New Weather Station Aids in Emergency Weather Preparedness

The new weather station is located high atop the Sci-Tech building.

Real-time weather data and a live look at the Syracuse University main campus are now available, thanks to a donation from WeatherSTEM. Ed Mansouri, Florida State University alumnus, is the creator of WeatherSTEM. His initial goal for this program was to provide weather stations to K-12 schools with science technology and engineering curricula, but now, many Atlantic Coast Conference universities, including Syracuse University, have received the system as a donation. Typically, the system retails at $5,000, with annual fees around $1,750. The University is the 12th ACC institution to receive the station.

The philosophy behind WeatherSTEM is that an educated public is a safer public. According to Mansouri, this weather station is a powerful tool that “provides an extensive suite of public safety features, including lightning alerts, severe weather alerts, wet bulb globe temperature forecasts, environmental cameras, agricultural monitoring, and more.” This new tool will allow for resiliency to emergency weather and improved weather knowledge for the campus community.

Spearhead on this project, Joe Hernon, the University’s emergency management and business continuity manager, says, “A major part of emergency preparedness is staying informed. Here in Central New York with our ever changing weather, WeatherSTEM provides us with enhanced capability to monitor the current and forecast conditions.” He adds, “By staying informed, we are all able to make clear and accurate decisions to ensure the safety of our community. This weather station is also a great way to enhance our effort to be a Storm Ready community providing another method for staying informed.”

The weather station can be viewed by visiting https://onondaga.weatherstem.com/syracuse in your web browser; downloading the WeatherSTEM app on your iOS or Android device and registering with the Syracuse University station; or following the automated alerts from the weather station on Facebook and Twitter.