Mesonet Weather Station Sites Installed

Published: 2019
By Marc King

Climate change has been a hot topic for the past decade. It is important to be able to quantifiably measure environmental changes at the producer level. With this being a priority, two Mesonet sites were installed in Sweet Grass County. The sites were chosen to represent 60% of the rangeland in the County. One site is located South East of Big Timber and represents the foothill rangeland to the forest boundary. The second site is North East of Big Timber and represents the foothill rangeland ecosystem as it falls from the Crazy Mountains. These sites actively monitor soil moisture, rainfall, temperature, humidity as well as other environmental measurements. The data is available for producers to use in monitoring growing conditions for both native grasslands and crops. This information over time, will allow land managers to make science-based management decisions for both livestock grazing and crop selection and management. The Sites have been online since July 1, accumulating data continuously which will impact future land management decisions for Sweet Grass County producers.