Automated weather station gives Legazpi residents 24/7 weather update

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 28 (PNA) –- Residents of this city can get updates about current local weather situation anytime of the day through the automated weather station (AWS) recently installed at the beachfront here, either to anticipate or affirm the regular daily state weather bureau forecasts. The station, worth not less than P100,000, was a donation from the Weather Philippines Foundation (WPF). It has an antenna system, a rain gauge and barometric readings for temperature, wind speed, humidity and positions of low- and high-pressure systems within and outside of this city. The donation was an offshoot of the disaster risk reduction management (DRRM) seminar last year in Laguna jointly hosted by the League of Cities and the WPF. This city and other cities in Southern Luzon received free full station units each. Other cities that took part in the event were only given free rain gauges such as Pasig City, said Pecos Intia, city DRRM chief. WPF, which aims to become the country’s premier private weather information content provider, combines the resources of the private firm, Aboitiz Group, and the technical expertise of the Swiss company, Meteomedia, in providing accurate weather forecasts with the hope of improving nationwide disaster preparedness and timely response to variable weather condition. It aims to provide free 1,000 units of AWS across the country. The station has been installed at the roof top of the two-storey city Bureau of Fire Protection building at the boulevard, fronting Legazpi Bay. “The location is strategic and the elevation is conducive for better weather element readings. The station is manned 24/7,” Intia said. Although no forecast from the station reading is being made public, it helps local disaster managers and staff in continuous monitoring, especially during impending or real-time weather disturbances. “We do not make use of it to contest the data provided by Pagasa (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) but we can anticipate the forecasts for local implementation of DRRM and to check whether our data are accurately the same with Pagasa,” Intia said. This city has been consistently adjudged model city on DRRM in Bicol Region and placed second last year and in 2011 in the national level. The station was among the areas visited last week by 30 DRRM officials and staff and department heads of Taguig City who were on study tour regarding best DRRM practices they can replicate in their place. (PNA) FPV/FGS/ALV/MMG/ABB