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2023 News Archive

a hand holding pea-sized hail

Thunderstorms in our area dropped pea-sized hail several days in a row.

Spring thunderstorms recently rolled through, dropping pea-sized hail that the office Orion Weather Station reported. The Orion Weather Station can detect hail/hail intensity and the Pulsar 100 model differentiates sleet, freezing rain, and hail.

This MicroServer screenshot shows hail data from the Orion Weather Station at the office.

This MicroServer screenshot shows hail data from the Orion Weather Station at the office.


C.W. Price employees with installed weather monitoring equipment

Kelvin and Patrick after installing the equipment.

A handful of companies have been customers of Columbia Weather Systems since the very beginning.

We highlight one of those with a recent communication from Kelvin Price of C.W. Price & Company in South Africa in our latest application story. Here's an excerpt:

"The big problem here was induced surges due to lightning that was severely damaging equipment. We then introduced the Airforce to Columbia FLX Modular Weather Station with ethernet wifi bridge wireless technology which solved some of the lightning surge problems, this was successfully adopted as their national standard . . .

"CWS and staff have always been available and most accommodating to whatever queries that we may have from heavy technical to firmware updates either online or offline."

Read the full note here.


Pasadena Police's mobile command center with weather station mounted to the side.

Magellan MX500 Weather Station mounted on Pasadena Police's Mobile Command Center. (​Photo courtesy of LDV)

Magellan MX VM Weather Stations

Complete with a Magellan MX500™ Weather Station and panel-mount Weather Display, the Pasadena Police department is well equipped for emergency situations with their impressive new mobile command center built by LDV.

The Magellan MX all-in-one sensor module incorporates compass and GPS for critical weather monitoring with automatic wind direction alignment and compensated wind speed.

Additional features include ultrasonic wind sensors, temperature, barometric pressure and humidity. Alternate sensors include rainfall and solar radiation.


In this new video, Alex Pulido gives an overview of how the Weather MicroServer works.

With the ability to interface to any of our weather station models, the Weather MicroServer is a powerful communication device lets users access real-time met data from anywhere in the world.

Weather MicroServer Information Page


Storm Tracker Jeep with Magellan MX600 Weather Station on roof

Storm Tracker Jeep with Magellan MX600 Weather Station. (Photo Credit: KSHB 41)

Kansas City's KSHB 41 Storm Tracker Jeep in action! A Magellan MX600 Weather Station mounted on the roof provides meteorologists with real-time data which is viewed via Weather Display console inside the vehicle.

The Magellan MX™ line is a popular choice for mobile weather monitoring applications with its internal compass and GPS with automatic and compensated wind measurements.

Magellan MX Weather Stations Page


CERES gas plume software map showing weather data.

CERES gas plume dispersion modeling software showing live weather data from an Orion weather station.

Weather Station mounted on Woodlands, TX Hazmat truck

A recent training created a Sensor Driven-Plume Scenario with CERES where the data acquisition system was connected to a CWS weather station installed on the local Fire Department’s HAZMAT truck in The Woodlands, Texas. The vehicle was purchased through Siddons-Martin Emergency Group

A gas plume in the CERE software modeled using weather data from Orion Weather Station.

Gas plume in the CERES software is modeled using weather data.


Vlahi Systems Website

Siddons-Martin Emergency Website

Met Data from CWS Weather Stations Integrates “Seamlessly” Into Vlahi's CERES Plume Modeling Software

Columbia Weather Systems, a global supplier of weather stations to industry and government agencies, announces a partnership with Vlahi Systems, developer of CERES gas plume dispersion modeling software.

CERES (Chemical Emergency Response E-Service) is a collaborative application for chemical release event modeling, threat assessment, situational awareness, and protective action decision support.

“Accurate weather information is essential in any emergency response situation, but it is especially critical when dealing with hazardous material incidents. Integrating local live weather data with plume dispersion modeling and gas detectors can greatly enhance the ability to respond effectively and protect the public from harm,” says Cristian Stochina Streinescu, Founder and Managing Partner of Vlahi Systems.

Using the Weather MicroServer interface, data from any Columbia Weather Systems weather station can be incorporated easily into CERES to provide hyper-local met data for plume modeling and environmental awareness. Cristian adds, “The met station is very easy to connect to. It has an SAM station (ALOHA) output and CERES can be feed directly from that.”

“The Weather MicroServer interfaces with CERES software using Modbus TCP/IP interface. This makes the software compatible with all of our weather station models with a seamless interface,” explains Nader Khoury, President of Columbia Weather Systems. “The customer can then choose the system and configuration that best suits their needs.”

CERES free version offers access to ALOHA chemical dispersion model and to all ERG Guide 2020 emergency response distances in a Google Map environment. CERES PRO integrates live meteorological data, gas and radiation sensors data, live traffic, GIS data, emission sources and sensitive receptors, phone locations and fleet tracking devices with advanced government vetted models and guides. Special sensor driven algorithms are used for release source location identification and release rate estimation, to prepare for, respond to, and analyze chemical release, fire, or explosion events – anywhere – any time – on any device including an offline mode with automatic data synchronization for when internet connectivity is restored.

These features will be greatly beneficial to CWS weather station customers in the public safety market.


Nader, Mikko, and Hannu stand by a Columbia Weather Systems sign

(L-R) Nader with Mikko and Hannu from Vaisala

Software Developer Brian Smucker with wife Twila at the CWS Anniversary Dinner

Software Developer Brian Smucker with wife Twila at the CWS Anniversary Dinner

It’s been a busy and productive past week at Columbia Weather. Yesterday, Vaisala's Product Line Manager Mikko Krapu and R&D Project Manager Hannu Valo all the way from Finland visited the office to discuss the latest developments in meteorological technology.

Our remote software development team Brian and Gilbert also met with us last weekend from Idaho and joined us for our 25th Anniversary Dinner.

We stay committed to improving and providing high quality weather monitoring equipment to meet the needs of our customers, and we couldn’t do it without a fantastic team of partners who help make it all happen!


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