WKU News

Pictured at Monday’s ribbon-cutting from left to right: Gavin Connors, lead Field Technician for Kentucky Mesonet; Kevin Deitsch, Meteorologist-in-Charge of NWS Louisville; John Gordon, Kentucky Mesonet Advisory Board Chair; Mike Kochasic, Warning Coordinating Meteorologist at NWS Louisville; Shane Holinde, Outreach Manager for Kentucky Mesonet; Andrew Stark, Trimble County Emergency Manager; John Ogburn Jr., Trimble County Judge-Executive; Dr. Cathleen Webb, Associate Dean of Research for WKU Ogden College of Science and Engineering; Heidi Reutebuch, Field Representative for U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell; Melissa Cornish, Trimble County Magistrate; Todd Neace, Trimble County Superintendent; and Tiffany Miesel, Kentucky Mesonet Program Manager.

Bedford, Ky. – The state’s official weather and climate monitoring network – Kentucky Mesonet – held a ceremony Monday (April 20) for one of its newest sites in north-central Kentucky: Trimble County. The station is located at Trimble County Park, just north of Bedford, and is the 85th site to be added to the growing network. 

The site was born through a collaboration with Trimble County Emergency Manager, Andrew Stark, along with Trimble County Parks and Recreation and other county officials. 

The site’s tower, which stands 10 meters tall, includes numerous sensors that measure standard weather parameters such as temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction and barometric pressure. The site also includes a rain gauge along with solar panels measuring solar radiation. In addition, soil probes, which measure soil temperature and moisture at varying depths to 40 inches below the surface, have been installed. Weather data at the Trimble County station is collected by all sensors each minute and updates every five minutes via the network’s website (www.kymesonet.org) as well as the Kentucky Mesonet app for iOS and Android devices. 

Trimble County’s Mesonet station was the fifth station out of six to be introduced online in 2025, the biggest year of growth for the network since 2011. Besides the site near Bedford, stations in Clay, Spencer, Hancock, Powell and Laurel Counties were added last year. 

Dr. Cathleen Webb, Associate Dean of Research for WKU’s Ogden College of Science and Engineering, served as master of ceremonies. She emphasized the station’s importance in establishing climatological history through archived data, saying the site “will set records for heat and cold, wind, floods and drought. And as such, it will forever etch these historical markers into the public record. Generations from now will have a quantitative weather record from which they’ll be able to understand and learn of our weather history, climate and challenges.”

Dr. Webb also added that Mesonet provides the Commonwealth with a safer, more prepared future that is more economically efficient. “The Mesonet supports much improved weather monitoring and forecasts, and this translates to much improved weather warnings, more efficient farming and safer roadways and rail. It also means more efficient energy production, better water management and new educational opportunities,” Dr. Webb said. 

Also at the podium Monday was John Gordon, Chairman of the Mesonet Advisory Board, who cited past significant weather events, such as the strong tornadoes that moved through Trimble County in June 1990, March 2012 and more recently, April 2024, as examples of the importance of the county’s inclusion in the network. Mike Kochasic, Warning Coordinating Meteorologist at Louisville’s National Weather Service, was also on hand to speak.  

Monday’s event was attended by numerous county officials, including Judge-Executive John Ogburn Jr. Heidi Reutebuch, field representative for U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, was also among the attendees. 

Since 2022, the Kentucky General Assembly has invested $1.75 million annually into Kentucky Mesonet. The funding helps to maintain and grow one of the nation’s most expansive weather networks. The network has a goal of establishing at least one station in all 120 counties in the Commonwealth.

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 and via the Kentucky Mesonet app for mobile devices. 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.