Jefferson County NY Weather Webcams & Weather Station
About the Website, Webcams, & Weather Station
This webcam updates around every hour or half hour during the daylight hours and only during daylight hours, using an automated piece of software. When there is a weather-specific event I increase the update time period during the event so keep checking back.
Over the years I have switched out and in some cases had to repalce various cameras and hardware.
The location is a few miles north of Watertown, NY - webcam 1 is looking approximately southward somewhat toward the general direction of the city, and at the top of a hill at around 448 feet elevation and webcam 2 is at a lower elevation looking approximately northward.
The first webcam I used was a Connectix/Logitech Quickcam VC, it worked great for many years but after being exposed to the sun for years the camera lost its ability to display colors very well.
Later I used a CleverCam 360 and a Creative Labs webcam, and sometimes a capture card with a camcorder, a wireless camera, or a camcorder on a Firewire card. For many years the camera was the excellent Logitech Orbit webcam. This is the one with Carl Zeiss® optics, auto-focus, fairly high resolution, zoom, and motorized mounts so that it can automatically swivel to follow a face or motion (with the right software). It also sees fairly well in very light. It was used as a static cam but someday I had planned on offering the ability of visitors to remotely control it. The camera began intermittently working and had to be replaced. I then used a Tecknet Model C016 webcam for a while.
Next, I used a Logitech C120, the camera and software had been relocated from running on my home office computer with a view from my window to a dedicated (but fairly old) computer with a more unobstructed and wider view. The webcam itself was safely protected from the elements with a glass window. Unfortunately, the camera (depending on the time of the year) could sometimes be subject to a slight glare in the morning.
Some time later I relocated the whole system to another building on the property with a dedicated computer, where the system for Webcam 1 still sits, the computer protected from the elements.
Later I added Webcam 2 using the Tecknet Model C016. This was originally run on an older model spare computer situated down the hill a short distance with an elevation of about 10 feet less than the first webcam. It points in roughly the opposite direction from the first camera and gives a view of the chicken house and yard and weather conditions along an open field beyond the yard, looking approximately northward. The computer has since been updated.
Most recently the Logitech began malfunctioning and I switched to an Xtreme Tech 1080P webcam and now we use an excellent HD-quality Amcrest Outdoor IP Camera.
On the local webcam computers we previously had used the very old but venerable Webcam32 software, but because of limitations we eventually switched to the more modern Yawcam software for image capture and upload. This runs on a pair of PC's running Windows.
The site is hosted at Interserver.net and built on the frontend toolkit Bootstrap. Previously we had run it on Wordpress using the Mantra Theme with some modifications, and relevant plugins, but as of late 2024 switched to Bootstrap during a re-design.
If you would like some basic information on setting up a webcam system using an old computer and a webcam check out my blog post.
During the Blizzard of 2022/Christmas 2022 I received a Logia 7-in-1 Weather Station Model LOWSCx10SWB, which worked flawlessly for a number of years but eventually malfunctioned and had to be replaced. I replaced it with the excellent Ambient Weather WS-2902, attached to the top of an Army-surplus antenna mast beside our greenhouse, about eight feet in the air.
The data which is displayed on this site is shown via the data applet/gadget that is being displayed on the home page is via code I found from MRE Software. I thank the author/programmer for this great code that allows accessing the WeatherUnderground API and I also want to thank WeatherUnderground for providing a free (for low traffic) API as well as Ambient Weather for making a great piece of hwardware and allowing interfacing to other weather sites.
After a bit of tweaking for a few customizations, I had the PHP for the MRE Software gadget exactly how I wanted it. Originally I was going to grab the data from WeatherUnderground via the API's JSON code and process it on one of my home server computers, and then shoot it back to the HTML installation. But the code from MRE Software was a much easier and more elegant solution than mine!
NOAA Weather Warnings provided by WillyWeather.com.
Please feel free to contact me if the camera doesn't seem to be working or with any other issue, or with suggestions.
Also, check out my other websites on my links page.
If you are inclined, feel free to donate if you wish, using the donate button to the upper right or donate at Paypal or BuyMeA Coffee, or use my Amazon affiliate link. It is used for the hosting, and upgrades like better webcams.
