Gusts exceeding 100 miles per hour recorded by home weather station </MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 4:10 PM on Friday, January 16, 2009

Gusts exceeding 100 miles per hour recorded by home weather station

By McKibben Jackinsky

Jim Brown began using his home weather station in December, when local weather fell within a normal range.

The month of January has put the equipment to the test, however.

Data collected by the LaCrosse Technology station indicates temperatures from Jan. 3-16 spanned more than a 55-degree difference, dropping to 11 degrees below zero on Jan. 4 and rising to a high of 46.2 degrees above zero Friday.

"We had 113 mile per hour gusts Thursday night," Brown said of winds that shook his East End Road residence in the wee hours of the morning.

The weather station records temperatures every half hour and the 113 mile per hour blast occurred in the midst of that 30-minute interval.

As Thursday night's winds tore at aluminum room panels on Brown's house, the weather station made it clear going outside to check the damage was too risky.

"I put in ear plugs and went back to bed," Brown said.

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