Photo Courtesy of Sen. Schumer
“What we saw with Hurricane Ida and what we see more and more is that storms change rapidly, varying in course, rainfall and other factors—and we need to keep up with all of it in real time,” Sen. Schumer said.
By Forum Staff
New York City and Long Island’s severe weather warning system, a web-like scattering of 126 observation stations across the state called a mesonet, needs upgrades and funding for maintenance as climate change makes forecasting harder and harder, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer noted on Sunday.
Schumer has announced a push to upgrade hyper-local and real-time weather forecast technology in New York via the upcoming federal budget.
“What we saw with Hurricane Ida and what we see more and more is that storms change rapidly, varying in course, rainfall and other factors—and we need to keep up with all of it in real time,” Schumer said. “The good news here is that New York has an artery-like system of weather observation stations scattered across the state, at least one in every county, that help us perfect forecasting with hyper-local data. The issue is, they need to be maintained and upgraded to keep pace with the new challenges posed by climate change and how those challenges make it critical to be as precise as possible with forecasting.”
Schumer, with support from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), explained how $3 million in Congressionally Directed Spending to the University at Albany, which hosts NY’s mesonet weather data program, will provide a key upgrade to these systems that unlocks key data from the clouds, along with a $30 million dollar national investment in the country’s mesonet weather observation system. Schumer said Ida showed we need sharper forecasts to better understand storms and that the technology exists to achieve the goal. Schumer warned that without upgrades or delayed investment in NY’s system, that local forecasting ability could become partly cloudy, which could impact both storm prediction and public safety.
According to the University at Albany, data from the NYS mesonet informs forecasters and emergency managers (including those at the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services) to help mitigate the harmful effects from high-impact, extreme weather-related disasters. The NYS mesonet provides real-time data to operational forecasters and emergency managers from across the state with updates every five minutes and an average station spacing of about 19 miles. These data are combined with data from other surface networks, weather radar, and satellite to provide real-time weather information and to improve numerical weather prediction models for even greater accuracy and precision than ever before, giving emergency managers and forecasters much greater confidence in their warning products and in subsequent protective action.
Of the 126 stations, 17 scan Doppler in real-time, and the $3 million investment would help expand this even further. Locally, they include:
- Queens
- The Bronx
- Staten Island
- Wantagh
- Stony Brook
- East Hampton
“A small amount of federal dollars—just $3 million for New York upgrades and then a $30 million dollar investment for maintenance and expansion nationally—much of which will flow to New York—will ensure this critical tool continues providing hyper-local and real-time weather forecasts and situational awareness in NY and across the country, and this is an investment we must make so that our forecasts can be sharper and so that public safety can be maintained when Mother Nature delivers a punch,” Schumer added.
