Pennsylvania Fire Station Uses AcuRite Weather Instruments to Help Protect Community
The Duquesne Annex Volunteer Fire Company in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, has been putting our AcuRite Atlas® weather station to work. Data collected by our wireless weather station is used to provide our first responders with advanced notice of adverse conditions, and it factors greatly in how we respond to various emergencies.
The calculated feels like temperature, which appears on the display component of the wireless weather station, comes in handy when temperatures peak in the summer and hit lows in the winter. Knowing the feels like temperature allows our fighters to dress appropriately and stock necessary resources when temperatures are too high or too low. By accessing our weather history in My AcuRite®, we can analyze previous days, months, and years to understand trends and records and try to predict and prepare for future temperature spikes and drops. The detailed weather data and historical records for our hyperlocal weather conditions help us and our community stay ahead of the curve.
The built-in lightning detector warns us of any approaching thunderstorms, giving our firefighters time to take action to avoid life-threatening situations resulting from nearby lightning. Being aware of any impending severe weather means that we can predict which areas of our community might be at risk for emergency incidents like flooding, lightning strikes, or damage from high winds.
An alarm set on the rain gauge alerts our firefighters if the weather station detects that flooding may occur — this is a common concern in our emergency response district! The ability to create custom alarms to notify us about rainfall and other such weather really helps us be proactive about preparing our emergency responders for incidents before the situation worsens or becomes dangerous to the community. We can also compare our rain accumulation with past rain data in My AcuRite and make informed guesses about when our area will have the most rainfall or the highest chance for flooding, even before the alert goes out!
We aren’t the only ones with access to this data. We have registered our AcuRite Atlas wireless weather station with the Weather Underground network, allowing our community to get access the page themselves, receive up-to-data local weather information, and plan their days using a forecast tailored to their neighborhood. All in all, our fire department weather station has been a valuable addition to our station and our community.
