How New Weather Stations Enhance Safety In Stearns County

Stearns County is currently working on installing new weather stations in order to provide better weather monitoring in case of severe weather, as well as improve the accuracy of information that Stearns County Emergency Management is getting.

10 New Weather Stations Coming To Select Stearns Co. Cities

According to the Stearns County Fall newsletter, there are new weather stations coming to select cities. The new weather stations will have sensors that not only tell Stearns County Emergency Management the temperature and precipitation, but the new stations will also be capturing humidity, wind speed and direction, as well as barometric pressure.

The information collected from these new weather stations will also be shared with the National Weather Service to help them issue weather-related alerts and warnings.

What Cities Are Getting New Weather Stations in Stearns County?

The cities that were mentioned in the Fall newsletter were:

Albany
Belgrade
Brooten
Cold Spring
Freeport
Kimball
Melrose
Sauk Centre
St. Augusta
St. Martin

The new stations will be in addition to existing weather stations in:

Greenwald
Holdingford
New Munich
Paynesville
Richmond
St. Cloud (2 Stations)
St. Stephen

'Private' Weather Stations Are Key Tool For National Weather Service

The 'private' weather stations, I use that word in quotes as they aren't actually the National Weather Service, fill in some key weather gaps that stations at regional airports can't supply, and also aid local meteorologists in forecasting potential severe weather.

How Were These New Weather Stations Paid For?

The good news for taxpayers in Stearns County is that the new weather stations weren't paid for by tax dollars. Instead, the project was funded through the Public Safety Foundation. The total amount that was spent on the project was $2,000.