Who said predicting the weather was tough?

I've long been interested in the weather: how it works, what causes things like thunderstorms & lightning, all the varied and interesting types of clouds, and so forth. I watch each of the various weathermen avidly and am, at various times, amazed at how accurate and precise their predictions can be, or amused at just how far wrong they actually be. In recent years I've noticed the apparently large number of ordinary folks across the country and even worldwide who have their own weather stations, many of which are even viewable over the internet (see http://www.appalachian-weather.com/ as just one example). Some have formed specialized blogs and discussion groups (see Peach State Weather - http://www.bb.georgiawx.net/cgi-bin/peachstate/YaBB.pl - as a local example, or WeatherMatrix - http://www.weathermatrix.net/ - for a more "global" feel). Anyway, last week I finally gave in the the weatherbug and purchased my very own weather station, a wireless Vantage Pro by Davis. While I'm anxiously awaiting the software that will allow me to import the data into my computer and then onto a website (where? to be determined later), I've gone ahead and installed the instrument package (temp, humidity, barometer, etc.) and the anemometer/wind indicator outside. While they are most certainly not in the ideal locations, the station is up and running, and I'm quite pleased with it. Above are a few pictures of the setup .....