Proposal would axe weather monitoring stations in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A network of 69 weather monitoring stations used to issue warnings for tornados and flash floods across Kentucky would be eliminated under the latest budget proposal from the state’s Republican governor.

Gov. Matt Bevin has proposed cutting the $750,000 annual budget for the Kentucky Mesonet at Western Kentucky University. The program started in 2006 with a $3 million federal grant secured by Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.

The automated monitoring stations measure weather conditions every five minutes. The data is publicly available, and the National Weather Service in Louisville uses it to prepare forecasts about snow, thunderstorms and other conditions that could threaten lives and property.

“The Mesonet is critical to our day to day operations. We use it in our forecasting, and most importantly we use it in our warning operations,” said John Gordon, director of the weather service’s office in Louisville. “It would be extremely detrimental losing this data.”

The program mostly focuses on collecting data for forecasting purposes. But it’s also building a record researchers can use to study the impact of climate change, a politically volatile issue for Kentucky.

“Forget climate change. Even if the climate is not changing, we experience extremes of droughts, floods, heat waves (and) cold waves. And in order to effectively manage in those situations, one thing that’s critical is having a high quality source of detailed data,” said Stuart Foster, state climatologist and director of the Kentucky Mesonet.