BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Better weather monitoring could keep your family safer through extreme events. Whether devastating flooding or dangerous blizzards, Burlington’s National Weather Service office is hard at work collecting data to keep you safe. However, there are gaps in that data that a new system aims to fill.
When a flood warning or evacuation notice flashes across your phone, that’s thanks to real-time data collected at weather stations throughout Vermont. But some rural communities that are prone to disasters don’t have reliable weather monitoring. That’s where the Vermont Mesonet comes in.
“This data in these monitoring networks can potentially save lives,” said Josh Beneš of the University of Vermont.
Mesonets are networks of automated weather stations placed in communities without ample weather monitoring. The University of Vermont just secured a $217,000 grant to construct Vermont’s prototype mesonet station. Project leaders say station data will fill the gaps in the state’s overall monitoring and keep folks in the know.
“Forecasters would be able to know exactly how much precipitation fell there in real-time and be able to make more informed forecasts on how much rainwater is going to lead to increased flow and discharge on area streams,” Beneš said.
UVM, Vermont State University and other officials will soon choose where to construct the first station to be built this summer. Former New York mesonet technician Samantha Koehler will take the reins.
