Show-Me State Times

Saint Louis University (SLU) has been playing a crucial role in providing local weather data to various organizations for more detailed forecasts. Bob Pasken, Ph.D., associate professor of meteorology at SLU, emphasized the importance of having accurate and local weather information, stating, “I want information that's local to the Saint Louis metro area. To get this, we have weather stations that we’ve built in areas across the state, where thunderstorms may happen, where heavy rain and high winds may happen. And then we collect that data, input it into SLU’s weather prediction model, and share that information to provide the community with better forecasts.”

Three organizations benefiting from SLU's weather data are the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Parks Division, Ferguson-Florissant School District’s STEAM Academy, and KTVI-TV, commonly known as Fox 2 in St. Louis. KTVI will be incorporating SLU’s weather data into their weathercasts, ensuring the accuracy of real-time temperature and precipitation displays and future forecasts.

STEAM Academy aims to cultivate the next generation of weather enthusiasts by providing students with access to SLU’s data. Bob Shaw, a seventh-grade teacher at STEAM Academy, expressed his excitement about this opportunity, stating, “It's always been a dream of mine to have students be able to work with real data. They live here, so we want to have data from here. It's nice to have students be able to look at data, interpret data, then do some forecasting as the weather comes across the state, and all of that data be local. We have SLU to thank for that opportunity and we really are grateful.”

Pasken and his team at SLU have been developing data collectors since 2008 and are dedicated to sharing weather information for educational purposes. This collaboration between SLU and various organizations not only enhances the accuracy of weather forecasts but also provides valuable learning opportunities for students interested in meteorology and weather sciences.