WKU News

Pictured at Thursday’s ribbon-cutting from left to right: Katie Marks, field representative for U.S. Congressman Brett Guthrie (R); Gary Baker, Hancock County Magistrate; Robby Asberry, Hancock County Schools Superintendent; Kyle Veach, Hancock County Emergency Manager, Dr. Jerry Brotzge, State Climatologist and Director of Mesonet; Dr. David Brown, Dean of WKU Ogden College of Science and Engineering; Hunter Whitaker, field representative for U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R); and Shane Holinde, Outreach Manager for Kentucky Mesonet. 

The Commonwealth’s official weather and climate monitoring network - Kentucky Mesonet – continues to grow. The network officially cut the ribbon on its 83^rd station Thursday morning in Hancock County near Lewisport.

Hancock County’s Mesonet site first appeared online in late July. The station includes a 10-meter tower, approximately 33-feet tall, with sensors and instrumentation that measure air temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed and direction, air pressure and leaf wetness. Additional instrumentation includes panels that measure solar radiation along with underground probes that collect soil moisture and soil temperature.

The new site came about through a partnership between Hancock County Emergency Management and Hancock County Schools, with the school system serving as the site host. Hancock is the 78^th county in Kentucky to include a Mesonet station, one that helps fill one of the last remaining gaps in the network in the northwestern portion of the state.

“The Mesonet data is made available to partners such as the National Weather Service, who ingests that data into their operational models, thereby providing more improved weather prediction across all of Kentucky,” said Mesonet Director, Dr. Jerry Brotzge. “The data are also used for issuing weather alerts and warnings.”

Besides serving the geographical need for additional sites in the state’s western climate region, the Lewisport site lies just a few miles away from the Ohio River.

“The Ohio is critical for the health of agriculture in Hancock County,” said Dr. David Brown, Dean of WKU Ogden College. “(The river) provides farmers with a source of irrigation.”

Dr. Brown also stated that the county’s place along the Ohio River makes it an important route of transportation.

“Data collected by this site can be used by those who manage water and energy utilities, as well as transportation and emergency managers, public health officials, and all whose livelihoods depend heavily on weather and climate,” added Dr. Brown.

For the past three years, 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 83 stations in 78 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.