This weekend, after a long search of all the hardware stores, I finally found a min/max thermometer. I don't know why it was so difficult to find one, other than perhaps there are few of us left that want an honest-to-god old-fashioned thermometer rather than a fancy digital one. I prefer to avoid gadgets that need batteries if possible.
When we lived out on the land, I kept weather records because it was fun and because they are useful. It was shocking to review them at the end of the hot summer and see that we had over 50 days that had been at least 100 degrees. In two and a half years, our record high was 117 degrees, on a day when Tucson was a couple degrees cooler. This was surprising considering we were higher in elevation that Tucson.
We also got cooler temperatures than expected in the winter, perhaps because we were just a mile or so up the bank from a river where the colder air settled. Our record low was 12 degrees and we spent many nights in the RV bundled up and huddled together sleeping when the inside temperature dropped to the low 40s. The oddest, and most inconvenient, weather trend we noticed was a 35% higher chance of rain on weekends than weekdays. This was just one of several factors that slowed our homesteading plans down.
I don't know what happened to the min/max thermometer we had when we lived there, but I'm glad to have one again finally. We put it outside yesterday evening so that we could start keeping records here. We have had some inkling of the outside temperature from a digital inside/outside thermometer I picked up on sale months ago. It was originally used in the unsuccessful fridge/freezer conversion so that we could maintain the right temperature in the fridge. When I finally accepted that the appliance was not working as hoped, I was left with the thermometer. We put it outside and have noted the cold winter temperatures with interest.
There's just one problem. When I arose this morning, the digital thermometer read 20 degrees out. The new min/max thermometer read a current (and low) temperature of 25 degrees. That's a pretty big difference and I'm not sure which one to believe. They are located very close to each other so conditions are pretty similar. I do have one other standard thermometer that I suppose I could put outside to give yet a third reading, but I'd like to have just one that I know is reading the correct temperature!
On another weather note, our inch and a half of snow on the ground and then later snow flurries yesterday melted down to .3" of precipitation in the small glass tube rain gauge. I'd prefer to have one of the larger metal ones that is probably more accurate but I haven't been able to find one of those locally either.
Getting back to the point of keeping weather records, they are very useful for gardeners, although obviously there are annual variations. And of course, we must also keep in mind that climate change means even more variation and not just towards warmer temperatures. More extreme and severe weather may be on all of our horizons. My weather records will be useful but they will not give a predictable and reliable dates for the first early frost or latest hard freeze anymore. It will be up to us to stay on top of day to day weather and protect our garden and adapt our gardening methods (and timing) as necessary.
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8 comments:
You can always do a quick calibration with either boiling water or water with a plethora of ice cubes in it - even if it's not exactly right at 100 C (212 F?) or 0 C (32 F), it should tell you quick enough which one is out.
In my experience, low batteries will often cause incorrect temperature readings, so I'm betting it's the battery operated one that is out. If they are both battery operated, all bets are off :)
I need to get in the habit of weather-tracking. My future garden may thank me for it.
I hope I can find a battery-free thermometer, too. I find those more complicated than the "old fashioned" ones. Reminds me that we tried to find a range/oven with minimal to zero digital controls--practically impossible! What is this world coming to?
I've looked everywhere (except your hardware store) for an analog non-mercury min/max thermometer.
What brand is you min/max thermometer?
Records are great. I take daily notes in the Lee Valley garden journal and also take a picture everyday that I'm home out the front door. It shows when the fruit trees bloom, when the grass turns green, when the snow comes & goes. Now that I have years of both of these it's starting to be more interesting.
K - ah, I'll try putting a new battery in the one and see what happens.
Desert Lean-to - low tech is definitely not the popular choice anymore. Even my cell phone has waaaay more bells & whistles than I want, but it came free with my service so I took it.
Stranger with no name (aka Anonymous) - I don't know that mine is non-mercury. The package does not say one way or another. The brand is Taylor and it is available on their website.
I like the idea of the daily photo!
Well, the trial is over and I'm in the process of catching up on the 599 blog posts waiting for me. I, too, prefer the old-fashioned thermometer to a digital and they are very hard to find, anymore.... lucky you. Come visit when you can...
Thanks for the pics the other day of the snow in the desert. How pretty!
Why is it so hard to find thermometers that give tthe right temperature for outside anyway?
I have two and they're really not within 5 degrees ever. They do get within ten degrees but why can't they get it really right?
shamba
I also bet it's the digital that's off; they're notorious. However, ordinary max-mins are also pretty bad. The main problem I have is that when the temp backs away from the max or min, and the bar is supposed to stay at the max or min until you read it and reset it, I've found the retreating column actually "pulls" the marker bar with it a few degrees.
The other morning I went out and physically saw it reading -3F. I didn't reset anything, just looked. When I checked later in the morning, it appeared that the low had been 1 degree above -- the column had pulled the bar 4 degrees before releasing it! One partial solution to this is to mount the thermometer horizontally or at least partially so. The official thermometers the weather service uses are individual ones, one for max (which mounts horizontally) and one for min (which mounts almost horizontally, at a slight angle -- I forget why).
Oh, also, call the local weather service office and tell them you'd like to be a weather observer or spotter -- they have a few hour class each year, you get trained to call in unusual observations, and then you get a free rain gauge!
Sue
Western Edge of the Great Basin
You can tell if the thermometer has mercury by looking at the liquid. Silver grey - mercury. Red or blue - alcohol.
No need for me to tell you why mercury is a bad idea, I hope.
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