State climatologist looking to support rural weather resiliency

The Wisconsin State Climatologist’s Office is looking for input on how to prepare rural areas for changes in climate and extreme weather. 

Amanda Latham is an Outreach Specialist for the climatologist’s office. 

“We’ve organized this series of road shows in rural parts of Wisconsin because we want to hear from people living in rural Wisconsin about what types of extreme weather they’re seeing, what types of weather changes that they’re seeing, how those things are impacting them, whether that’s for their career or whether that’s just impacts in their daily life,” she said.

Their first road show in Rhinelander on Tuesday saw around 40 residents.

Latham said attendees included public works employees, emergency management, and representatives from tribal nations.

“We really just want to hear from those rural places that often don’t get as much attention as those larger cities where there are more people to really talk about those impacts and see those impacts, as we really want to focus on what’s happening in rural Wisconsin,” she said.

The state climatologist’s office is working on several tools to help residents better understand the climate in their area.

These tools are aimed at building weather resiliency, which helps communities be better prepared for changes in climate and extreme weather. 

Latham says one project, spearheaded by UW Madison, is expanding a network of weather and soil monitoring stations across Wisconsin called WiscoNet. 

“So that’s helping fill in some data gaps, so people don’t have to rely on data that’s coming from the airport, which may be dozens of miles away,” Latham said.

Tuesday’s roadshow kicked off a series that will continue with another meeting in West Salem next month. 

A third meeting in February will take place in the Central Sands region of the state, but a date and location still has to be set.