The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has initiated its biannual maintenance of approximately 200 weather stations throughout the state. These stations provide crucial real-time data on road and weather conditions, aiding UDOT in ensuring public safety.
UDOT uses the information gathered from these stations to update the public via variable messaging signs, the UDOT Traffic website, and vehicle-to-everything technology. This week, inspections are underway at weather stations in Cedar City.
Each station is equipped with sensors that monitor wind, temperature, humidity, rainfall, soil temperature, snowfall rate, visibility, and road conditions. “This data helps us plan everything from our pre-storm treatment to post-storm management,” said Cody Oppermann, UDOT Weather Operations Specialist and RWIS Coordinator. “The information our weather stations provide us is crucial in helping us make the best decisions for snow mitigation and everyone traveling on Utah’s roads.”
Financially beneficial as well as practical, these stations save $11 for every dollar spent on labor and materials—totaling over $2.2 million in savings. The assessments occur in spring and fall to prepare for summer thunderstorms and winter conditions. These evaluations help ensure that all equipment functions correctly to warn travelers about adverse weather through various channels.
“Weather stations on seasonal roads can experience especially brutal winters, which can damage or break equipment,” noted Oppermann. “So we’re going to look and make sure those sensors are cleaned up and working for the summertime so that we don’t have any flawed data.”
Occasionally new weather stations are added to state-owned routes based on needs identified by recent infrastructure developments or crash data analysis. “Utah has a varying climate and we try to make sure we’re capturing all the different nuances of it,” said Oppermann. “We want to make sure that the UDOT maintenance staff are doing what they need to do to keep the road clear.”
These efforts ensure UDOT remains informed about current conditions while keeping roads safe for travelers across Utah.
