Background
WeatherFlow has over 500 professional-grade weather stations across North America and beyond. These are essentially the backbone of our company. We lean on them to provide both end-users and our own team with high-quality weather data in coastal environments. Perhaps you have asked: “How does WeatherFlow make these stations?” Well, you’re in luck! I recently joined Benjamin Miller on a trip to install a new ProNet station in Sheboygan, WI. Here is our story …
Over many years, we at WeatherFlow have worked closely with the United States Coast Guard. We have built a relationship which has allowed us to install many of our ProNet weather stations upon USCG aids to navigation. This has enabled us to provide an even more rich dataset in complex marine environments, resulting in and ever-growing network of reliable, high-quality weather data collected from highly exposed coastal locations.
Installing the ProNet
The trip started in Ludington, MI, where Ben and I boarded the S.S. Badger, a ferry built in 1952 that is named after the mascot of the University of Wisconsin. The ship used to support the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (C & O), but now its primary purpose is to transport passengers, automobiles, and truck freight to Manitowoc, WI. The lake crossing took about four hours, and after we exited the ship, our car was waiting for us in the loading zone.
An hour-long drive south to the Sheboygan and a quick lunch set us up perfectly for an afternoon installation. We parked at the US Coast Guard Sheboygan office, unloaded our gear, and the local boat station transported us to the South Pierhead. There we planted ourselves for the next few hours. After a couple of hours atop the cage, Ben and I successfully installed our newest ProNet station Sheboygan South Pierhead in under three hours!
