Anemometers

Anybody using an anemometer to measure wind speeds? I've seen wind speed figures quoted on the site but I've noted that the comments exclude remarks regarding actual measurement hardware. Guesstimates?

From my research on local websites it appears anemometers can range between R300 up to a few thousand!!!

Really cool gadget to have in the Berg. I do not own one myself, although our techs use these extensively for work purposes (we are into mine vent & cooling tech among other things).

We did have an anemometer in the group once on a trip. We went up Ships Prow South, via Moremoholo valley, Lithabolong, Mafadi, Judges pass down, contour path all the way back to Lower Injasuthi Cave. Third morning after tenting in Moremoholo Valley, going up Lithabolong ridge on the way to Mafadi, the wind was really incredibly strong and gusty (one group member lost a tent the previous night in a gust. High ground had the most incredible snow drifts I’ve ever seen).

The particular anemometer used on that trip, although a good and rather sophisticated one with data tracking ability, was not really made for this kind of thing. In the howling wind it would measure between 16-21 m/s! When a gust came along, it would immediately max out beyond its 24m/s design limit!!! Given the ease with which the wind would max it out, and the tempo at which we would fall down in those gusts, we anticipated gust wind speeds to easily exceed 100kmh…

The unit measured drybulb, wetbulb, RH(calculated) and wind speeds, did not provide a calculated windchill temp. After the trip we combined measured temperatures with those wind speeds, calculating wind chill equivalent temperatures of as low as -33 deg C. Yip…any exposed skin would receive a decent freeze burn, as I learned the hard way that day.

I’ve been meaning to get myself one of these, being a data junkie and all…

Yeah, I'm planning on getting one in future. I believe there's also a Danish company making one that you can use with a smartphone. Vaavud, I believe it's called.

Yeah, exactly that one. I carry my smartphone anyway and the plastic attachment is compact and light and apparently works quite well, so it's not much extra to lug around. The reviews are quite positive regarding accuracy etc.

I would expect that most people here are interested in measuring the very strong winds that the berg experiences, particularly in winter rather than light breezes. Many of the small, handheld devices are likely to be good at low wind conditions but have quite large biases at high wind speeds. One way to test a piece of kit that you do have is to put it as far as you can out of the window of the car on a still day (best in the early morning before surface heating cuases turbulence) and check the wind speed reading on the device against a GPS speed indicator. Holding the speed steady at various categories of wind will give you an idea of what the kit can do. You should soon find out at what windspeed (read car speed) the device stops giving you accurate readings.