The comprehensive weather network turned 30 this year and is relocating one of its oldest towers.
Local farmers, emergency responders and others use data from the Oklahoma Mesonet’s 120 stations across the state to get real-time weather information. The widespread network of sensors, commissioned in 1994, can catch events early like wildfire conditions or high rainfall amounts.
But one of its original weather towers went offline on Dec. 11 after the private land in Mount Herman — where the system was located since the 1990s — was sold.
The University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, which operate the mesonet, are seeking a new volunteer landowner in the area to house the data-gathering technology.
“It was one of our original mesonet stations when the network was put in, which is the case for most of the mesonet sites we have across the state,” said Chris Fiebrich, director of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey. “Most of them have stayed there — that's how we can kind of best track the weather and climate patterns across Oklahoma.”
The mesonet’s library of data goes back more than 30 years, which may not seem significant compared to weather records dating back a century or more. Yet the three decades mark a climatological period, allowing scientists to compare today’s weather to historical averages and better understand climate change.
Long-term weather monitoring is becoming increasingly important as the planet warms, scientists say.
Oklahoma was the first to create a comprehensive statewide mesonet after OU and OSU sought government funding for the program. Today, at least 30 states operate similar programs.
The Mount Herman weather station will have at least a week of missing data, but other locations in McCurtain County are still in operation, Fiebrich said. The tower’s location will need to be away from water, forest and urban development that can influence local weather patterns, he said.
“We want as pristine of an area as we can find to represent the large part of the county,” Fiebrich said.
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