Texas Tech, West Texas Mesonet unveil 150th station

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The Texas Tech National Wind Institute and West Texas Mesonet unveiled its 150th surface station. The newest weather station is on the Lubbock Christian University campus.

John Schroeder, Director of the National Wind Institute, says the West Texas Mesonet is the largest state-run, university-owned mesonet in the country. It’s also the longest state-run mesonet behind Oklahoma.

“The agricultural community needs to know when to plant,” Schroeder said. “They need to know when to irrigate. They need to know when to spray. The operational meteorologists need help making watches and warnings. The energy community, the renewables need to know how much wind power we have available, how much solar energy is out there to be used.”

The first station was installed in 2000 at Reese Center.

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