Stony Brook University among 19 early warning weather detection system sites, officials say

Stony Brook University is among the first 19 sites named in New York State's new early warning weather detection system, state officials said Monday.

The plan is for a total of 125 automated stations, with each gathering and feeding air, wind, soil and radiation data to a central processing site at the University of New York at Albany.

In a `news release Monday announcing construction approval for the first sites, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo also cited recent impacts of extreme weather activity, and that data from the new network will help prepare "for whatever Mother Nature brings."

Besides emergency managers facing severe weather events, the system is also aimed at supporting researchers and those in industries such as agriculture and energy production, the release said.

The $23.6 million network, funded through FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, is expected to be operational by 2016, officials said.

Learn more at http://nysmesonet.org/