The station will be located on the historic Matador Ranch following the deadly EF-3 tornado that devastated the small town in June.
WHAT: Texas Tech University's West Texas Mesonet, part of the National Wind Institute (NWI), will install one of its fenced-in stations with a 33-foot-tall tower on the historic Matador Ranch, owned by W.R. Collier and family. Collier is a Texas Tech alumnus who requested the installment earlier this summer.
WHEN: 11 a.m. Wednesday (Sept. 13)
WHERE: Four miles West of Matador on Hwy 62
EVENT: The 154th West Texas Mesonet station will raise its 33-foot tower Wednesday in Matador. The station is part of the West Texas Mesonet network which includes stations in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado
The station should go online later that day and will sample 29 different parameters, including wind temperature, rainfall, relative humidity, leaf wetness, soil temperature and soil moisture. That information will be available on the mesonet website and app.
This data will help detect future severe storms as well as wildfires that have frequently occurred in the area. The placement of the station, west of Matador, should provide warning time before any elements reach the city limits.
Three months ago, the west side of Matador was hit June 21 by a third-of-a-mile-wide EF-3 tornado that produced peak wind gusts in the 145 to 165 mph range. Four people died from the devastating storm.
To learn more about how NWI researchers have incorporated the Matador tornado into their research efforts, click here.
CONTACT: Wes Burgett
Operations manager, West Texas Mesonet, National Wind Institute, Texas Tech University
wesley.burgett@ttu.edu
(806) 632-5530
