NEWA (Network for Environment and Weather Applications) 2008: A Year in Review
NEWA operated and maintained the electronic weather network in 2008 with funding support from the NYS IPM Program. Visits or “hits” to NEWA’s website were comparable to last year. Rainwise MKIII instruments continue to be added to the NEWA system. Five grant projects are underway on a potato late blight simulation model, an apple IPM website, upgrades to grape models, and improvements to the NEWA website. Meetings were held in Western and Eastern NY to review the web site with growers, consultants and Extension educators so they could provide feedback on the current site. Plans are underway with Spider ITX to redesign the website. The Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC) began running the pest forecast models and providing the NEWA hourly data, daily weather summaries, and degree days from the newly finished database of NEWA data in their ACIS system.