(The Center Square) – The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency announced upgrades to its flood warning and observation system on Wednesday.
The Pennsylvania Integrated Flood Warning and Observation System is known as IFLOWS 2.0 and will include the installation of 30 new weather stations across the state. Most of these will be placed on school properties where K-12 students will incorporate the data into their weather curricula.
The updates to IFLOWS come largely as a result of FEMA funding in the form of a $720,000 grant for Hazard Mitigation in 2022 and a $172,500 grant for Pre-Disaster Mitigation in 2021.
Enhancements come amidst nationwide concern around weather monitoring and alert systems following fatalities and slow or mixed responses to major disasters like the recent flooding in the Texas Hill Country.
“Flooding is the top natural hazard in the commonwealth, and enhancing detection and providing early warning are critical tools to prevent loss of life,” said PEMA Director Randy Padfield. “The enhancement of the IFLOWS will provide emergency managers and forecasters advanced notification for conditions that may lead to flooding or other natural hazards, giving the public extra time to take safe action.”
One such location is the Greencastle-Antrim School District, which has worked with Penn State to develop their program. The district received a PAsmart Advancing grant of about half a million dollars from the Department of Education for STEM programming in 2022.
“Our students will benefit from opportunities to use the same data forecasters are using to study weather patterns and will develop an understanding of the relationship between the many partners using the data to help us all plan for weather events,” said Greencastle-Antrim School District Superintendent Dr. Lura Hanks. “We are excited to continue our work as we build our district’s environmental literacy plan so our students have a comprehensive understanding of our earth, and the steps they can take to care for it.”
The new stations bring the state’s total up to 50 spread throughout 38 of its 67 counties. Collectively, they make up the Pennsylvania Environmental Monitoring Network. The network demands collaboration from several academic institutions as well as state and federal agencies.
A major collaborator is Penn State, which holds a reputation for being among the best meteorology departments in the country. Last year, the school received a Department of Energy grant of nearly half a million dollars to study processes in thunderstorms.
“These weather stations not only strengthen Pennsylvania’s capacity to respond to severe weather but also provide unique educational opportunities for K–12 students to engage with real-time data in their own backyards,” said Penn State University’s Head of the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science Dr. Paul Markowski.
At a time when severe weather conditions are increasing, experts say it is “only a matter of time” before more severe flooding impacts Pennsylvania, especially the state’s capital region which lies low along the banks of the Susquehanna River. Much of the state is under flood watch for Thursday.
“Real-time observational data provided by these new IFLOWS stations help to provide our forecasters with timely information to issue warnings, so our partners and the public have as much lead time as possible to prepare, make decisions, and take necessary action to protect lives and property due to impacts from any weather event,” said National Weather Service State College Meteorologist-in-Charge Ashley Evans.
