Local YouTube Meteorologist Monitors Post-Windstorm Air Clarity; Reports 13 Visible Lampposts

WAUKESHA — In the 24 hours since a Canadian cold front pushed 25-mph wind gusts and periods of rain through Waukesha County, local YouTube meteorologist Ned England has arrived at a conclusion the National Weather Service has not: the air, he says, has never been clearer.

England, 70, of Backslide Way, uploaded a new segment to his atmospheric-conditions channel Nedsmokedout Tuesday morning reporting a count of 13 visible lampposts from the Frame Park pedestrian bridge, four above his established clear-day baseline of nine and two above his previous personal record of 11, set in late July.

"I want to be careful with the word 'record,'" England said, standing at the bridge railing with a spiral notebook and a pair of binoculars he does not appear to need. "But I counted twice, and I counted a third time when I didn't believe the second count, and it held at 13 both times. That's not a fluke. That's a system doing what it's supposed to do."

The Method, Reapplied

England's lamppost-visibility system, developed in July to document wildfire smoke conditions, works by counting how many lampposts along the Fox River path are individually distinguishable from the bridge's center span. He said he had not planned to use the method again once the smoke advisory lifted, but reconsidered Monday night as the wind event wound down.

"I thought, well, if it can measure air getting worse, it should be able to measure air getting better," England said. "Nobody had done the second half of that math. I did the second half of that math."

The 13-lamppost count was recorded at 7:14 a.m. Tuesday, under conditions England described in his video as "flat calm, high pressure, not a cloud doing anything interesting." He noted that a 14th lamppost, the farthest from the bridge, was "arguably visible" but that he declined to count it, calling the distinction "the difference between a number people can trust and a number I just wanted."

"The wind system did what the EPA refuses to do."

— Ned England, Nedsmokedout

An Unscientific, Sincerely Held Theory

Asked what caused the improvement, England attributed it to the wind event itself, which he said had "cleared the system with precision rarely seen in nature," and, unprompted, to what he called years of inaction by federal regulators.

"The wind system did what the EPA refuses to do," England said. "I'm not a scientist. I want to say that up front, on the record, so nobody accuses me of claiming I'm a scientist. I'm a guy with a bridge and a notebook. But the numbers are the numbers."

He said he did not have a specific EPA policy or decision in mind, and that the remark was "more of a general feeling I've had for some time now, that got confirmed today."

Three Subscribers, Undisturbed

Nedsmokedout, launched in July with three subscribers, remained at three subscribers as of Tuesday evening. England said the number "isn't the point," though he acknowledged checking it "more than I'd tell most people" during the 90 minutes he spent editing the record-count video.

"Nedventuresout took years to build an audience," he said, referring to his main channel's 420 subscribers. "Nedsmokedout is a different kind of project. It's not for everybody. It's barely for three people."

Trevor England, who lives at home and was recruited to hold the tripod steady during Tuesday's filming, said his father had woken him at 6:45 a.m. to explain that "conditions were right" and that the count "couldn't wait for a normal hour."

"He said 13 like it was a big number," Trevor England said. "I don't have a strong opinion on lampposts. But he seemed happy, so I held the tripod."

Skepticism From The Upper Unit

Troy England, who rents the upper duplex unit, questioned the record's validity from his kitchen window, noting that lamppost visibility depends partly on which lampposts have working bulbs, and that the city had replaced two bulbs along the Fox River path in early August.

"So is it clearer air, or is it new bulbs," Troy England said. "Those aren't the same thing. I brought this up to him and he said he'd factored it in. I don't think he's factored it in."

England, informed of his son's objection, said the bulb question was "a fair question from someone who doesn't do this daily" but maintained that his count methodology "controls for lighting" because it is conducted during daylight hours, when bulb status is irrelevant.

"If Troy wants to come out at 7 a.m. and count with me, the invitation stands," England said. "It has stood since July."

Ned England's lamppost count is expected to continue on an as-needed basis. Nedsmokedout currently has three subscribers. The National Weather Service has not issued a statement regarding lamppost visibility.