With official weather-observing networks historically focused on aviation, recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of public and private mesoscale observing networks (mesonets) installed to fill in the data gaps between official observing stations. State-sponsored networks like the Oklahoma Mesonet have contributed to significant advances in real time warning and detection of severe weather, while the proliferation of affordable home weather stations and the ability to post that data online have resulted in an explosion of ad hoc observational data available via the Internet.
Recognizing that specific applications and specific users have a need for high quality, high density, and consistent observational data, WeatherFlow operates the largest professional observing network in the United States, including the only large scale mesonets dedicated specifically to coastal zone and hurricane monitoring. Although often installed to meet one specific need, each station and mesonet is designed and operated to support multiple user communities and functions, providing a superior value by allowing the costs of installing and operating the networks to be spread across many customers – yielding better service for a fraction of the cost of a single-user system.
