Nearcast Wind (NC Wind) Follow

Nearcast™ Wind is a derived data parameter provided by Tempest, powered by Nearcast™ Technology. Nearcast™ Wind is an estimate of the average wind and wind gust at a weather station’s location at a height above large surrounding obstructions (e.g., buildings, trees, houses).

The Nearcast™ Wind value is derived from thousands of wind measurements as recorded by the installed weather station as well as surface roughness near the weather station’s location.  Nearcast™ Wind is our most valuable wind parameter to use as an indicator of the winds at a neighborhood level for a given location.

Why is Nearcast™ Wind Important?

Tempest stations collect accurate wind data from the backyards of Tempest owners. Neighborhood wind information derived from Tempest stations allows the dense Tempest network to contribute a more relevant wind data set for applications such as iKitesurf, iWindsurf, SailFlow, WindAlert, and Fishweather where activities occur outside of the backyard area.  Winds just above the surrounding obstructions are most relevant to users of these applications.

Availability

Nearcast™ Wind is available for Tempest stations installed for at least 3 months that we determine also produce wind values indicative of neighborhood-level prevailing winds.  Some Tempests only provide measurement of winds in the turbulent environment specific to a given Tempest because prevailing winds are too heavily blocked by surrounding obstructions.  Nearcast™ Wind values are produced at locations where our Nearcast™ Technology determines that upper-level winds mix down with surface-level winds at the anemometer site, at least from some directions.

Using Nearcast™ Wind

Nearcast™ Wind is enabled by default for all Tempest stations (green markers) in the consumer applications.  Nearcast™ Wind values appear on the map, in the wind graph, in the wind archives and in wind statistics (where available).