Yesterday we caught up with folks continuing a Nelson County tradition weather monitoring.

The now closed Saint Joseph's College began recording weather data for the area in 1885.

Now, Nelson County is home to the 87th Climate Monitoring Station on the Kentucky mesonet.

Nelson counties had more than their fair share of bad weather.

They had the April 1974 event.

They had a major flash flood event last April.

The year before March.

We had 80 mile an hour winds here in Bardstown.

So the data here is really pivotal because the center part of the state seems to get a lot of inclement weather.

Hazardous weather.

Information gathered here will help the National Weather Service make decisions about severe weather warnings, and give emergency responders a clear picture of conditions right here in Bardstown and Nelson County.

Well.

Having this data right here is essential because if if the nearest weather station we're getting real data from is in Bullitt County or Hardin County, that doesn't really help when a storm has already left those counties and it's here in this county.

So now we'll know where the storms are going to be and how strong they are right here, as it happens in Nelson County.

And that's that's crucial.

Weather stations are in a lot of ways the diamond doesn't.

There are a lot of weather stations we found out to the state and, new ones are deployed every day.

But what makes it a medicine that unique is the people doing the work 24 over 7365.

It is a dense network of high quality, research grade instrumentations, and the sensors and the data help us to better understand the Commonwealth's weather patterns and climate variability.

This has significant implications for a strategic planning and that development for both the public and private sectors.

This is a great day for Nelson County.

Bardstown is known as the Bourbon Capital of the world.

Nelson County is home to some 11 distilleries, all of which lie within a 30 mile radius of downtown Bardstown.

Weather is so important to the bourbon industry.

Parameters such as temperature, humidity, and wind can alter the flavor proof and color of distilled spirits.

This new weather station measures these parameters in real time.

The next generation will now have a comprehensive quantitative weather record, from which they'll be able to understand and learn of our weather history, climate, and challenges.

And so this station, if we ever define and quantify that history.

And I remember 20 years ago when this was just a conversation between a couple of faculty at WQ, and I have watched this grow for the last 20 years.

It is one of the most outstanding mesonet in the country, and it shows that the Kentucky Legislature values what this contributes to our Commonwealth.

And we got states like Tennessee and Indiana that are following Kentucky because they think this is the premier in the country.

So this is a win win for everyone for agriculture.

This is used in teaching.

This is used for weather forecasters.

This is used in industry the bourbon industry.

We use this for humidity and temperature levels.

This is a win win.

The expansion of the Kentucky mesonet was made possible in part, to $1.75 million in funding from the state's General Assembly.

The next mesonet site will be in Boyd County.