Contact: Bob Ratliff
For Mississippians with computers who want to quickly locate the most up-to-date weather images when tornadoes or ice storms threaten, Mississippi State now offers a handy Internet bookmark.
A website maintained by the university's geosciences department provides "real-time" radar images of Magnolia State weather activity.
"We believe we are the only university in the nation with a live-radar system on the Internet," said Patrick L. Francis, coordinator of the MSU Climatology Laboratory. "Our site also provides the only real-time weather radar images exclusively of Mississippi."
Francis said department computers receive data from NEXRAD radar sites in Jackson, Columbus Air Force Base, and Memphis, Tenn. The data is used to update the MSU map every 60 seconds, unlike the Weather Channel and other systems that update at 15-minute intervals.
"After testing our system for a while longer, we plan to go to a 15-second update," Francis said.
The geosciences department offers bachelor's and master's degrees in climatology, professional geology, geography, and environmental geoscience. It participates with the National Weather Association in certifying broadcast meteorologists and offers a curriculum in broadcast meteorology for persons seeking careers as television or research meteorologists.
The MSU radar site was established in October to provide the latest weather information for faculty and students who track and record weather data during weather emergencies.
When word of the "fresh" weather images spread, the site soon was receiving several thousand visits a day. Francis said about 10,000 hits were recorded in one November day as a storm system moved across the state.
"The Web site is a good way for the general public to keep up with weather events as they happen," added assistant geosciences professor Michael E. Brown. He urged viewer discretion among users, however.
"Anyone who is not trained to interpret radar weather data should also continue to rely on their local radio and TV stations for information when violent conditions are possible," Brown said.
The department, which is housed temporarily in Allen Hall while Hilbun Hall undergoes major renovations, has 12 faculty members and an average enrollment of 45 undergraduate and 25 graduate majors. Department head Charles L. Wax also serves as the state climatologist.
For additional information on MSU's real-time weather site, contact Francis at (662) 325-2800 or by e-mail at webmaster@theweathercenter.com.