How To Use the Mesomap and Data Table

Upon visiting the home page of the Irish Weather network  you will be presented with an interactive map of Ireland called a mesomap showing by default, the temperature data rounded to the nearest whole number across the island. The interactive map consists of two parts:

1. The Mesomap
2. The Map Data Table

1. The Mesomap

The map displays several weather monitoring stations. They consist of the IWN member stations also called PWS (Personal Weather Stations), Met Eireann Synoptic Stations, National Road Authority  Stations and Met Eireann Marine Buoys.

(a) The IWN Stations – These stations deliver near real time data within 5 mins of data been uploaded. They give a perfect snapshot of the current conditions from that location. We work with each PWS owner to display the most accurate readings from their site. The owner however maintains their station and site.

(b) The Met Eireann Synoptic – Data is displayed once an hour and displayed on the mesomap at 20mins past the hour. Data is displayed from the previous hour with the temp at top of the hour and the other variables within the last hour. Data is not in real time and not quality controlled by the IWN.

(c) National Roads Authority (NRA) – Data is displayed on the map as soon as it’s available and is not in real time. Each station displayed time is different with some stations displaying data quicker than others. Stations are located on the main routes around the country ie: Motorways and National routes. A very useful resource in the Winter as they display the road surface temperature and the risk of icy conditions.  This data is not quality controlled by the IWN. 

(d) Met Eireann Marine Buoys –  The Marine Buoys are located 30 to 80km offshore around the Irish sea coast with the M6 Buoy in the Deep Atlantic 390kms off the west coast. Very useful for Sea Surface Temps (SST), wave height, wind direction and speed. This data is not quality controlled by the IWN.

The map is by default to show each stations data available  from the four organisations above. If the data is too old or stale, the map will not show this data.

Options Menu 

The options dropdown menu will list the organisations, a radar overlay and some weather variables. You can check the stations to be displayed or hidden. There is also a check box for offline stations and their position on the map when they come available again. Across the top you can change the map view. Default is the Relief map.

Upgrades to the map will be released during the year.

There are several functions available on the map. You can use the zoom and scroll functions to navigate around the map to a specific part of the island using the arrow keys located in the top left of the map

The quickest way is left click, hold and drag the mouse or double clicking the mouse to zoom in step by step to a location you wish to view in greater detail.

Balloon Popup 

The balloon popup appears when you hover your mouse over a station. It will show more information from that site. 

2. The Map Data Table 

The second part of the mesomap is the map data table. This will show each of the organisations into rows. The data is populated from the stations that are available from the mesomap.

The stations are listed in alphabetical order down the left. Across the top you will notice each of the organisations in the main header. Below this and to the right of Station, you will see the weather variables in column header eg Temp, Dewpoint, Humidity (RH%) etc. By clicking on one of these columns titles, you will see the highest or lowest variable displayed from the table. Eg: you click the temp, the highest temp from each of those stations is displayed at the top, click the Temp again will bring the lowest variable to the top.

You can select each of the organisations or the Extremes tab will list the highest/lowest or max/min from all stations on the mesomap.  

Join Us

If you already own a weather station, the IWN is always looking for new members to contribute their data to the network. We have achieved by having the single most comprehensive view of weather conditions across Ireland in realtime. If you are a personal weather station owner / operator, your invited to apply and we will consider adding you to our network.

We are here to help. If you are considering buying a weather station,  you have come to the right place where we can assist you on purchasing and choosing the right station for you and even get you setup on the mesomap with help on a weather website. Any questions, please contact me for more information but also read our guide on owning a weather station and the site. 

Membership is free, Sign Up here to get started.

Other requirements:  a personal weather website or a link to your weather page running Weather Display, Cumulus, Virtual Weather Station (VWS), or WeatherLink software anywhere on the island of Ireland, you are invited to join our network.  

Join Us – FREE