How to Use a Weathervane

The weathervane is one of the oldest weather-measuring devices. It determines the direction the wind is blowing. This is helpful to show you which way storm clouds and weather systems are moving, so you can more accurately predict the weather.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Pick the spot for your weathervane. Choose a location that is the highest location off the ground on your property. The top of your house, greenhouse, barn or garage are good spots for your weathervane. The goal is to allow your weathervane to operate without any hindrance or obstructions around it. If you have it at the highest-possible spot on your property, it should get a fairly good reading for you.

2. Understand how weathervanes work. Weathervanes operate by having a fairly lightweight directional spinner free to move around on the top of the weathervane. This is used to catch the wind to measure its direction. If a building, tree or some other object is blocking your weathervane in one or more directions, it doesn't give you an accurate reading.

3. Check the weathervane when the wind is blowing to determine which way storm or weather systems are moving. The arrow on your weather vane will point in the direction the wind is blowing toward. Therefore, if the arrow points toward the west, then you're receiving an easterly wind because that's the direction from which the wind is originating. If the arrow is pointing north, then you're receiving a southernly wind.

4. Watch the wind. Standard wind systems in most of the United States move from west to east for the most part with some exceptions. If you live in the eastern part of the United States, the wind may come off the Atlantic Ocean and move from east to west at times.

5. Monitor your weathervane closely. Write in a notebook your wind directions from time to time to watch your local weather systems. Choose to record the direction of the wind along with the type of weather you're receiving to check for any patterns.