VIDEO: When deadly weather moves into the area, speed saves lives.
That’s why Tampa Fire Rescue just installed five brand new, state-of-the-art weather stations, scattered throughout the city.
The department says the information gathered by the WeatherSTEM system will help protect first responders and the public by relaying potentially life-saving information about storms, changing weather patterns and dangerous lightning in our region – right down to the neighborhood level. “Now that we had these weather stations embedded at each of our fire districts, it’s going to make us make better decisions,” said Tampa Fire Rescue’s John Antapasis.
Tampa decided to look into the WeatherSTEM system after hurricane Irma.
The storm taught city officials they needed a more localized way to monitor weather conditions so they could let first responder crews know when it was safe to go out and help people — and when they needed to get back inside to protect themselves.