Wisconsin is getting a new, vast weather station network. Here’s why it’s a game-changer.

A mesonet is a network of weather and environmental monitoring stations that observe mesoscale meteorological events — that is, local events that affect certain areas more than others. That can include extreme weather like heavy rain, hail, flooding and wind gusts. The key is they happen over a few miles to a few dozen miles, said Chris Kucharik, director of the mesonet project and professor and department chair of agronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.