The MU Extension has a network of weather stations under the umbrella of the Missouri Mesonet. They have almost 30 stations around the state, all of them are installed and operated in a way that meets the standards of the National Weather service; which in turn gives them more weather information that they can use with forecasts and tracking storms. The weather station is really just a simple looking, 10 foot tripod. But it offers valuable information that the entire community and neighboring communities can all utilize.
Information is updated every 5 minutes, so it truly is real time, local weather data. This Alma station is the very first one in Lafayette county, from the Missouri Mesonet system. Alma Communications played a huge role in making this all happen by sponsoring the initial cost of $15,000. Santa Fe AgriLeaders will be working to find partners to help with the yearly maintenance fee of $4,000. The Santa Fe School District recognized what a learning tool this could be for our students, which is why the Santa Fe AgriLeaders are excited that a suitable location was found on campus. You can visit this website and select Alma in the drop down menu: http://agebb.missouri.edu/weather/stations/
The weather station has a precipitation bucket located just a few feet from the tripod and soon there will also be small plots near the tripod to track soil temperatures under various covers/residue.