BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — More data, more cameras, and better tools to better prepare you for storms. Mesonet is five years in the making, and 4 Warn Weather is now the first team in Western New York to get access to the high-tech weather system.

Before the Mesonet system, New York State had 27 stations across the state. In Western New York alone, there’s now nearly 30 weather stations.

All told, the state used $30 million from a federal FEMA grant to install 126 weather monitoring stations, equipped with cameras and sensors to monitor air and soil temperatures.

Within the Mesonet there’s a smaller system called a Micronet. This helps forecasters and emergency departments get real-time information in some of the hardest-hit area, and bring us, and therefore you, information we didn’t have access to before.

You might recall that when the Snowvember storm hit five years ago, Gov. Andrew Cuomo created some controversy in saying there was a need for better forecasting equipment, and this system is the result of those promises.

The new system won’t just help us with forecasting the weather. The DEC is using the data to track and study things like air pollution and fire weather.

It’s a system that we now use daily and it’s a system that we will use for decades to come.