North Canaan Elementary now a WeatherBug Storm Team station


 

NORTH CANAAN — Accurate, up-to-the-minute weather data — it’s happening here. North Canaan Elementary School is officially a WeatherBug Storm Team 8 school.

The weather station antenna that went up last spring officially went on-line Oct. 29.

North Canaan technology teacher Patricia Palmer explained that there were some broadcast technical problems to overcome, and one glitch since, but it all seems to be working smoothly now.

Anyone who subscribes to WeatherBug, the on-line service that provides a pop-up screen with forecasts, radar and alerts, will now see the school’s name listed under "Exclusive Live Conditions."

It may not seem like much has changed, but there can be big differences in weather from one town to the next. North Canaan is a good example of that fluctuation. Located in a valley, its experience can be markedly different in extreme weather conditions. Until the change last week, local subscribers got conditions from either Indian Mountain School in Salisbury or Goshen Center School. Both are at much higher elevations.

It was science teacher Jennifer Bergin who first posed the possibility of North Canaan’s participation.

"We were actually contacted by WeatherBug," Palmer said. "We got an invitation from Storm Team 8 to join the team. It included a personal note from Jeff Fox, the chief meteorologist [at WTNH]."

The weather station was purchased with a grant through a WeatherBug program. Most of the remainder of funding was provided by a donation from the North Canaan PTO.

The package includes weather curriculum that sixth-grade teacher Renee Slonacker plans to use in her classroom.

A more expensive weather station package would have included a camera. It would have been mounted on the school roof and would broadcast a constant picture of current sky conditions. Palmer said they opted out of what would have added at least $1,000 to the setup, but said she hopes funds will be available in the future to add that feature.

 

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