Officials with the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) and the Utah Back Country Pilots Association (UBCP) are working to get portable weather stations placed at 11 backcountry airstrips on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land.
“Actual weather conditions at remote backcountry airstrips are often quite different from local airport weather reports, which might be many miles away,” noted Wendy Lessig, RAF’s Utah Liaison.
Locations were selected to fill in the gaps with no current weather monitoring. Backcountry airstrips are a good alternative location, as they are accessible, and the units are designed specifically to be transported by small aircraft.
“The additional data will be useful to all kinds of other backcountry users so they can make informed decisions as they travel in Utah’s most remote areas,” Lessig added.
Installation of the portable weather stations is covered under the Utah Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division’s Airport Capital Improvement Program, which includes funds each year to support Utah backcountry airstrips.
Volunteer UBCP and RAF pilots have agreed to monitor the on-site physical condition of the weather stations and periodically perform simple maintenance.
The weather stations will become functional over the next year or so, RAF officials added.
For more information: TheRAF.org, UtahBackCountryPilots.org, BLM.gov, UDOT.Utah.gov
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