Welcome to Adam's Salisbury Plains weather pages
Current weather and lightning data can be found under their respective tabs above. The live WeatherCam is also on the current weather page. Otherwise, feel free to browse around and see what else you can find!
Where is Salisbury Plains?
There are a few Salisbury Plains around the world, but this one is located in Australia in the north-east corner of the state of NSW. You can find it on Google Maps here. Local lore has it that the area was named after the more famous plains of Wiltshire in the south of England, presumably because of the barren, treeless and windswept nature of the place.
Salisbury Plains is situated on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. Many of the towns and villages on the tablelands are over 1000metres in altitude. We experience a summer dominated rainfall pattern, with most of that rain falling as part of storms. Storms can occur all year round, but are seen mainly in Spring and Summer. Our winters can be cold and frosty, with the occasional snowfall. Frosts can be a feature of the autumn - winter - spring period, with minus eights and nine centigrade being quite common. Our predominant winds are from the west, however we often have cooling easterlies in summer. Northerly winds can bring rain, but in summer can serve to dry the landscape.
Why a weather station?
I live on and run a merino sheep farm on the plains. Sheep can be sensitive little things, especially just after they are shorn! So it seemed logical to have a means of determining just how miserable the weather is without having to venture out into it myself. A wireless remote weather station seemed to fit the bill. You can follow the link under 'How it Works' if you want to see more detail on the gadgetry. It also makes sense to be able to track things like soil moisture and temperature when it comes to sowing crops and pastures. So the station is essentially a tool for the working farm that got slightly out of hand.
Are the plains really that miserable?
Well, I don't think it is too bad here! The summers are very pleasant (not too hot), although the dead of winter can be a bit ordinary. While it can be cold and frosty in winter, we often have glorious sunny winter days. It is probably best if you check out the historical data for yourself and make up your own mind!
Projects in the Pipeline (Updated February 2009)
Observant weathercam watchers will have noticed that the image quality has improved markedly of late. I have finally connected an Olympus digital camera to operate as a webcam, and it has now replaced the Logitech QuickCam. While it has had a few reliability issues, it seems to stay up most of the time. I'll write up a story under How it Works soon.
I have yet to fit the extra sensors for the weather station (for soil moisture). I was waiting until I move the weather station from its 'temporary' home to a more suitable site higher on the ridge and away from any sheltering trees. Because this involves raising the anemometer to a height a little closer to the regulation 9 metres, I've been holding off until I can devise a stable but unobtrusive tower structure for it. Soon!
