Medfield Man 'Having Fun' Tracking Weather On Local Website

At first glance it looks like something that NASA might employ to collect moon rocks or soil samples, but upon closer inspection, one would find its mission is definitely terrestrial in nature.

Sitting atop the split-level home of Paul Loiacono, on a busy Medfield street, is the exotic-looking device that transmits “real time” weather updates to Loiacono’s hyper-local weather site; medfieldweather.com.

A visit to the site would reveal the latest information on wind speed, temperature, barometric pressure, humidity and more: all courtesy of Loiacono’s lifelong interest in the weather. “I’ve always been fascinated by weather, especially by the excitement of thunder and lightening storms,” Loiacono confided.

Although he became aware of “personal weather stations” some 10-15 years ago, it wasn’t until a friend presented him with one, as a gift, that Loiacono had an opportunity to bring his interest in weather conditions to the Internet. “My only interest, at the time, was to upload it to the computer, for myself,” he said.

Since its launch, the site has grown in popularity, garnering an average of 1,500 daily “hits” from people seeking information on local weather conditions. “Initially, it was very primitive,” Loiacono said, describing the site’s early appearance. “Then, about one and a half years ago, I got some program scripts at Weather Watch Forum (a site designed for weather enthusiasts) and set up a different format. It [now] includes other area towns,” Loiacono explained, “and forecast information that I get from the National Weather Service.”

Loiacono, who works for National Grid’s natural gas division, explained the weather station sends “real time” information wirelessly to his website, approximately every five seconds. He has also installed a wall unit in both his kitchen and bedroom, for his own personal use. “My wife’s become very used to it. She gets up in the morning and the first thing she does is to check the [weather] info," he said.

The Medfield resident explained there are a number of personal weather stations “out there.” Both hobbyists and business concerns can purchase a station from several companies, including Rainwise and Davis. “Those are two of the most popular,” he explained. “Rainwise is primarily for businesses and Davis specializes in residential units.”

A residential unit, Loiacono noted, ranges from $350 to $700, depending on the model. Beyond the initial equipment cost, there is little additional expense, save for normal website expenses, such as domain name registration and ISP (Internet Service Provider) fees. Occasionally, there may also be the necessity to replace malfunctioning components. “If the real-time data is not working properly,” Loiacono advised, “a flag comes up [on the site]” to inform him of a problem.

This year’s heavy snowfall, so far, has not affected the rooftop station to any great degree. “During one storm, the anemometer froze,” he recalled, putting a halt to wind-speed information. ”But the next afternoon, the sun came out and thawed it.”

Though medfieldweather.com contains no advertising at present, Loiacono admits to having given some thought to carrying ads on the site, to defer expenses. “I haven’t made any decision on advertising yet,” he said. Currently, beyond a wealth of local weather data, the site contains links to other weather-related sites, media outlets such as Medfield Patch and sites of personal interest to Loiacono, such as the link to the Medfield Fire department’s site. Loiacono is an “on-call” firefighter for the town.

Loiacono expressed surprise at the media interest that the site has generated, of late, while joking that “it’s fun, but it puts pressure on me to keep it up to speed.”

The Medfield weather station unit that adorns Loiacono’s rooftop, is similar to a station recently activated at Fox 25 television, to allow its meteorologists access to up-to-the-minute local weather changes. Loiacono’s unit also participates in reciprocal information sharing with other weather sites, such as the Weather Underground, Weather For You, the Northeastern Weather Network and others. “I’m glad to make it available to whoever wants to look at it,” the Medfield weather buff admitted.