Saint John has installed five portable wireless solar-powered mini weather stations to help the Public Works team improve its winter storm response.

Four weather stations have been installed on Foster Thurston Drive, Loch Lomond Road, Westfield Road, and Union Street.

A fifth is being installed uptown to provide information on sidewalk conditions specifically.

The new weather stations will help meet the city’s Winter Management Plan standards, reduce costs while doing so, and contribute to the City’s strategic goal of reducing the use of highway salt.

Each station collects and broadcasts key information to our Winter Management team in real-time, including air temperature, humidity, road surface temperature, slippery conditions, wind speed, wind direction, and a picture showing road conditions every 20 minutes.

The combination of this location-specific information and more broadly available weather forecasts helps predict when snow will start, snowfall amounts, if any rain mixes in, and when roads may become slippery.

This additional data improves the ability to respond to keep roads and sidewalks safe.

The weather stations are leased to limit financial risk while time is provided to ensure the chosen product produces the required results.

More information about the City of Saint John’s Winter Management plan can be found by clicking here.