Man, it's rather windy around here today in south central New England. 20-30 mph winds sustained, gusts up to 50mph! The ambient temp is in the low 50's with a wind chill in the low 40's. I'll tell you what, I'm extremely happy with the performance of my new Smoke thermometer by Thermowerks. Without it I'd be clueless as to what's happening temp wise in my PBC. Is it completly necessary to know the pit temp? Id say not really. Since I cook all year around here and it gets in the single digits or even lower it's sure gonna help in letting me know what temp I'm at. Especially whenever you have the rebars out and or the lid cracked! I took the rebars out and cracked the lid a little bit to bring the temp up slightly and compensate for the high winds and help me power thru the stall before my coals burn out and I was watching the pit temp fluctuate a minimum of 10 to 20 degs F. up and down. The wind is a huge factor with my cook today and I'm really happy with my new "tools". Definitely making the probability of a successful cook on a day like today a lot better!