WKU News

One of the country’s most expansive state weather and climate monitoring networks, operated within the Kentucky Climate Center at Western Kentucky University, has just received the largest overhaul for its webpage in close to a decade.

Kentucky Mesonet’s official website, www.kymesonet.org, now contains many new maps, graphs and other interactive features. While on the homepage, users of the website can now click on one of the 80 counties that houses a Mesonet station to view real-time data, webcam and forecasts. A box featuring that county’s other latest weather information, including temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar radiation will appear to the right. All data updates online in real-time, every five minutes, 24 hours a day.

Also among the website’s new features are the addition of National Weather Service (NWS) warnings and advisory map overlays as well as local NWS forecasts for a selected county. General information about the network, network instrumentation and other frequently asked questions can be found under the ‘about’ tab on the homepage. In addition, full screen maps, along with links to daily extremes and more downloadable data options are now available. The site also contains new, customizable graphs for a wide range of weather parameters, including soils, under its ‘data’ tab. Meteograms, graphs which include multi-day plots for variables such as temperature, wind, pressure and more, have been added to the website. Historical data extremes for several parameters are also available. An ‘outreach’ tab featuring the Mesonet’s latest news headlines and social media posts has been added. 

Pre-existing features such as an expansive map catalog along with monthly climate summaries for each site can still be found within the data tab. Links to the Kentucky Climate Center, along with a data request tool remain a part of the new-look site. 

“The new website opens new opportunities for using weather information in new and creative ways,” explained Kentucky Mesonet Director Dr. Jerry Brotzge. “State weather networks are a critical tool used in a variety of important daily activities. For example, farmers use Mesonet data for knowing when to plant, fertilize and harvest, and public health officials use Mesonet data to know when to open shelters during extreme temperature conditions. The new website better facilitates these needs by providing specialized graphical information in easier to access formats.”

About the Kentucky Mesonet at WKU: The Kentucky Mesonet at WKU is the Commonwealth’s official source for weather and climate data. The statewide network includes 86 stations in 80 counties. The Mesonet stations collect real-time data on air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, precipitation, solar radiation, wind speed and direction and transmit it to the Kentucky Mesonet Operations Center at the WKU Innovation Campus every five minutes, 24 hours per day, throughout the year. The data are available online at www.kymesonet.org. Dr. Jerry Brotzge serves as Director of the Kentucky Mesonet at WKU and Kentucky Climate Center. The project was initially funded with a $2.9 million federal grant for the Kentucky Climate Center, part of WKU’s Applied Research and Technology Program. The first station was installed at the WKU Farm in May 2007. In recent years, staff have been working to build a broad base of support across Kentucky to continue development and maintenance of the network. The 2022 biennial budget approved by the General Assembly added $1 million to the Kentucky Mesonet, bringing total state funding to $1,750,000 each year. 

Contact: Dr. Jerry Brotzge, (270) 745-4567

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Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.