New frost alarm available now on Enviro-weather

Get notified of freezing conditions, 24 hours a day, seven days a week

If you’d like to receive advanced warning of potential frost-freezes, Enviro-weather’s new Frost Alarm may be just what you are looking for. This new, premium service is available by subscription. For $100 per year, you can monitor weather at one or more Enviro-weather stations and choose the exact weather conditions you wish to be notified for. If the selected station(s) records weather data meeting specified conditions, an alarm is generated and you are notified by phone call, text message, or email.

For each station chosen, users can select a combination of temperature, dew point, wind speed and temperature drop (Figure 1).

Setting up your frost alarm; selecting weather stations and conditions to generate the alarm.
Figure 1. Setting up your frost alarm; selecting weather stations and conditions to generate the alarm.

Users can combine as many weather conditions, such as temperature, temperature drop, wind speed and dew point, as they wish for one alarm. For example, users can choose to be notified if the temperature is less than 35°F and the dew point is less than 32°F. In that case, an alarm would be generated if the temperature was 34°F and the dew point was 29°F. But it would not be generated if the temperature was 34°F and the dew point was 33°F.

Users can also create multiple situations, or unique combination of conditions, for a station. Each situation will generate a separate alarm when conditions are met. They can choose to monitor conditions at as many stations as they want (Figure 2).

This user has set conditions for three different situations that could generate a frost alarm. He has chosen to be notified by email and by phone if the Bath weather station registers dew points less than 30°F and temperatures less than 34°F. He will also receive an email notice if the temperature at the East Lansing MSU Horticulture station is less than 34°F with a windspeed of less than three miles per hour. He will receive an email alarm if the temperature at this station is less than 32°F.
Figure 2. This user has set conditions for three different situations that could generate a frost alarm. He has chosen to be notified by email and by phone if the Bath weather station registers dew points less than 30°F and temperatures less than 34°F. He will also receive an email notice if the temperature at the East Lansing MSU Horticulture station is less than 34°F with a windspeed of less than three miles per hour. He will receive an email alarm if the temperature at this station is less than 32°F.

To sign up, visit Enviro-weather and view the Frost Alarm Service information. Click on the bold link in green text that says “can sign up beginning March 1”, then click on “Data and Service Subscriptions.

Please contact me, Beth Bishop, at bishopb@msu.edu or 517-432-6520 with your questions, comments and suggestions.

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