Thermometer question (warm, warming, temperature, day)

[ansky]

I'm a weather hobbyist and I have one of those wireless outdoor thermometers that saves the min/max temperature for the day. I have the outdoor sensor mounted to the back of my garage which faces north-northeast. The sensor does not receive any sunlight directly on it, but I noticed in the early morning when the sun is shining in that general direction it causes the temperature to jump up a few degrees which doesn't seem accurate. Does anyone have any creative ideas for some type of screen that could potentially be put around the sensor to help block out any extra light. FWIW, it's an Oregon Scientific unit so I don't know if maybe that brand is overly sensitive or not.

[sedimenjerry]

I don't know about screens but I would look into where the thermometer is located. Is it wireless or not? We have a cheap wired one. It hangs off the wall over the back porch. As someone with a meteorology degree, I know that's a terrible spot. It's never in sunlight but in summer a lot of light hits the porch which makes it noticeably warmer. Ideally a thermometer should be over land with natural vegetation if in the wild or your lawn if at home. The sensor itself should be out of direct light but the ground should be in sunlight. It's possible objects nearby are giving off a lot of heat. More than the ground outside would. Not exactly sure what your situation is but you may wanna try relocating it.

[Cambium]

Originally Posted by ansky

I'm a weather hobbyist and I have one of those wireless outdoor thermometers that saves the min/max temperature for the day. I have the outdoor sensor mounted to the back of my garage which faces north-northeast. The sensor does not receive any sunlight directly on it, but I noticed in the early morning when the sun is shining in that general direction it causes the temperature to jump up a few degrees which doesn't seem accurate. Does anyone have any creative ideas for some type of screen that could potentially be put around the sensor to help block out any extra light. FWIW, it's an Oregon Scientific unit so I don't know if maybe that brand is overly sensitive or not.

Sun shining in the area can do that. Unless it's a substantial jump I would say that's just the location warming up because of the sun which is normal.

Does it drop down a lot after that time frame? If it stays level or increases naturally as the day progresses its probably normal.

There are custom screens to put on the sensor but that's for direct sunlight. If yours is in shade your fine UNLESS you have something around it heating it up like a roof or dark siding, ect.

Sometimes stations come with a software where you can calibrate it to pick up on any big spikes and stop it from returning the reading OR you can use a multiplier and deduct a degree from all the readings from the sensor.

Maybe try to move it to another location to see if you're still getting the spikes. How big are the jumps?