm whether or not these had occurred in the village. “It could be of real interest to gardeners,” said Neil.

 Neil’s involvement in the weather station won’t stop here though. The next idea is to add an instrument which would measure UV radiation and be useful to people who are concerned about the strength of the sun’s rays.