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I am trying to place my outdoor thermometer in just the right spot to get as accurate a reading as possible. Can you recommend the height off the ground, and any other specifications that will help me get the most accurate reading?
Thank you,
Carolyn J. Magna, UT
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Does the sun effect the temperature reading when the gage is located in the sunshine.
My Satellite weather gage is locates in the sunshine and temperature reading is always different from other local gages, by several degrees while the sun is shinning upon it
James T.
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It seems like a lot of people got weather stations for the holidays, we've gotten in a lot of questions about them.
The standard height for a thermometer is 5 feet + or - 1 foot above the ground. You don't want the thermometer right on the ground since it will often be too cold or too warm there. You also do not want to place your therometer in the sun, that is going to skew the data. Temperature sensors should be in a shady place and kept dry. Ideally it should be in a white slatted box too. But if you can't do that, then hang it in a dry area that is north facing. You need a lot of shade too since the sun angle is going to change each season.
If your temperature gauge is in the sun, the data will not be correct. For example, think about those bank sign thermometers you see in the sunshine during the summer that are always reading way too high readings like over 100 all the time! Those aren't correct, the gauge should be in the shade and not near a building or pavement which can give off heat.
If you place the thermometer in the sun you're getting the temperature of the instrument itself and not the air around it. We also need to make sure that the temperature you take (if you read a temperature of 30 degrees) is the same everywhere so we need all sensors to be in a shady place.
Answered by KSL Meteorologist Dina Freedman.
