A new weather station was installed on campus in December, enabling more accurate weather information and forecasting for the campus than what was previously available at Barnes Field in Westfield.
Installed on the roof of Wilson Hall, the station sends weather related data to the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration for use in forecast modeling and drought monitoring, according to Karl Leiker, Ph.D., professor of geography, planning & sustainability and the University’s resident meteorological expert.
During the spring semester, some students majoring in environmental science may be using data for either research seminar projects or a senior honors project, according to Tim Parshall, Ph.D., environmental science professor and department chair.
The project to install the station was led by James Johnson, an assistant director in the campus card office in Wilson Hall, with the assistance of many co-workers, including Fred DeChristopher, Jason Florek, Ken Gamelli, L.J. Gamelli, Allyn Hall, Brian LaBombard, Brian Longley, Angelo Mazza, Jason A. Miller, Kevin O’Neil, Dave Riggles and John Seaver.
To access the weather station, visit either Weather Underground or Weather Link. When accessing Weather Underground on your phone or tablet, locate Westfield on the map and the neighborhood is Mundale.