The Weather Underground

Thursday, March 29th 2007, 2:43 pm

By: News On 6

There are a growing number of people contributing to the weather underground. That's a network of home weather stations all connected on the internet. The News On 6â€™s Emory Bryan reports people increasingly seem to want information tailored just to them, and one man has found a way to monitor the weather in his own back yard.

Watching the weather is what Colby Ward has wanted to do his whole life.

"I remember staying up late waiting for the storms to come in, if it was going to be too late, I'd open up the window and wait for that first thunder," said the weather watcher.

Ward's fascination with the weather almost turned into a career, but instead he's become one of the many amateur weather watchers who are now equipped with powerful, almost professional tools.

"I can probably do OK and make a pretty decent forecast just by watching it," Ward said.

Ward has his solar powered weather station in his back yard. It relays information to his weather console by the couch, from there it goes into his computer where he can examine it minute by minute, then he transmits the information, every 2 seconds, to the internet on the weatherunderground.com website.

Wherever he is, with a computer, he can check the conditions in his backyard, and anyone else can too.

"Just to know how much it rained or what's going on, or if there's a good storm, I just want to know," said Ward.

Ward's equipment costs about a $1,000, but models are available for less. He wants to upgrade, but isn't sure his wife would go along, even though she's OK with it so far.

"My wife knew this going in that I was a weather fanatic," said Ward.

Ward thinks more people will get these kind of tools as the technology improves and the costs goes down. For him, it's a hobby that satisfies the curiosity that comes with every cloud.

To view Ward's personal Weather Underground page, click here.

To see a list of Weather Underground personal weather stations in the Tulsa area, click here.

To view a list of personal weather stations you can purchase, click here.