Along the Chesapeake Bay’s fragile waterfront, we frequently face threats such as severe storms, flooding, hurricane impacts, and occasional snowstorms, jets, and tornadoes. So we were relieved to learn that Maryland’s last two counties received StormReady certification from the National Weather Service. Caroline and Kent counties on the East Coast are now officially “StormReady,” making Maryland only the eighth state to now have all local jurisdictions hold that title.
Maryland is prepared for extreme conditions thanks to a new program that installs advanced weather towers across the state. The state-of-the-art weather data collection station, known as the Mesonet Tower, was built adjacent to Ridgeley Elementary School in Caroline County. It is the easternmost Mesonet tower built in Maryland. There are also towers in Easton in Talbot County and Wymills in Queen Anne’s County.
Chesapeake Bay Magazine We were first introduced to the state’s Mesonet Tower Program when the first tower was built last November. Construction of 70 towers is planned to take about a year, and 10 have been completed so far. The program is a partnership between the Maryland Office of Emergency Management (MDEM) and the University of Maryland School of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences.
Mesonet’s towers are cheap enough to be built densely across the state, and measure temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, solar radiation, rainfall, snow depth, soil moisture and temperature at five depths ( most can be measured in one). -minute interval.
This data is especially valuable to boaters seeking marine forecasts and people who live, work, and play on the water. Mesonet Towers will be able to more accurately predict weather events in communities vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise. Measurement results can be checked in almost real time on the Mesonet website.
Mesonet towers will help Maryland meet the requirements of the StormReady designation. To qualify, a community must have a good list of procedures in place. They “must establish 24-hour warning points and emergency operations centers. There are multiple ways to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and alert the public. Create a system to locally monitor weather conditions.” Promote the importance of public preparedness through community seminars and develop a formal hazardous weather plan, including training severe weather observers and holding emergency drills.
MDEM and National Weather Service leaders say the expanded network of Mesonet towers will keep Marylanders safer from natural disasters.
“As a native Marylander, I am pleased that Maryland is one of the first storm-ready states in the nation,” said James E. Lee, Chief Meteorologist at the Baltimore-Washington Forecast Bureau. “This is a collaboration between all local governments in Maryland, the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, and the National It speaks to the dedication of the partnership between the Bureau of Meteorology.”
Other states that have achieved full participation in StormReady are Delaware, Pennsylvania, Florida, Hawaii, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.