Angel Weathervane shows wind direction and speed

° Weathervane Turns into the wind.
° Windcups rotate faster with higher wind.
° Sculpted windcups and compass rose.
° Optional digital speed and direction display.
° Can display direction as compass letters.
° Or display direction as bearing in degrees.
° Optional smoke stream to show wind.
° Dialog to change modes.
° Low prim count using sculpties.
° Photo-realistic polished copper vane.

Thanks for your interest in my Weathervane!

This beautiful polished copper weather vane will be the crowning glory of your Second Life home! The vane turns into the wind while the wind cups spin faster with increasing wind speed. Yes, SL has wind and it is done using a cool, interesting, complex, fluid dynamics simulation. See http://www.multires.caltech.edu/teaching/demos/java/stablefluids.htm for a visual demonstration of how this works and some references. This causes the wind to swirl around in ways that are impossible for us mere mortals to predict. But now with a weathervane you can see the wind direction at a glance, get the wind speed and direction by looking closer. The weathervane optionally displays the wind speed (in m/s) and direction (in compass letters or decimal degrees). The weathervane has permission COPY so for one price you can set up several of them. You will discover that the wind swirls around and points in different directions in different places!

For more objects that use or create weather in Second Life, come to my Wind Wonders Store, Medazzaland (122, 2, 28).

Meteorologists Take Note:
The weathervane displays the wind direction using the “weatherman” notation which tells you the direction the wind is coming from, not the direction the wind is going. So N means wind FROM the north (positive Y axis), E means wind FROM the east (positive X axis), NE means wind From the northeast, etc. The weathervane can display the direction in degrees, or in “compass” notation (eg: NE). The wind speed is displayed in meters/second to the nearest meter.

Why is it Pointing That Way?
The wind in SL can change direction in a very short distance. Also the viewer wind is not always up-to-date with the server. So the wind may be blowing in a different direction a few meters away from the vane! The result of this is that sometimes smoke will blow in one direction while the vane seem to be facing in another. This is mostly a problem at low wind speeds when the he weathervane has trouble finding the best direction to face. You may see it turning rapidly around the pole. At high wind speeds there is less confusion.

Lag Issues:
To reduce lag, this weathervane checks the changing wind direction infrequently, only once a second. It is a non-physical object which is naturally low-lag. The dialog disables “listen” when not in use to decrease server lag farther. Of course putting large numbers of these vanes (or any other object) on your land may eventually create lag.