Weather doesn’t just shape our days; it drives Wisconsin’s economy. Since launching in 2023, the Wisconet project has been building a statewide network of weather and soil monitoring stations to better understand forecasts.
Now, just two years later, Wisconet has reached a major milestone.
“We are really excited because we just installed a few weeks ago our 78th weather station, says Chris Vagasky, research program manager for Wisconet. “We’ve gone from just a handful of stations to now a full statewide network of 78 that is providing data every five minutes from every weather station all around the state.”
The network stretches from Lake Superior to Kenosha and Lancaster to Sister Bay, soon expanding even further with new stations planned for the Apostle Islands. The data is available to the public through Wisconet’s website, which was recently shortlisted for a global award recognizing excellence in geographic information systems: https://wisconet.wisc.edu/
Vagasky says Wisconet’s success comes from the difference it’s making on the ground. Data from the network helped the National Weather Service issue a flash flood warning in Walworth County and validate a 78 mph wind gust in Bayfield earlier this year.
Farmers use the information to make decisions about irrigation, fertilizer, and pest control, while highway departments rely on soil temperature readings to optimize winter road treatment and reduce salt costs.
“The economy is affected by the weather in a big way,” Vagasky says. “Every dollar that you invest in weather can be anywhere from $9 to $73 return on investment. So it’s a very important thing that we’re doing to support everybody in Wisconsin.”
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