WKU News

Pictured at Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting from left to right: Anette Heisdorffer, UK Horticulture Extension Agent; Chris Castlen, County Commissioner; Pat Hardesty, Kentucky EMA; Laura Rigsby, Field representative - U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell; Eric Coleman, Daviess County Fire Chief; Rep. Suzanne Miles, KY Congress - 7th District and field representative for U.S. Congressman Brett Guthrie; Mike Page, Daviess County Emergency Manager; Jeremy Smith, Daviess County Public Safety Director; Brad Youngman, County Sheriff; Tiffany Miesel, KY Mesonet Manager; Judge Charlie Castlen, Daviess County Judge-Executive; Rep. D.J. Johnson, KY Congress - 13th District; Janie Marksberry, County Commissioner; Larry Conder, County Commissioner; John Farash, KY Mesonet; Aaron Meador, KY Mesonet; Cooper Jackson, KY Mesonet; Chun Hei Yuen, KY Mesonet; Andrew Lowe, KY Mesonet; Jerald Meadows, Meteorologist-in-charge, NWS Paducah; Gavin Connors, KY Mesonet; Dr. Cathleen Webb, Associate Dean, WKU Ogden College of Science and Engineering; Lauren Poblet, KY Mesonet; and Dr. David Brown, Dean, WKU Ogden College of Science and Engineering

Owensboro, Ky. – The official weather and climate monitoring network for the Commonwealth – Kentucky Mesonet – continues to grow. 

Local, state and federal dignitaries along with officials from Western Kentucky University gathered at the Daviess County Government Operation Center Tuesday to christen the network’s 87th site in its 81st county. 

This fully automated weather station, which first started collecting data in May, was born through a partnership with the Daviess County Fiscal Court and Kentucky Mesonet, with the Fiscal Court serving as site host. The station is located about five miles southwest of downtown Owensboro, catching much of the weather that moves into the state’s fourth-largest city.  

The site consists of a 10-meter tower that includes sensors that measure standard weather parameters such as temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction and barometric pressure. The station also includes a precipitation gauge as well as solar panels measuring solar radiation. Soil probes, which measure soil temperature and moisture at varying depths to 40 inches below the surface, have also been installed. Observations collected in the field are quality-controlled and archived in real-time at a central processing hub at Western Kentucky University Innovation Campus. Data are sampled every three seconds, with the average five-minute data pushed to the Mesonet website (www.kymesonet.org) along with the Mesonet app for iOS and Android for public use.  

“Daviess County has had weather stations dating back to 1896,” said Dr. Jerry Brotzge, Mesonet Director and State Climatologist. “This Mesonet station will add to that climatology by observing records for heat and cold, wind, floods and drought. And as such, it will forever etch these historical markers into the public record.”

“The Mesonet supports much improved weather monitoring and forecasts, and this translates to much improved weather warnings, more efficient farming and safer roadways, shipping and rail. It also means more efficient energy production, better water management and new educational opportunities,” Dr. Brotzge added.

The Dean of WKU’s Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Dr. David Brown, also spoke before the crowd, emphasizing the connection between the growth of the Mesonet and the state’s growing economy, with a major waterway running through Owensboro playing a key role.   

“The Ohio River is also a primary source of irrigation for Daviess County farmers,” said Dr. Brown. “They can use data collected from this site to determine best times to plant, fertilize and harvest crops.”

“The data can also be used by those who oversee water and energy utilities, as well as emergency managers, public health officials and all whose livelihoods depend heavily on weather and climate,” Dr. Brown added. 

Also in attendance was Dr. Cathleen Webb, Associate Dean of Research at WKU Ogden College of Science and Engineering. She said that the data collected by the Daviess County site and others in the network “feeds into climate models, drought analyses and severe weather studies, improving forecast accuracy and understanding of climate variability.”

Suzanne Miles (R), State Representative for Kentucky’s 7th District and field representative for U.S. Congressman Brett Guthrie, along with Daviess County Public Safety Director and site host, Jeremy Smith, and Jerald Meadows and Derrick Snyder of National Weather Service Paducah, were also on hand to speak at Tuesday’s ceremony. Laura Rigsby, 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.