MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Weather forecasting across Alabama is getting a new boost as the South Alabama Mesonet, a ground-based weather monitoring network, expands into the Montgomery area.

The first site in the expansion was celebrated with a ribbon cutting at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA), where a new station is designed to sharpen hyperlocal weather observations that can help communities, industries and emergency planners make more informed decisions.

The South Alabama Mesonet is a network of monitoring stations that collect real-time, ground-level weather data, including temperature, humidity and rainfall.

One key benefit is the ability to better understand conditions that can vary widely across short distances.

Mesonet leaders say the information can serve a wide range of users, including agriculture.

“It also can be used primarily by the agricultural industry to understand irrigation schedules, they can use it to train when they want to apply fertilizer or pesticides, especially with things like inversions,” said Austin Clark, operations manager for the South Alabama Mesonet.

Clark said the HMMA location offers a strong environment for accurate readings.

“So, for this site one of the biggest benefits that we have is that there is nothing impeding our observations within over 200 yards of the site,” Clark said.

The site includes a 35-foot aluminum tower that provides unobstructed measurements in an open area.

HMMA leaders said supporting the station aligns with the company’s community goals.

“What we’re looking for is shared mission and that mission would be opportunities to increase the quality of life to make the communities in which our team members live more resilient, and then also shared outcome,” said Scott Posey, public relations manager at HMMA.

The South Alabama Mesonet currently operates 26 stations, 22 in south Alabama counties, plus four additional stations in Mississippi and Florida.

The goal is to expand that footprint significantly.

“So eventually at the end of this grant cycle, we’ll have 46 stations operating, hopefully we can swing a few more of those,” Clark said.

A long-term plan includes deploying stations across Alabama’s Black Belt.

“The plan for these is one station in each of the 20 Black Belt counties of Alabama,” Clark said.

The expansion is supported by the University of South Alabama, using a $3 million award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Leaders also credited U.S. Sen. Katie Britt for helping secure funding, noting that farmers have expressed the need for more precise weather data.

In addition to adding stations, officials said there are plans for a camera facing Interstate 65 to help monitor incoming weather activity.

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