By Brian Ojanpa
The Free Press
MADELIA — Among the destinations for Andy Thompson’s ceaseless flow of rooftop data is a Web site called WeatherBug.
This is only fitting, given that the Madelia eighth-grader was bitten by the weather bug when he was 6.
That was when his first-grade class had a unit on weather, and his passion was sparked.
It stayed in incubation mode until two years ago, when he met a guy at a graduation party who had his own weather station. The bug bit hard at that point.
“I thought, ‘If other people had one, why can’t I have one too?’” Andy says in his family’s Madelia home, whose roof boasts his weather apparatus, a wireless solar-powered system that powers two data consoles that run 24/7.
And just for good measure, he also has his own weather Web site he built with online help from a man in Australia who had no idea he was assisting a 13-year-old.
Most people get their weather information from various media outlets. In the Thompson household it’s always there at a glance, and Andy can tick off the specifics as if it were a mantra:
“Temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind gusts, wind chill, heat index, dewpoint, barometric pressure, sunrise, moonrise, moonset...”
Andy financed his weather equipment by selling off some of his lawn-care wares. He netted $250 from a lawnmower he won at a tractor pull and sold his edging trimmer for $50.
With some kick-in money from his parents, he purchased weather station equipment from a seller on eBay.
Andy is part of the Citizens Weather Observers Program and supplies his data to several Web sites and the National Weather Service, from which area meteorologists pick off information to incorporate into their forecasts.
The sites he sends data to routinely rate his work, and he says his quality control marks are always two thumbs up.
“I got pretty darn good data. That’s what that means.”
Meteorology as a career, however, isn’t in his future.
“I’m not really good in math, and meteorology requires a ton of math.”
His career goals at this point are twofold and cover the spectrum. He says he’d like to be a computer programmer or a welder. And if those fall through, there’s a Plan C.
“I like mowing lawns too, so I’d like to get a decent lawn mowing service going.”
