Weather station constructed near Albany
A meteorological station has been constructed and is up and operational on the Sanders Compton Ranch, located just east-northeast of Albany.
The station will provide near real-time information on weather data such as wind speed, direction, daily and yearly rainfall, soil temperature, and moisture levels along with barometric pressure, humidity, dew point, and solar intensity data.
The site also offers a real-time source of weather information to groups such as the National Weather Service and the Texas Forest Service from Shackelford County.
The new weather station also has wind sensors at 6.5 and 20 feet that give local fire departments vital information that can help when grass fires erupt, estimating how fast the fires will be advancing.
In addition, the West Texas Mesonet site will update the Red Flag Threat Index (RTFI) for Shackelford County every five minutes, which gives local fire departments information on the threat for “extreme fire behavior” for the area.
“We are excited to have the Mesonet site near Albany,” said Wes Burgett of the West Texas Mesonet. “We think it will help everyone, not just local and state authorities, in knowing exactly the local weather conditions.”
Steve Kersh, who serves as a meteorologist for the Pantex plant, located east of Amarillo, helped with the planning of the facility.
“I was happy to assist in site planning and also during construction,” said Kersh. “We have a West Texas Mesonet site at Pantex, and it has been extremely beneficial to our employees and farmers/ranchers who live nearby.”
Burgett noted that meteorologists from the San Angelo National Weather Service, Lubbock National Weather Service, and the West Texas Mesonet office also helped during planning and construction.
The West Texas Mesonet is a project of the National Wind Institute, located at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. The NWI studies post-storm events in an attempt to learn more about the destructive nature of high wind events and tornadoes. The NWI came into being shortly after the 1970 F5 tornado that occurred in Lubbock.
To see the new Albany site, download the free “WTMesonet” app from the Google Play and App Store or visit the West Texas Mesonet website at mesonet.ttu.edu to see all 140 sites, or go to https://rain.ttu.edu/tech/1-output/singlesite.php?site=ALBA to see Albany’s site only. There are easy links to the soil data and minute-by-minute weather information from all 140 sites as well.
For more information, contact Kersh at 806-654-6654 or Burgett at 806-742-3476.
