ARLINGTON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Madison is trying to help everyone in the state get the most accurate weather information possible.

What You Need To Know

  • The university’s new weather network, called WiscoNet, is expected to be a game changer for farmers, climate researchers and many other industries in Wisconsin — especially those in remote areas

  • There are already 14 weather stations up and running statewide

  • Unlike many other agricultural states, Wisconsin’s current network of weather monitoring stations is minimal

  • Until recently, some of the stations that are part of the WiscoNet network were monitored by a similar program hundreds of miles away at Michigan State University

The university’s new weather network, called WiscoNet, is expected to be a game changer for farmers, climate researchers and many other industries in Wisconsin — especially those in remote areas.

Chris Vagasky is the program manager for WiscoNet. He can often be found at one of the 14 weather stations that are already up and running statewide. He checks on all of them to make sure the many different weather-collecting parts are working how they should be.

“We record weather data every five minutes, including things like temperature and humidity, the wind speed and direction,” he said. “Barometric pressures and how much atmosphere is weighing down on the earth at this location and liquid precipitation.”

Vagasky said all those pieces are key in getting the full story from Mother Nature.

“We have microclimates that exist across the state because of different weather phenomenon moving across the state, and the lakes and rivers around us,” Vagasky said. “So having all of these individual stations around really lets us identify what's happening at a very small scale.”

Unlike many other agricultural states, Wisconsin’s current network of weather monitoring stations is minimal. Until recently, some of the stations that are part of the WiscoNet network were monitored by a similar program hundreds of miles away at Michigan State University.

“It's always a challenge to try and build out a full statewide network,” Vagasky said. “It's a lot of equipment, a lot of funding that's needed to build out a 90-station network.”

That’s the goal: To go from 14 weather stations to at least 90 in the next three years, with the help of grant money. The build-out comes with a UW website where anyone can find details on soil and weather conditions at each location.

“Once we have a full network, we should have everybody in the state within about 30 miles of either a WiscoNet Tower, or a National Weather Service location, or airport weather station,” Vagasky said. “We really think that that will help everybody across the state make more weather-wise decisions, whether it's for their growing, whether they're a commercial or a backyard gardener, or to keep people safe and make the appropriate decisions when hazardous weather is moving in.”

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