(thunder rumbling)
[Nathan Leber] So, a mesonet is a network
of weather stations.
TexMesonet analyzes weather data at a much smaller scale
than what is currently available.
We look at things like individual thunderstorms
or differences from one location to another
that are within 20 miles from each other.
Whereas the existing weather station coverage
would not pick up those small-scale differences.
(drill buzzing)
These weather stations are highly scientific
and require very precise calibration.
Attached to that 10-meter tower are wind sensors,
temperature sensors, relative humidity sensors,
at multiple levels.
We also have precipitation gauges on the ground,
and we generally include four depths of soil moisture
and soil temperature probes.
TexMesonet stations transmit data every 15 minutes.
This allows first responders,
national weather service forecasters, and the general public
to see what's happening in their area in near real-time.
[Troy Kimmel] Nowadays, we've got all this fancy stuff
in weather forecasting
that shows us pretty maps and charts,
and what models think about this and that,
but it's so important to have a good foundation
and remain situationally aware.
Nothing like the Texas Mesonet is going to tell us
what's happening now.
[Gregory Waller] We can still get the job done
with radars and with satellites,
but the value of a Texas Mesonet
is to put gauges in a real-time manner
to verify what we're seeing, to verify the accuracy,
and increase the accuracy
of our radar estimates and our satellite estimates.
[Nathan] The goal of TexMesonet is to cover the state
in weather stations
that have at least a 20-mile buffer between the stations.
That ensures coverage adequate to make appropriate forecasts
for our state.
[Gregory Waller] Right now, most of the official
observing sites
are at large airports,
but a mesonet fills in the gaps
so that all the counties can have one
and all the regions can have one.
It gives us a more defined, detailed look
at the smaller-scale weather phenomena that can go on.
[Troy Kimmel] Flash flooding is an issue in Houston,
it's an issue in Longview,
it's an issue in northwest Texas.
It's an issue all across the state,
and to have that real-time rain gauge information
and know what's hitting the ground is so important.
[Gregory Waller] The beauty is the Texas Mesonet
has all the meteorological information.
So, we can look at wind data and temperature data,
and pressure data set to help us find the fine boundaries
that may cause thunderstorms to develop
or allow thunderstorms to develop.
It has the rain gauge data to allow us to verify
how accurate our rainfall estimates
are coming from our radars.
And some of them have soil moisture parameters
to allow us to know how saturated the soils are
to aid with runoff.
So, it's all of the above.
It increases the lead time on warning operations,
and it adds verification to warning products in some cases.
But our forecasts are better, and lives are saved
because the Texas Mesonet data is in there
to help us improve accuracy and timeliness.
[Troy Kimmel] The mesonet and our weather observation tools
are our ground truth.
(soft guitar music)