DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — With the start of hurricane season just around the corner, the City of Delray Beach is preparing by installing four weather stations to keep an eye on the sky.
From the weather stations' livestream, one can watch real-time live video from the newly installed, solar powered weather stations in Delray Beach.
“We get real time wind speed,” said Chris Bell, emergency management director for Delray Beach. “We get real time wet bulb globe temperature which lets us really pay more attention to conditions that are hazardous both to the public and our responders.”
Just in time for hurricane season, this single device can catch a storm rolling in to give up-to-date warnings to residents.
“We’re always at risk for storms,” said Bell. “We’ve lucked out the last few seasons but eventually we will have our turn.”
It’s also a proactive instrument for meteorologists. This is the first weather station within Delray Beach city limits and the southernmost device on a beach in Florida.
“It’s always great having new weather sites out there,” said WPTV meteorologist James Wieland. “We get new data. Data is the key to forecasting. The more data you have, the better the outputs of the models.”
The weather stations can withstand over 185 mph winds. That’s a category 5 hurricane.
“During a severe hurricane, a severe storm, we may actually have to pull first responders off,” said Bell. “We want to leave them out as long as possible but then maintain their safety as well.”
The stations were part of a grant program and were paid for by the state’s Department of Emergency Management.
After three years, the city will pay for the maintenance costs.
“It’s a great asset to the community,” said Bell. “We’re excited the public’s going to be able to access this.”
Click here for more information and to watch the livestream.
