Palmy Weather Mobile Console

This site has been created as an easy to use place where you can get live weather readings for the city of Palmerston North as well as information regarding the rest of New Zealand and live webcams. This weather station is located just west of the city centre and is the closest station to the city centre. The website data is updated automatically every 30 seconds.

The weather station in use is a homebuilt WeatherDuino Pro2 system. It is replacing two previous "Fine Offset" weather stations which were used from 2009 as they were unreliable, causing data to be inaccurate. This station records many environmental aspects including wind, rain, temperature and solar/UV. The display unit can be connected to the computer via USB interface. The system is fully customisable and uses "Arduino Nano" chips to gather, process and display the data.

The transmitter will transmit all the outside data every few seconds and has a range of approximately 200m. The outside sensors come in a very tidy package with the anemometer, solar/UV sensors and rain bucket being attached to a mast on the highest point of the house with the temperature sensor being mounted separately to provide more accurate temperatures. This station is currently located on the highest point of the house with clear surrounds for maximum wind efficiency. Station specifications and limitations:
1) Outdoor temperature range: -40.0°C to +123.0°C (-40°F to +254°F) +/-0.5%
2) Indoor temperature range: -40°C to +80.0°C (32°F to +176°F) +/-2%
3) Humidity range: 0% to 100% +/-4.5%
4) Rain volume resolution : 0.3mm
5) Wind speed resolution : 0.72 Km/h
6) Measuring range air pressure: 300hPa to 1100hPa
7) UV Index: 1 to 12+ UVI
8) Solar Radiation range: 0W/m2 to 1500 W/m2
9) Transmission range up to 200m (650 feet)
10) Power consumption:
    a) Receiver: USB or 12VDC 500mA PSU
    b) Transmitter: 1x 7.2Ah SLA battery with 10W 12VDC solar panel.
11) Transmission frequency: 433MHz

Palmerston North (Maori: Te Papa-i-oea) is the main city of the Manawatū-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is an inland city with a population of 80,079 (2013 census) making it the 8th largest city in New Zealand. A large proportion of its population consists of students attending Massey University, Universal College of Learning (UCOL) or International Pacific College during the student year. Over half of the city's population is under the age of 25 and the city has been marketed as 'Student City'.

The Name The city was first named "Palmerston", in honour of Viscount Palmerston, a former Prime Minister of Great Britain. The suffix "North" was added in 1871 by the Post Office to distinguish the settlement from Palmerston in the South Island, though locals still widely refer to the city simply as Palmerston or "Palmy". Locals are known as Palmerstonians. The Maori transliteration of Palmerston is "Pamutana", but this is largely unused, with Papa-i-oea (commonly contracted to Papaioea) being the preferred option, e.g. Te Kura Kohine o Papaioea (Palmerston North Girls' High School) and Te Hohipera o Papaioea (Palmerston North Hospital). Papa-i-oea is believed to mean "How beautiful it is".

The History Ngati Rangitane were the local Maori iwi (tangata whenua) living in the area known as Te Ahu-a-Turanga, when a trader, Jack Duff, became the first known European to explore the area in 1830. He came on a whaling ship, and explored as far inland as the site of Woodville. He reported his discovery on arrival back to Porirua. Colonel Wakefield heard of the potential that the Manawatū had for development and visited in 1840. In 1846 Charles Hartley, another trader, heard from tangata whenua of a clearing in the forest and he proceeded through the dense bush and forest and discovered it for Europeans.

The Government surveyed the area in 1866-67. The original subdivision of Palmerston North was made in 1866, in the natural clearing in the Papaioea Forest, as found by Hartley. A township was laid out by J.T. Stewart, an employee of the Wellington Provincial Government.

Stewart's plan consisted of a series of wide and straight streets, laid out in a rectangular pattern, with the focal point being an open space of 17 acres (7 ha) subsequently known as The Square. Landmarks named after Stewart included Stewart Crescent in Palmerston North and Mt Stewart, near Sanson.

The four original streets meeting at the Square are now called Fitzherbert Avenue (from the south), Main Street East, Main Street West and Rangitikei Street. As the settlement grew, the forest diminished to make way for farms, and today virtually no remnant of it survives.

By 1877, when the Borough Council came into existence, Palmerston North was an isolated village in the midst of the native forest that covered inland Manawatū. The population was approximately 800 people and sawmilling was the main industry of the district. The arrival of the railway in 1886 saw an increase in the speed of growth, and by 1900 the population was 6,000. By this time the town was at the centre of a lucrative agricultural district.

In 1930, the population reached the 20,000 threshold and Palmerston North was officially proclaimed a city. Development was slow due to the great depression and World War II. An airport was established at Milson in 1936, which is now Palmerston North International Airport. After the war growth was rapid, with the population rising to over 50,000 by the mid 1970s.