28-02-2025
Providing site-specific updates, a Perry Weather system was recently installed at WUHS
At the end of January, a Perry Weather system was set up at Wheatland Union High School's football field; it collects information from within a small radius of the campus.
A Perry Weather system is a real-time weather monitoring system designed to provide organizations with site-specific weather data and automated alerts to enhance safety and operational efficiency. The director of health services with the Wheatland Union High School District, Lisa Phillips, and the athletic director, Jason Soderlund, advocated for this addition at the school.
'One of the great things about the Perry Weather system is that we have the ability to share it with (coaches),' Soderlund said, referring to information that is relayed via the Perry Weather app. 'It gives them the ability to see what I'm seeing. And gives us the ability to go, 'Hey, look, you can't practice today because of X, Y and Z.' It also gives them parameters of what they can do at practice, especially during football because we practice in August when it's one of the hottest parts of the year. So if it gets to a certain temperature, I'm telling all of our kids – take off their helmets, take off their shoulder pads. You can still practice, but we're going to take precautions on this. At the same time, 'Hey, you have to give them extra water breaks.' Those things.'
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is organized under the State Department of Education and sets various guidelines, including weather threshold guidelines for athletics. Before the Perry Weather system was added, a wet bulb thermometer was already used at the school to check condition information. However, now, because of the Perry Weather system, the school doesn't have to rely on someone physically being by the wet bulb thermometer watching it; Phillips said that it is amazing.
'So we're not worried about that lack of communication,' Phillips said. 'Everybody's getting the same information at the same time.'
Phillips said the Perry Weather system monitors real-time temperature, Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, precipitation, wind speed, air quality and lightning strikes.
While only some staff members currently have access to the data, there are plans to put real-time temperature on the district's website.
The Wheatland Union High School district purchased this system. According to Perry Weather, other high schools, including Yuba City High School and Orland High School, also have their own Perry Weather System station. Various universities and professional athletic organizations also use the Perry Weather System.
