New weather stations to better support pastoralists and emergency services in southern rangelands

Four automatic weather stations will be installed in the southern rangelands to better support pastoralists and emergency services. The new weather stations will be located at Menzies, Balladonia, Gascoyne Junction and Lyndon Crossing, and will add to the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s Statewide network of 191 weather stations. The new sites were determined in collaboration with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services to fill gaps in the weather network to better manage weather risks. Real-time data from the weather stations will be available for free for rangelands pastoralists, residents, consultants and others via DPIRD’s online weather web pages and its Weather App. Data includes air temperature, humidity, rainfall, solar radiation, wind speed and direction, as well as evapo-transpiration and dew point temperature. The new weather stations will also provide valuable information to emergency services to aid effective responses to severe weather events or bushfires. DPIRD research officer Ian Foster said the new resources would support data-driven decisions to improve productivity and profitability. “Agricultural production has become increasingly reliant on the use of credible weather data to optimise productivity and profitability,” Dr Foster said. “Farmers have been using automated weather data for some time to aid decision-making and now pastoralists will soon have access to reliable data to develop and refine livestock and rangelands management strategies. “For example, weather data could support decisions on grazing management and stocking rates or inform long-term investments in water security and climate adaptation approaches to build climate and business resilience.” The new weather stations will be installed in coming months and expected to be operational during 2025.