This past Sunday (January 12th, 2020) we got the year off to a fine start with another Holfuy weather station installation, this time at Little Black. After about a year and half of working with the park rangers there (well done Jeff Brown!) we agreed on a spot, set up a date, and rallied the troops.
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So you found the SDHGPA weather station on El Cajon mountain, eh? Maybe you hiked out there and saw the QR code link on the mast*. Maybe you heard about it from a fellow paraglider or hang glider pilot. Perhaps you’re a supporter of the San Diego River Park Foundation, or a biologist over at the US Forest Service. However you found it, there’s a pretty rad story behind how it got there, who the players were, and just how much collaborated effort and expense we went to in order to plant that mast and gather weather data.
Like any good story, this one starts in a few different places.
Many of us who fly the San Diego area could use a weather station at "The Cap". The Cap sticks up higher into the airflow than launch at Blossom, and a weather station there would help us make better calls on XC days as well as safety calls on those North-y days. Here's what you can do to help make an El Cap Weather Station a reality...  The SDHGPA Laguna WX Station has been having issues and may be reporting incorrect or sporadic data for the next few weeks as we pull it down for maintenance, install new firmware and testing back in town. Will put out a notice when it is back up. 
Data from the Laguna station is live and is working well
About the SDHGPA Laguna Weather Station
The Weather Station data can be viewed in several ways:
Both the Palomar and Horse Weather Stations withstood the strong sustained winds all week Dec 4th through the 9th. This is the 1st time the stations have displayed magenta, beyond red, wind speed shadings.  Palomar 5 day graph Dec 3rd - 8th (1hr Average with peak) Here are some data snapshots from the Week. The above Palomar graph represents 1 hour average base wind with peak gust. You know the wind was strong from the reported 47.7 mph 1hr averaged base wind on the 7th at 10:30am. The Palomar Station reported 50.8 mph Base Wind (15 min average) with gusts to 69.4 mph at 10:18 am on 12-7-17. The Horse Station reported 39.7 mph Base Wind (15 min average) then gusts to 60.8 mph 15 min later at 8:26 am on 12-7-17.  Palomar max reported Base Wind 50.8 & Gusting to 69.4 (15 min Average) (1 day graph zoom on 12-7-17).  Horse max reported Base Wind 39.7 & Gusting to 60.8 (15 min Average) (1 day graph zoom on 12-7-17). Note that some of the variation between the two stations is due to placement locations and less than ideal locations for reading NE winds due to being in the lee and rotor conditions. Although the sensors are different, the wind speeds were well within the operating specifications for the sensors.
Data Sheet for the Palomar LCJ CV7 Ultrasonic Wind Sensor Data Sheet for the Horse Davis 6410 Anemometer Wind Sensor
The 2nd SDHGPA weather station of three that we have have planned this year was installed today at Horse Launch and is up and running!
A big thank you to the efforts of Jeff Brown, David Whitehall, & Bob Barry for the Station installation!
They fortified the old windsock mast foundation out on the front cliff line in front of launch. Then tied in the weather station mast and grounding rods to protect the station from lightning strikes.
Data from the Palomar Launch station is live and is working well!
About the SDHGPA Horse Weather Station
The Weather Station data can be viewed in several ways:
The next weather station to be installed this year is planed for a Laguna install mid November.
Palomar Launch Wind values are reporting correctly again!!! Thanks to the efforts of many, the Palomar WX station mast has been rebuilt out of metal and planted deeper.
Big thank you to Chris Cote, Bob Barry, and Jeff Brown for the primary pre work & coordination efforts along with all the crew that helped get the station back to standing tall!
Wind values are under reporting until repairs can be made Due to record setting high heat and strong NE wings this past few weeks, The Palomar Weather Station mast was bent and up rooted. The mast is sitting at a 45 degree angle and wind values are under reporting as a result reading due to the station mast being at a from strong NE winds and high heat. Repairs will be made in the next few weeks. Wind direction is representative of true direction.
We will call a work party for the Palomar Launch in the next few weeks to work on the weather station & finish mowing areas of launch & the LZs. Learning along the way. . . Will be planting the mast deeper and going to a metal mast as we were planning for the next installations. Big thank you to Chris Cote and Wild Bill Davis for volunteering to do the pre work-party mast metal work.
Palomar Launch Weather Station Stands Tall Dressed in Blue 
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