Weather station network expands

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This article was published 18/01/2016 (3631 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The federal and provincial governments are expanding the province’s network of automated weather stations after installing 17 new stations in 2015.

Manitoba has a total of 61 automated weather stations operated by the provincial government, including one at Starbuck and another east of Portage la Prairie. By 2018, the agro-meteorology program will expand to 84 stations.

Having more stations located within Manitoba’s agricultural region means increased data collection and more accurate and detailed information available at no charge, provincial agricultural meteorology specialist Timi Ojo said.

“Having more weather stations helps to increase the density of their coverage,” he said.

The automated stations are solar-powered and communicate wirelessly. They measure air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, wind speed and direction and soil temperature. This information is posted to the provincial website each hour.  

Ojo said monitoring soil temperature is useful for farmers who plant winter wheat and need to plan when to get their crop in and assess its progress in the early spring.

Soil temperature and measurements of snow and rainfall are also used in provincial flood and drought forecasting, Ojo said.

The current weather station information is at www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/weather/current-ag-weather-conditions.html

— Staff