Railroad Weather Stations

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In the comments to a recent posting, the question was asked about whether railroads could put track-side weather instruments to use in preventing wind-related derailments. It is true new generation railcars are vulnerable to being blown over in high winds.

Just about all of the railroads do have trackside weather instruments with Union Pacific having the most extensive network. Each dot is a weather station.

Union Pacific's (UP) instruments are connected to AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions so that we can provide more precise storm warnings to UP. Being public spirited, UP shares the information with the National Weather Service and other meteorological organizations so the general public gets better warnings.

Keep in mind that weather stations detect winds that are already occurring. So, if a downburst suddenly descends on the right-of-way, the train could blow over as the anemometer is detecting the high winds.

In addition, some downbursts ("microbursts") are tiny and can easily occur in between weather stations.

So, while railroad trackside weather instruments are extremely valuable, AccuWeather uses radar and other tools in addition to the network of weather stations to provide precise, comprehensive warnings to Union Pacific, our other railroads, and our clientele as a whole.

Always enjoy getting questions from our readers.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 2, 2014 at 2:22 PM

    Thanks for your informative post, Mike. Naturally, one would like an "inside peek" at UP's pre- and post-investment analyses, as well as AccuWeather's view of the benefits delivered by the enhanced network. :)

    ReplyDelete

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