��ֱ����

Before South ��ֱ���� was a state, before the ��ֱ���� Agricultural College became South ��ֱ���� State University and even before the United States Weather Bureau, the precursor to the National Weather Service, was formed, there were people who recognized the value of collecting weather data. The first iteration of a weather station in Brookings began recording daily temperature and precipitation totals on July 1, 1888. 

Since that time, technology has gone through many iterations. Even the weather patterns themselves have changed, making the need for weather data more important than ever. 

“The mesonet today reflects much more localized, high-definition weather,” said Nathan Edwards, operations manager for Mesonet at SDState. “A lot of the weather forecasting and information is built with or influenced by mesonet data.” 

The first in a statewide network of weather stations came online in 1983. The latest version of the mesonet in South ��ֱ���� began to take shape in 2011, after a flood devastated Sioux Falls and the surrounding area. Knowing more had to be done to predict such events, U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds and John Thune reached out to SDSU experts to find a solution. 

“Following the historic and devastating flooding across South ��ֱ���� in 2011 and 2019, it became clear that more accurate flood prediction and weather forecasting products were needed,” Sen. Thune said. “I was proud to lead legislative efforts alongside my colleague Sen. Rounds to authorize the funding needed to update these monitoring stations, and I appreciate SDState’s work to prepare and respond in real time to natural disasters.” 

When the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2020 was signed, it included the bold goal of installing an updated mesonet station within 20 miles of every South ��ֱ����n. 

The team is well on its way to achieving that goal, with the 100th weather station set up this summer. Edwards predicts the full network of 150 stations will be installed by the end of 2027. 

Many of the stations are providing necessary and more localized weather data needed for accurate predictions. Each airport in South ��ֱ���� has a simple weather station that typically submits data once an hour. Even with 22 airport weather stations, that leaves a lot of South ��ֱ����ns in weather data deserts and large time gaps during which weather can change drastically. 

Each mesonet station submits data to the National Weather Service every five minutes. When the full network is online, this will provide more than a million data points every day — data that can be used to better inform weather prediction models, save lives and even help support insurance claims. 

What is a Mesonet? Short for mesoscale weather station network, the term refers to a network of professional weather stations (usually statewide) that are closely spaced, provide frequent updates and collect specialized data important to their state.

The National Weather Service will issue a Wind Advisory when it receives data showing sustained winds of 31-39 mph and/or wind gusts of 46-57 mph. In order to upgrade the advisory to a High Wind Warning, data must show sustained winds at 40 mph and/or wind gusts of 58 mph or more. If an area is experiencing high winds but there is no official measurement, the advisory will not be upgraded. If an area sustains storm damage but there is not weather data that is considered local-enough (exact specifications vary) to the damage, disaster recovery assistance and insurance could refuse coverage. 

Improving coverage throughout the state allows for more regular and recorded updates. Each station’s camera allows people to gain crucial information from remote areas. Mesonet station images have confirmed tornado touchdowns, when rain in an area turns to snow, and they offer a live view at fog density. They are able to continuously analyze drought conditions and the risk of wildfires and could be used to track the progression of wildfires should one break out. 

“The cameras have been a gamechanger,” Edwards said. “We have 360-degree coverage of the sky to catch severe weather. It gives eyes to rural South ��ֱ����.” 

Perhaps nobody knows the impact of weather on the people of South ��ֱ���� more than KELOLAND Chief Meteorologist and SDState alumnus Jay Trobec. For more than 30 years, Trobec has worked to predict and inform South ��ֱ����ns about what to expect from the weather. He and his five-meteorologist team are keyed into the mesonet system, using the data to predict weather for the entire state from their base in Sioux Falls. 

“When it comes to impactful weather, our main job is to let people know if there’s going to be any weather that’s going to impact people or their property,” said Trobec, who received his doctoral degree in atmospheric environmental and water resources from SDState. “We’re all going to be affected by the weather to some degree. It’s easy to plan your day if you know what to expect, if you know what’s happening.” 

When asked if he had an example of a time he used mesonet data to make a decision or take action, Trobec immediately recalls a thunderstorm near Clark a couple of days prior. Thanks to data, they were able to confirm tornadic activity and send out alerts at 1 a.m. to warn people. 

Earlier in the week, radar had picked up wind gusts in northern South ��ֱ����, but the mesonet showed there were gusts of more than 60 mph, alerting the team that the weather was severe and alerts were needed. 

Trobec values the data mesonet provides so much that when he was an adjunct faculty member at SDState, he made it a daily part of his class, Physical Climatology and Meteorology. Every day, Trobec would have his students check the mesonet website and pick out which features would be most impactful for that day’s weather. 

“What mesonet does is gives us information for more areas. The sensors at airports are spread out. We don’t really know what’s happening in between those places, and that’s where mesonet comes in very handy,” Trobec said. “It’s worked extremely well for us in Sioux Falls to be able to see where weather is coming from and what’s going to be happening in the next  three hours.” 

Predicting weather for South ��ֱ���� most often involves observing the weather happening west and north and seeing the path it’s traveling. Just as the data collected upstream in Watertown and Mobridge affects weather predictions in Sioux Falls, data collected in North ��ֱ����, Montana and Wyoming is integral to predicting weather downstream throughout South ��ֱ����. All four states, along with Nebraska, make up the Upper Missouri River Basin. Each of the states have their own mesonet network, covering 10% of the contiguous U.S. and creating the largest network  of its kind. 

“The top layer of soil in the Upper Missouri River Basin can hold three times more water than the reservoirs on the Missouri River,” Edwards said. “This means prior to the updated mesonet weather stations in 2018, the Army Corps of Engineers were blind to 75% of the potential water storage upstream.” 

The 2018 update that Edwards is referring to included adding five soil probes, placed 2-40 inches deep under natural cover surrounding each station. The probes measure the soil’s temperature and moisture level. Combined with soil samples collected by the Natural Resources Conservation Service during installation, the data can be used to calculate how much water being held in the soil is available to plants and how much more water the soil can take on, crucial information for predicting potential floods. 

Even within the larger Upper Missouri River Basin network, the soil data sets the Mesonet at SDState apart from its peers. 

“SDState can be proud not only for our leading role in this project, but for the new standard it sets for the monitoring of water and weather nationwide,” Edwards said. “Weather impacts every aspect of life, the production of our food, the transportation of our goods, the supply of our water and more. It’s important that we monitor it. Whether they know it or not, there’s not a South ��ֱ����n who doesn’t benefit from this work.” 

Each Mesonet at SDState weather station collects the following measurements and reports them every five minutes: 

• Air temperature at 6.5 feet and 33 feet: To check for temperature inversions, important measurement for agricultural applications
• Humidity
• Wind direction, speed and gusts
• Barometric pressure
• Solar radiation: Used to calculate water loss due to evaporation and transpiration
• Year-round precipitation: Rain, snow and sleet, snow depth
• 360-degree camera images