(Weather station image via Shutterstock)
WINNIPEG — The provincial and federal governments are expanding the number of automated weather stations across Manitoba.
Manitoba currently has 61 stations that it operates, adding an additional 17 new ones in 2015. By 2018, the agro-meteorology program will expand to 84 stations across the province.
“This sophisticated equipment has already been extremely useful to farmers throughout the province, providing them with critical information for crop and land management decisions,” said Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn.
The solar-powered stations communicate wirelessly, allowing them to be set up in remote and rural areas. They measure air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, wind speed and direction and soil temperature, which is verified and posted to the provincial website hourly.
Such data is used to enhance flood and drought forecasting, precipitation maps, and monitoring severe weather.
