Jones County’s new weather station
Brennan Jackson Jones County Extension Coordinator & 4-H Agent
If you’ve driven up by the Government Center in the last few months you may have noticed the new implement by the dog park that looks like either something out of the movie “Twister” or thought that a UFO had landed. Fortunately, it is neither of those things. The implement is instead a weather station operated by the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences. I recently broke tradition by planting my garden two weeks before Easter.
The reason why I went ahead and planted was the data I pulled from this weather station indicating that the soil temperature had been averaging at or above 65 degrees which meant that I was in the clear to plant with no freeze in the forecast. I suppose we’ll see if I’m left eating crow as the growing season progresses. However, this station is highly advanced and captures daily temperature, relative humidity, dew point temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind direction wind speed, wind gust, soil temperature, soil moisture, rainfall, etc.
The addition of this weather station is extremely beneficial for our agricultural community and the general public alike. For farmers, this station records the data necessary for precise planting times, soil moisture to determine irrigation needs, chilling hours required for fruit production, and rainfall records to aid in drought assistance for crops and pastures.
In general, the station will provide basically any weather-related data community members may need in real time. The data can be accessed by visiting www.georgiaweather. net and selecting the Gray station or typing in your zip code.
This will take you to the current conditions and access on the side bars to past data, graphs, forecasts, and seasonal information. There is also maps that show data from across the state and different calculators for chilling hours, soil temperature, average temperature, etc. in addition to historic drought data and crop weather reports.
This is a great addition to the community to be utilized. Be sure to check out the website, and as always, contact the Jones County Extension office with any agriculture or horticultural questions by stopping by the office, calling 478-986-3958 or emailing brennan4@uga.edu.
