The weather the year you were born, on the wall
Someone you know has a birth year. It is a number on a license. Hardly anyone knows what the sky did that year.
A Rain Print answers that. It draws every rain and snow of the year they were born, from the weather station nearest their hometown, and puts it on paper for the wall. I'm a crop adviser in Chetek, Wisconsin. I make these myself, so I'll tell you plainly what you get and what you don't.
The year they were born, with the birthday marked
Type the town and the year. The page draws that year for free. Rain hangs below the line, snow stands above it in light blue, and a usual year can sit beside it in gray so you can see if the year was wet or dry.
The print is the whole year, not one day. To give the birthday its place, mark it. You can mark up to five days with a few words each. The day is a small mark on the year, in your words, like "Birthday".
- Digital file $19
- 13 x 19 print $45
- Framed $89
Shipping is in the price, anywhere in the 50 states. I print every one myself and you OK a proof before anything prints. I make and sell Rain Print, so I'm not a neutral guide here. Nothing else on this page earns me anything.
What the print shows, and what it doesn't
It shows a year of daily rain and snow at one weather station, from NOAA's records. It names the station and how far it is from your town in a small line at the bottom. It is that station's gauge. A storm that hit the farm and missed the station will not show.
It does not show the weather on one day by itself. If someone asks for "the weather on the day I was born", the honest answer is the day is on the print, marked, inside the year it belonged to. Most people like that better. A birthday in the middle of a dry July looks different from one in a March blizzard, and you can see which.
The print can also carry the high and low temperatures, the hottest and coldest days, the last spring frost and the first fall frost. Those come from the nearest station that kept daily highs and lows that year. Not every station did, and the page tells you when one didn't.
How to pick the year and the place
- The year. Use the birth year. For a baby born this year, use this year and plan on January, since the year has to finish first.
- The town. Pick the town where they were born or grew up. If the birth town is a city with no good rain record, the page picks the nearest station with a full record. You can choose another one under the town box.
- The station. I prefer a station that kept both rain and snowfall over a closer one that kept only rain. The page shows the station and its distance before you pay.
- A different place. A farm kid who moved away may want the farm, not the hospital. Type whichever place the family would call home.
What goes on it
There is a name line of up to 24 letters, like "Anna Lindgren", and a line under it of up to 70, like "Born in a dry year". Each marked day takes up to 13 letters. Keep it short. The year does the talking.
You can also turn on a gray line for every other full year the station kept. Your year stays in blue on top, and the print says where it ranks, wettest to driest. That needs at least 30 full years, so it may use a station farther away. The page says so when it does.
What it costs and when it gets there
The digital file is a PDF, a PNG and a JPG by email within minutes of your OK on the proof. The print is on 13 x 19 inch heavy, textured cotton paper and ships flat between chipboard. The framed print is a 13 x 19 black frame with a white mat and a real glass front, packed with corner guards and foam.
Prints and framed prints ship within 3 business days after you OK the proof. Add the day for the proof, the day for your OK, and the mail. The Christmas order-by date shows on the page above once it is close, and it comes from the same file the order page reads, so it is always the real one.
A gift note goes at the top of the letter in the box, free. No prices go in the box. Every print is numbered and I initial it in pencil.
Who it works for
- A big birthday. A 40th, 50th or 70th. The year is far enough back that nobody remembers it.
- A new parent or grandparent. The year the baby was born, with the birth day marked. For a baby born this year it ships in January.
- Mom or Dad. The year they were born, from the town they grew up in. Pair it with the year they married if you want two.
- A farm kid. Drought years and wet years are family stories. The year a kid was born is often one of them.
If the gift is for a wedding or an anniversary, see the wedding year version. For farm gifts of every kind, see gifts for farmers.
Questions
Can I get the weather on the day someone was born?
Not for one day alone. A Rain Print draws the whole year, every rain and snow at the nearest weather station, and you mark the birthday on it. You can see how wet or dry the days around it were, and what the rest of that year looked like.
How far back can I go?
As far back as the nearest station kept records, in some places to 1890. Type the town and the year and the page tells you if that year can be drawn. A station that missed more than 31 days in the year gets no print, because the gaps would look like dry weeks.
Can I order the year a baby was born this year?
Yes. The print has to wait for the full year, so a print for this year ships in January, once the station's December numbers are in. You get a proof by email first, and a gift card to print and put under the tree.
Is it the weather where they were born, or where they live now?
Whichever town you type. Most people pick the town they were born in or grew up near. The print names the station it used and how far it is from that town.
What do I get if I order?
A digital file, a 13 x 19 print on heavy cotton paper, or the same in a black frame with a white mat and a glass front. Every order gets a proof by email first, and nothing prints until you OK it.
More: wedding year weather gift, farm anniversary gifts, retirement gifts for a farmer. Ready to try it? Draw a year free. Questions: contact me. Sig