The Stillwater Central School District WeatherBug station is getting an addition! Plans are in the works for a lightning alert system to be installed within the next month.
High School Principal Dr. Johnson applied for the grant and the district received six thousand dollars from Global Foundries for the project last week.
The lightning alert system will be able to detect if lightning is within a dangerous range of the area. A horn system will also be able to alert those in the area to get inside.
The weather station was implemented in June thanks to generous donations from the Stillwater Education Foundation and Stewart’s Shops. It is mounted on top of the high school with a camera attached so that anyone can have access the current conditions in Stillwater.
“There is always weather information coming in from surrounding areas on WeatherBug,” science teacher Ms. Sara Baker said. “Now it’ll be nice to have real time, accurate information coming right from Stillwater.”
Students and teachers will be utilizing software connected to the station throughout the school year for learning purposes. The athletics department also uses the station to determine the temperature and the radar to see incoming storms.
“The kids really like it because they can have it on their phones and they’ll be able to see if it’s snowing at school,” Baker added. “It’s also nice that this is something the community can benefit from as well.”
To access the information from the station you can:
- Google WeatherBug and click on the first link, then type in the zip code.
- Or: Use this link to view the Stillwater High School weather camera
- Or download the WeatherBug App to your phone and set it up with Stillwater Central High School