...Additional weather data for Jamaica Beach now available daily on the Internet...

Since 1996, the Jamaica Beach Weather Observatory has issued the Jamaica Beach
Daily Climatological Summary each evening on the Internet at 6:00 PM CST containing
the maximum/minimum temperatures, total precipitation, peak wind speed and direction
recorded so far each day at Jamaica Beach through 6:00 PM CST and for the previous
day from Midnight to Midnight CST with times of occurrence.  Additional information such
as daily normals, record extremes and accumulated monthly and annual values are also
included.

Effective June 11, 2007...the Jamaica Beach Weather Observatory has expanded this
information by adding the following meteorological parameters and their time of
occurrence:

1.  Maximum/minimum relative humidity;
2.  Maximum/minimum dew point;
3.  Maximum/minimum sea-level barometric pressure;
4.  Peak solar radiation in watts per square meter (W/m²);
5.  Peak ultraviolet index (UVI).

This additional information is due to the recent installation of new meteorological
equipment and professional Internet compatible weather data archiving software.  The
solar radiation and UVI index will be especially useful for persons planning beach and
other outdoor activities.

In the near future, the Jamaica Beach Weather Observatory plans to have live weather
observations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week uploaded to the Jamaica Beach Weather
Observatory web site.  These observations from automated sensors will update once a
minute providing virtually real-time conditions.  A camera (web cam) looking out over
Jumbile Cove and West Bay will also be installed on top of the anemometer tower which
stands 43 feet above ground level and these images will update with the live weather
observations.

Although the software necessary to provide these services is already on hand, high
speed dedicated Internet connections for the west end of Galveston Island are presently
too cost prohibitive to implement this ability now and still keep it a free service to the
community.

Contingent upon future funding and software compatibility, there is also a possibility that
real-time tide observations will be uploaded with the weather data using a submersible
pressure transducer (water level indicator) calibrated in hundredths of feet above Mean
Lower Low Water (MLLW).  This will be very useful information to monitor during the
approach of tropical cyclones and other major weather systems.  Currently, tide
observations at Jamaica Beach are manually read using a tide gauge (calibrated staff)
attached to a piling in the canal adjacent to the weather station that feeds into West Bay.

The Jamaica Beach Weather Observatory is an official cooperative weather observation
station of the National Weather Service and was founded on December 1, 1990.

Cooperative observers are dedicated volunteers that provide weather observation
services to the National Weather Service and their communities completely free of
charge.  Some of these weather stations have over 100 years of data recorded by
several generations within a family, business or government agency.

In Galveston County, there are presently four official National Weather Service
observation stations which are located at: the National Weather Service Houston/
Galveston Area Office (HGX) in League City...Scholes International Airport (GLS) and the
United States Coast Guard Station (GLST2) in Galveston...and at the Jamaica Beach
Weather Observatory (JBHT2) in Jamaica Beach.

The observational data obtained from this weather station...and others like it...is used for
a variety of purposes ranging from agricultural and energy usage planning to detailed
long-term climatological studies and hurricane statistical analysis.  The data is published
monthly in Texas Climatological Data and is permanently archived at the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center (NOAA/NCDC) located in
Asheville, North Carolina.

Jim O'Donnel
Jamaica Beach Weather Observatory