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Stoddard County rolls out new storm prediction technology
The Stoddard County Emergency Management Agency has rolled out some new technology to assist in their duty to provide early warning messaging to County residents in the event of severe weather.
SDS Weather’s RadarOmega is now active in the county. This system includes a cyclonePORT network with weather stations installed in Dexter, Puxico, Bloomfield, Dudley, Advance and Essex, and a mobile unit based out of Bernie. The camera at the Dudley station is motorized, which will allow EMA Director Andrew Bohnert to rotate the camera remotely from his office and view the skyline to check for any rotation, wall clouds, and/or funnel clouds as severe weather approaches. The Dudley site was chosen for the first motorized camera because it is located in the southwest portion of the county, this is the most likely area that severe weather will move into the county.
The other weather stations have stationary cameras installed, which are facing west. The Dexter site is a dual setup with two cameras, one facing west and one facing east. The exception is Essex, this weather station does not yet have a camera. The goal is replace these cameras with motorized cameras including Essex.
The stations include a camera and a weather vane that provides data to a sensor unit that feeds a hub which will feed the data to RadarOmega. The casings for the weather stations were produced on a 3D printer. Up to 20 cameras will be installed in the county.
Bohnert, or anyone with the app, can bring up any one of these cameras and will instantly be shown not only the a view from the camera at that location, but also real-time weather data. The data will include air temperature, wind speed, barometric pressure, rainfall total, etc.
Stoddard County is the first to put this technology into use. Designer Don Murray said the company has deployed individual units and mobile units but Stoddard County is the first to use the technology on this scale.
“In regard to the old radar system that was being used at dispatch, I wasn’t a fan of it, I didn’t like the features they offered or the functionality,” said Bohnert. “I was reaching out to several radar service vendors in the U.S. to see what they could offer for radar coverage to put in our offices across the County.”
SDS contacted him with an offer to make Stoddard County their prototype location.
“I got a reply and they (SDS) said we’ve got something we want to set you up with,” said Bohnert. “And make you guys one of our pilot programs across the county. We will give you our prototypes and see how they are implemented. I started it, but it was these guys (SDS) that really took off with it and really wanted to showcase what they could offer.”
The information gathered from the station along with high resolution radar data that is provided to the system from the National Weather Service and the FAA will give Bohnert an advantage over waiting for the weather service. “The National Weather Service in Paducah is our main source for radar coverage, and due to the distance away, they can only see a storm from the knees up essentially. It is crucial that we obtain information from local storm spotters and these weather stations so we know what is currently happening on the ground,” says Bohnert.
Murray presented this information and provided a demo of the program to the County fire and law enforcement chiefs and dispatch captains. Murray spoke after the presentation saying he also envisions this technology being used by farmers to track vital rainfall totals for their crops. He said farmers can use this information to make critical decisions regarding planting and harvesting by accessing this phone app to see how much it rained.
Murray said as more counties get on the network they will be able to access each other and see vital storm history information.
The cyclonePORT network will allow Bohnert to view multiple cameras at one time, if needed, as he monitors conditions in the County when severe weather threatens. This technology is also available to all emergency personnel in the county. SDS Weather, the owners of the technology, will upgrade the County emergency personnel to the full subscription version of the app for free.
The technology will not only be on an app on mobile devices carried by the emergency personnel but could be on the computers in their vehicles as well. This will provide vital information on the approaching storms instantly and allow personnel to immediately prepare to respond when the storm subsides.
While the National Weather Service gathers data from off site to determine if a weather warning is necessary, Bohnert will have data onsite and in real time. The system will also allow users, including Bohnert, to view storm outlook data from the storm prediction center, lightning data with the storm and more.
Using the data now at his disposal, Bohnert can activate the outdoor warning sirens based on accurate data, rather than solely on reports from storm spotters. With the RadarOmega system he can activate the sirens quicker and give county residents a possible five to 10 minutes longer to seek shelter.
The RadarOmega system will provide a large amount of detailed information from multiple radar views to wind speed, information on any hail and more.
Murry said all community members can download this app and subscribe to the service. Parts of the service are available without a subscription as well, Murray said the weather stations can be accessed without a subscription. Anyone wishing to purchase the app can search RadarOmega in the app store on their mobile device.
“I look forward to using the technology in the event of severe weather,” Bohnert states, “this is a true game-changer. This has the potential of saving lives by providing us the crucial, time-sensitive data which is so desperately needed in time of severe weather. I can’t thank our community partners and local jurisdictions enough for their generosity of providing these locations to us. Their kindness and willingness of allowing us to use their buildings to mount these stations is tremendously appreciated.”