The Town and Pima County Flood Control District have partnered on the installation of two additional real-time flood ALERT sensors within the Town of Marana, one within the Tangerine Sky Park and the other within the Picture Rocks Water Treatment Campus. The sensors are used to collect hydrometeorological data and provide information to Town personnel about precipitation, stormwater runoff, and weather conditions affecting the regional watersheds. Using radio telemetry, sensors report data in the National weather Service Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time (ALERT) format. This type of network is commonly referred to as an ALERT system. Data collected by the ALERT system is used by the National Weather to assist in issuing flood watches and warnings and rainfall estimates.
The ALERT system is publicly accessible. Precipitation, stream flow and other weather related information is now just a few clicks away. The website offers information to assist public works and public safety agencies and the general public about current weather conditions and flooding potential. The website main features is a map feature containing locations of gaging sites along with real-time display of the data generated at that site. The map display is built on a Google Maps structure which provides an easy to navigate, up-to-date map that can be viewed in either street or terrain-view, and can display satellite imagery. Additionally, current radar images can be displayed on the map along with National Weather Service storm warnings which appear on the map as a box outlining the affected areas.
The maps can be viewed using Google Chrome at the following URLs:
Desktop version: http://alertmap.rfcd.pima.gov/Gmap/Gmap.html
Mobile Version: http://alertmap.rfcd.pima.gov/dwmobile/
