WeatherHawk stations are an offshoot of technology used for golf course automation — using station data to determine when irrigation and sprinklers kick on.

Systems are designed to be both portable and easy to install. "It's a three-step process to install it. After you take it out of the box, you mount the station, turn the power switch on and load the software. It's very simple," Johnston said. "We've had stay-at-home moms and families install these in their back yards."

Accessing the data on a PC also is simple. Users can customize the display to get exactly the information they want, and it is updated automatically periodically.

"In addition to automating functions in the home, they get their own personal weather display. If they have a second home, they can look at their place in Florida from their place in New York. We've sold a number of systems to people for their second homes," Johnston said.

If users have a Web site, their data displays can be put there.

Hotels in warm climates can even use the weather station information — posted online — as a way of letting people in colder weather see just how nice the conditions are there.

"If you have a hotel in Mexico or somewhere where they don't have weather service information or an area with unique weather patterns, the hotel can buy a station and put it there and use it for guest information," Johnston said. "But they also can post it on their Web site, so the people in New York who are freezing right now can see that down in Acapulco it's beautiful."

Cooper said people anywhere can access the weather data at the bridge authority's Web site. That has proven popular, as have the site's Web cams, which show traffic and boats.

"I think tourists want to know what weather is. I think they think, 'Wow, look at the weather there!' It gets them fired up," he said.

Cooper cited another WeatherHawk advantage over its predecessor at Gasparilla Island. "I'm not sure why," he said, "but it seems to be more osprey-proof."

---

E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com