STEM

Texas District Deploys Free Weather Sensors

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 07/05/16

The Grand Prairie Independent School District has deployed hyper-local weather detection equipment at five of its schools.

The district has partnered with Understory, a company that offers free sensors and data analytics to schools through its "Weather Is Cool" education program, designed to help students understand weather-related sciences and their impact on the environment and their own lives.

"This is a great opportunity for the students at Grand Prairie Independent School District," said Mark Steger, who oversees new construction and special projects for the district, in a prepared statement. "We are thrilled to offer our students access to this cutting-edge data so they can better understand our local climate."

"Founded in 2012, Understory detects rain, hail, wind and other weather events directly at the Earth's surface, where the risk to life and property is greatest," according to a news release. "Texas was selected by Understory as an important deployment area as it is one of the top states for severe weather events. Dallas is one of the cities in the U.S. most prone to severe weather events such as tornados and hailstorms. When augmented with current systems, Understory's weather stations will help the community prepare for damaging weather."