Mobile weather stations assisting efforts

Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005 | 9:20 a.m.

When Hurricane Katrina took out several weather stations on the Gulf Coast, federal officials tapped Desert Research Institute scientists to help them provide weather data crucial to emergency operations.

Scientists with DRI, a division of the Nevada System of Higher Education, worked with the National Interagency Fire Center to get satellite-operated mobile weather stations to the most needed areas and to get the data from those stations to the people in charge within 24 hours, said Kelly Redmond, regional climatologist and deputy director with the Western Regional Climate Center.

As host to one of the nation's weather repository centers, DRI scientists like Redmond have often been the link in getting emergency workers the weather information they need in a pinch, from fighting wild fires to NASA shuttle recovery to the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"This is not something particular or peculiar to Katrina. It's just something that we do automatically," Redmond said.

"Our role here is to provide relatively easy access to weather and climate information."

Operating out of Boise, the fire center commands several mobile weather units and oversees most of the wildfire fighting efforts in the country, Redmond said. The center flew one of its mobile units from Utah to New Orleans, and once that unit was online, DRI scientist Greg McCurdy organized and distributed the data in a Web page format enabling easy and quick access to real time information, Redmond said.

Having been working in the field near Bryce Canyon National Park when DRI got the request, McCurdy put the Web page together in his hotel room.

Several of the weather stations knocked out by the hurricane and subsequent power outages were those at the New Orleans and Gulfport, Miss., airports, making it difficult for flight controllers to direct the helicopters and other planes helping rescue efforts, Redmond said.

New Orleans automatic surface observing system actually went out before the full force of the hurricane hit, and was down until just this week.

The mobile stations do not need any electrical power, Redmond said.

Weather information is also critical to health agencies trying to avoid public outbreaks of disease, Redmond said. In New Orleans, for instance, the heat and the humidity has likely increased the prevalence of mosquitos, mold and other pathogens that may be developing in stagnant water.

"In New Orleans' case, weather is a big ingredient in public health and safety.

As some of the weather stations have come back online, the fire center is moving the weather stations to other areas of high need, Redmond said.