JACKSONVILLE, Fla — If the past year and a half plus has taught us anything, it's that we can all be separate, yet together. If you can't physically be at an event, there are ways to make you feel like you're there in person.
And now... fellow football and weather lovers can rejoice. There's a tool designed specifically for you.
Drumroll...
"On our website we actually have a college football and an NFL weather tool," WeatherSTEM's CEO and Founder Ed Mansouri said.
Ed Mansouri and his team at WeatherSTEM created a tool for the sports and weather loving folks out there, like himself. TIAA Bank Field is just one of many sporting venues with this system. They've placed weather stations all around the stadium to give us the full 3-D look at conditions affecting the game.
Even better?
The data is available free to all of us, anywhere, anytime.
"It’s the year 2021," WeatherSTEM Vice President of Infrastructure Luke Hunnewell added. "You can have computer screens up here displaying data. You can have your app on your phone that you can pull up the data. There are so many different ways you can really be enveloped without actually being at the site."
WeatherSTEM has taken all of the schedules from all of the college and pro football games and have overlaid them with weather data from the sensors in and around the stadium. Since the data is being streamed onto the internet in less than a second intervals, you can view this info alongside the live game.
Just down the road from Jacksonville, the Swamp has a WeatherSTEM network, too. FCN's Lauren Rautenkranz was out there when Mansouri’s team visited Gainesville to upgrade the system making sure it stays in tip top shape for its followers.
"Every time we set up one of these systems it automatically gets its own Facebook page and its own Twitter page," Mansouri commented. "So for example, if the Gators score a touchdown, it’ll post it to that social media feed and show us what the weather camera looked like, what the weather conditions were, tell us what the score is and how much time is remaining in the game or the quarter."
But even if your team wins or loses, there’s one thing to keep in mind.
"The weather can be right no matter what – you cannot argue with the weather, and it will whoop you!" Hunnewell chuckled. "It’s the winner every time and that respect is a good thing to have. It’s the winner every time!"
Friday on Good Morning Jacksonville, we’re getting back to WeatherSTEM’s roots -- Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Meteorologist Lauren Rautenkranz will tell us how Mansouri and his team are making weather and meteorology more fun and interactive for Florida students.