It’s official, Somerset County Department of Emergency Services now has its own weather station network! The most recent weather station addition was installed at the highest point in Pennsylvania, now sitting at 3,213 feet, atop Mount Davis!
We’re excited to share that this is the fourth AcuRite weather station installation with the emergency services group. Depending on internet and power options at each location, each site has a little different weather station setup, but all four are AcuRite weather stations and are connected to the internet! The most recent was the AcuRite Iris™ (5-in-1) with Direct-to-Wi-Fi Display and is mounted at the base of the tall communications tower (pictured below).
Since 2018, the Somerset County Department of Emergency Services has deployed AcuRite weather stations to safeguard Somerset County residents and visitors. See the map below for an idea of the spatial coverage that this weather monitoring equipment provides for the community on developing storms and weather alerts. All of the stations can be found on Weather Underground to allow the public access to this weather data. The Weather Underground station IDs are as follows: KPASOMER23, KPAFORTH2, KPABOSWE7, KPASTOYS8. Not only does this help the community for preventive measures and planning purposes, but also to assist professionals in their response to emergencies.
The third installation was the AcuRite Atlas™ with lightning detection and furthered the advanced warning capabilities that didn’t exist previously. Somerset County has the highest elevated point in Pennsylvania and has some of the most extreme weather conditions across the commonwealth. With the fast-changing weather conditions, we now have early warning weather alerts because we have strategically placed weather stations across the county.
We hope that this is just the start of a weather station network to be better prepared for severe weather events. The straightforward setup and deployment of these weather stations allow for highly compatible and adaptable installation for any location, with minimal effort. Citizens can be better prepared for changing weather if they choose to install and maintain weather stations as well. We urge the community to be better prepared for severe weather by taking proactive steps to ensure they have early detection of inclement weather. Please read about our first AcuRite weather station installation and visit our Facebook page to stay updated with our activities with the community.