Belcak Weather Station

Webcam/IP Camera

2011-07-10T09:08:00.002-04:00

We've had reported problems about the webcam page not working well in all browsers.
The image is called in an iFrame and after some adjustments it seems to be working well from my testing and observations.

IP Camera....Webcam

if you have problems viewing the live stream, please let me know. It would be helpful if you could tell me what operating system you are using and what browser.

Thanks

CWOP Data Quality Report Page Added

2011-07-10T09:01:00.003-04:00

CWOP Data Quality Page

The Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP) is a private-public partnership with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Its three main goals: 1) to collect weather data contributed by citizens; 2) to make these data available for weather services; and 3) to provide feedback to the data contributors so that they have the tools to check and improve their data quality.

We've added this page to monitor and show the Belcak Weather Station reported data accuracy and quality.

The link can be found under the Navigation list - Tools/Info - Data Quality

Advisories update

2011-05-03T07:42:00.002-04:00

Some of you may have noticed the Advisories Tab has not been updating since March 15.
NOAA had changed the feed url for weather alerts.

This morning I had a chance to track down the new info and update the script. The alert summaries seem to be current and all is back in order.

The real test will come when alerts are posted. Let me know if things seem not to be working.

Thanks

Webcam Moved Outside

2010-06-30T15:38:00.003-04:00

Well it's taken a while but I finally relocated the wx webcam to a spot on the post that supports my Davis Weather Station.

There's still work to do in setting up all of the presets but you can try many of the features at Belcak Weather Station or go directly to IPcamera .

As usual, I'm open to comments or suggestions.

Thanks

Webcam PTZ Working

2010-02-20T14:44:00.001-05:00

I updated the webcam page on the site....now you can control the camera with pan, tilt and zoom.

New Webcam

2010-02-19T07:23:00.003-05:00

This week I upgraded the web cam to a new Panasonic BB-HCM735A IP Network Camera. The camera has PTZ and zoom capability. Shortly I hope to be able to add that feature to the web page and let the viewer control the camera. The camera looks to the southeast onto Swan Creek and in the morning it works hard to deal with the sun and reflection off the water.

This time of year we have lots of geese who make Swan Creek there home. Enjoy the view and let me know how it works for you!

Home Page Update

2010-01-28T08:36:00.003-05:00

Major update to the home or index page - added the following:
Additional Rain - data points
Additional Humidity - data points
Additional Barometer - data points
7 Day Averages
Cloud Height
Rock Hall Tides and Tide Clock
Record Temps for this day
Normal Temps for this day
Heating and Cooling Degree Days

look for the small ? next to several of the titles....click for additional info.

Facts and Trivia

2010-01-14T08:13:00.002-05:00

Added a new facts and trivia section to the bottom of the home page.......
You get a new piece of info each time you open the page......

For now the information is limited but I'll continue to expand it as I find more information.

Gradient Thermometer

2010-01-11T07:32:00.002-05:00

This morning I made a small change to the thermometer on the home page......
rather than a fixed color thermometer, it will now show a gradient color based on reported temperature.

It's a cosmetic tweak that improves the image.

Wind Detail Report

2010-01-10T11:52:00.001-05:00

Added a new wind detail report to monitor and log average and high daily winds.

Wind Report

Updated Mobile Cell/PDA WX Report

2009-12-31T15:27:00.002-05:00

I'm pleased to provide a live weather feed for your cell phone or pda. For the purists, this does not create true WAP code, but rather HTML pages suitable for viewing in most cell phones. It's been tested with Blackberry, iPhone and Palm units. My expectation is that the feed will display equally well on other phones as well.

Included within the conditions page is the daily Tide Prediction.
Also new is a watch/warnings tab that will post local Kent County alerts.

Since these are HTML pages you can click and view them on your browser. This will give you some idea of what you'll see on your phone.

Click here to try it out. Mobile Cell/PDA

Rain & Temp Details

2009-12-30T15:10:00.002-05:00

Two new reports added today:

Daily rain totals, by year, by month, by day Rain Detail

Daily Temperature Hi/Lo by year, by month, by day Temp Detail

I'm glad to have these in place prior to the start of the new year.

Both are in the Menu under Almanac

Weather Logo's

2009-12-30T07:42:00.002-05:00

Added a few live weather logo's to the site. Feel free to display the current weather in Rock Hall, MD. by using one of my weather Logo's. Just select and copy the HTML code for the Logo of choice and paste it into your HTML editor.

Let me know if you decide to use one, I'll add you to my updates list should any changes be made.

I hope to be adding two more Logo's size 500x80 px and 500x60 px. Check back for these additions.

Weather Logo

METAR

2009-12-27T13:26:00.002-05:00

Today I finished adding all of the METAR Stations for Maryland and Delaware.

METAR Stations

New Advisories Page

2009-12-18T06:41:00.003-05:00

This new page will display warnings, watches, advisories and alerts that are provided by the ATOM XML/CAP 1.1 feeds from NOAA/NWS.

Included is a descriptive icon key popup.

The page is designed to check every 10 minutes for postings or updates.

BWS Advisories

Tide Clock

2009-12-16T09:12:00.001-05:00

Added a new tide clock to the Swan Creek Tide page. The visual makes it easier to see the
expected change during the next few periods.

Old Guages vs New Data

2009-12-07T11:00:00.003-05:00

If your liked the old Belcak.com home page, the new weather site can give you a similar look.

Try this link BWSRH Live you'll have a live display similar to the old site.

If this is your preference then don't forget to bookmark this page as the opening one for visiting BWSRH.com.

Let me know if you have any questions or problems.

New Domain Name

2009-12-07T10:52:00.002-05:00

The new weather site is located at a new domain or address. The new domain is www.bwsrh.com.

If you can remember the first letters of "Belcak Weather Station Rock Hall" I'm hoping that remembering the new domain will be easy. BWSRH

Give it a try!

Steve

New Web Site

2009-12-05T11:57:00.004-05:00

Well it's coming up on 4 years that the weather station and web site have been operational. I thought it might be time for a fresh look to the website with new features, data and capability.

Not only am I re-doing the site but I have registered a new domain name as well. The original site is still operational and will stay that way until I'm confident the new one is running well.

You can try my new site at New Belcak Weather Station .

If u find any problems, please let me know.

Thanks

Webcam Update

2009-11-21T12:15:00.002-05:00

Well I'm trying another camera. You can see the page at BWS Webcam . I'll put the page in the menu drop downs after I'm sure it seems to be running well.

In the mean time, if u get a chance to look, let me know what u think

email

Web Cam Problems

2009-10-09T13:39:00.001-04:00

Well I'm sorry to say that my webcam has failed again.....it looks like this time I'll need to get a new one rather than trying to keep making this one work.

Not sure when a new one will be back up and running.

Watch the Blog for any updates.

Thanks

Steve

Station Cleanup and Repair

2009-09-11T07:24:00.003-04:00

This week I took the time to tear down the weather station integrated sensor suite and give it a good cleaning. It's been about 3 years since the last time it was done and the collection of dirt, spiders and debris left me concerned that the station would continue to perform well.

When the solar panel is not charging the system, backup is a small lithium 123A battery. Incredible as it may sound the battery was still acting as backup but installing a new one now would keep me from having to deal with replacement when conditions were less favorable.

All seemed to go well and my data quality reports look good.

Hopefully I'm good for another 3 years.

National Radar Image & Barometer Reading Incorrect

2009-09-01T11:22:00.002-04:00

It was brought to my attention that the "National Radar Image" that's used on 4 of my pages was not updating anymore. My image source link seems to have stop working so now I'm linked to another image courtesy of Accuweather. Give it a try, all should be OK.

I'm also seeing that my barometric pressure is not updating.....not sure what is the cause, a bad sensor or perhaps a problem in the clientraw file that updates this info. Anyway I'll take a look and see if I can identify the problem.

Crabbing Today

2009-08-27T19:14:00.002-04:00

Got a good lesson today, I called it Trotline 101.
Had a chance to get out this morning and for the first time see up close how locals crab using a trotline.
Today it was chicken necks and 1000' of line.
Location was the Chester River in front of the Chester River Country Club.
Started at 0730 and at 1130 we had just over a bushel of river crabs.
Great day and a good catch!

Tides - Weather Underground - Crabs

2009-08-26T15:43:00.001-04:00

The tides page is back to it's old format....I had some difficulties with the tables and updates so until that get resolved I'll use the old format.

Today I stopped rapidfire updates and the NOAA weather radio Sudlersville, MD audio stream that I have been sending to Weather Underground. The NOAA weather report stream is still useable but I'm now serving the stream.

Good crab day today.....I had 13 nice size crabs for the pot.

Steve

New Hurricane Tracking Page

2009-08-20T09:16:00.004-04:00

Introduced a new hurricane tracking page this morning. It's powered by hurricane tracking software from Stormpulse.

Make sure to read the "How To" material at the bottom of the page. It will give you all of the info you need to use the features in the map.

Forecast added to the Cell Phone information

2009-08-19T15:38:00.003-04:00

Today I had a chance to add another page to our Cell Phone weather information. This Forecast page has the latest forecast information for Rock Hall, MD. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Updated Tide Prediction Page

2009-08-18T11:25:00.001-04:00

Finished a re-layout of the Tide Prediction tab listed under the Marine drop down menu. Layout is now in table form with 21 days of tide projection.

Tide info added to cell phone page

2009-08-17T06:39:00.003-04:00

Had a good suggestion to add tide info to the Cell Phone page - take a look at the data page wap.belcak.com and right after the Solar info I have inserted the daily tide info for Swan Creek, Rock Hall, MD
Hope you find it useful.

Crab Traps

2009-08-12T14:26:00.001-04:00

4 more for the pot today.....

Cell Phone Forecast for Rock Hall now available

2009-08-11T15:30:00.002-04:00

Us this link in your cell phone browser - wap.belcak.com - and you'll get detailed information of current weather from The Belcak Weather Station in Rock Hall, MD USA.
Notice that the opening page, on top and bottom, has a link to Weather Graphics This will give you current radar and webcam images directly on your phone.

Since I can't test all model phones, if it's not working well on your's, send me a message and let me know......hopefully I can make adjustments.

I have some more ideas for additions to this feature, check back often for the latest updates.

First Catch

2009-08-09T18:56:00.001-04:00

Pulled our traps for the first time and had 8 nice size crabs for the pot!

Crab Traps

2009-08-05T16:15:00.003-04:00

Later than usual, but today I put out 2 carb traps off the dock. Hopefully we'll get our share for the season......I'll let you know how we make out!

Storm July 31, 2009

2009-08-04T18:36:00.000-04:00

It lasted just 10 minutes, I recorded 47 mph gusts with 38 mph sustained winds and it turned out to be the most destructive we've had in the 5 years we've lived here.

We had two large trees uprooted and 5 snapped in the middle.

You can see the pictures here July 31 Storm

Now the clean up will begin.

Live Webcam turned on!

2009-08-03T18:38:00.002-04:00

Today I started to serve a live feed from a JVC TK-C700U color camera. The view is south across my backyard and onto the upper part of Swan Creek in Rock Hall, MD.

The camera is an old video surveillance model that feeds to an ATI Radeon 7500 video card. The capture software is Image Salsa .

The camera is operational from +/- 60 minutes of sunrise and sunset and it's presented on my web page using Adobe Flash.

The feed has a 5 minute timeout to save on bandwidth and requires a page refresh if you wish to view it longer.

Clear Sky Clock Page Added

2009-08-02T13:05:00.000-04:00

To the Astronomy tab I have recently added the Clear Sky Clock page.

The Clear Sky Clock can show at a glance when, in the next 48 hours, we might expect clear and dark skies for one of many observing sites closest to Rock Hall, MD, in this case The United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD USA.

It's is intended for amateur astronomers. The forecast data comes from a numerical weather model run by the Canadian Meterological Centre.