New York is well on its way to building a uniquely extensive statewide weather network, 125 automated stations stretching from Lake Erie to the tip of Long Island.
Fourteen stations are already transmitting temperature, pressure and other data every five minutes. When all are operating by the end of the year, forecasters and emergency officials say they will get a million data points a day that hopefully will lead to more accurate warnings of approaching storms.
The new system, which is being funded by a $23 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will augment the 27 stations now used by federal forecasters.
Discussions about a New York Mesonet began in earnest after the Catskills were deluged by the remnants of Hurricane Irene in 2011.
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