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Early Milestones |
 April 1997: Weather Monitoring Proposal presented to the Public Utility
Commission (PUC). The commissioners agreed the project is worthwhile.
June 1997: Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University agree
to cooperate
to make a statewide MesoNet a reality.
October 1997: TNRCC hosts a meeting for Utilities to review the MesoNet Plan.
April 1998: Radian
International hosts a MesoNet workshop to demonstrate the critical need
for additional environmental monitoring across Texas to improve severe weather
forecasting.
May-June 1998:
Significant forecast improvements are acknowledged as possible as a direct
result on an in-place MesoNet. Analysis offered as to how improved weather
information might be leveraged by the electric utility industry to reduce
the impact of weather events on day-to-day operations.
August 1998: LCRA
submits Petition 19809 to the Texas PUC requesting capital and operating
costs of the system be included in electric transmission rates -- for just
pennies a month, moderized automated weather data collection across Texas
could be a reality.
August 1998: Texas
Tech University receives word that funding available for a 28-county network
around Lubbock -- the West Texas Network.
September 1998:
County Judges' and Commissioners' Association endorse the MesoNet System.
November 1998: MesoNet
inputs reviewed. Utilities (HL&P, CSW, TU) filed comments stating they
do not oppose the MesoNet, but oppose funding the system via electric transmission
rates.
February 1999: The
Public Utility Commission's reviews
the MesoNet petition. Vote ends in a stalemate.
March 1999: The Cattleman Magazine endorses
the MesoNet System (this prompted a number of ranchers to offer sites on
their property for future MesoNet stations).
March 1999:
Senator Jeff Wentworth (Rep, San Antonio) introduced a MesoNet amendment
to Senate Bill 7. Amendment is tabled.
January 2000: MesoNet
update to the LCRA Board of Directors. Discussions centered on the importance
of the MesoNet System to Texas and the role of LCRA to the project's successful
implementation.
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Recent Milestones |
Summer 2000: LCRA
assesses refiling the MesoNet petition with the PUC and decides to seek
federal assistance for a "Heart of Texas" project across Central Texas...
LCRA remains the project's champion.
October 2000: MesoNet
proposal taken to Washington DC to U.S. Senator Kay Bailey
Hutchison. Senator Hutchison's office very supportive
of the project if Texas Stakeholders are serious about supporting the initiative.
November 2000: Texas A&M University submits the MesoNet as a congressional
initiative.
December 2000: Texas Department of Agriculture endorses the Texas
MesoNet project (December 12, 2000)... The Governor's Division of Emergency
Management agrees to endorse the project (December 7, 2000).
January 2001: Texas Farm Bureau endorses the project (January 16,
2001)... Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission endorses (January
26, 2001) and agrees to "in-kind" assistance using their communications
network.
February 2001: National Weather Service, Southern Region Headquarters
endorses the project (February 12, 2001). New stakeholders contacted:
Texas Department of Transportation, the Gulf of Mexico Program (presently
assessing what the project will mean to Coastal and Offshore activities),
and the County Judges & Commissioners Association.
December 2002: Mesonet and West Texas Mesonet PIs meet and agree to contiue collaboration. West Texas Mesonet at Texas Tech University installs 40th site.
April 2003: Mesonet staff begin project to incorporate low-cost (disposable) sensors into sites. This effort includes qualifying sensors against existing research-grade sensors on several locations throughout the network. The rationale is to reduce costs associated with initial site construction as well as periodic recalibration and maintenance.
June 2003: Mesonet begins a redefinition process, evolving from solely a network of surface-meteorloogy observing sites, to a network infrastructure enabling the Aggregation, Assimilation, Analysis, Archival, Display and Dissemination of data from a variety of sensors, and missions.
December 2003: Mesonet representatives are active at the US Weather Research Program meetings in Boulder, CO. Mesonet's experience with a variety of infrastructure issues, including high-speed and recoverable networks, as well as its partnership with various disciplines within the University, makes it a leader in the areas of Testbeds, Implementation and Nowcasting.
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