Delaware River Toll Bridge Commission formalizes weather data sharing agreement with National Weather Service
The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC) recently formalized a long-standing practice of providing weather data to the National Weather Service (NWS) through a new cooperative agreement signed June 30.
For more than 20 years, Commission personnel at three middle-Delaware River bridges have collected daily precipitation readings — including rainfall and snowfall — as well as maximum and minimum temperatures. These readings have been shared with the NWS forecast office in Mount Holly, N.J.
The newly documented agreement covers weather data collection at the Easton-Phillipsburg Toll Bridge, Riegelsville Toll-Supported Bridge, and the Riverton-Belvidere Toll-Supported Bridge. Employees use NWS-provided equipment, such as rain gauges, snow-measuring boards and sticks, temperature sensors, and Nimbus Temperature Display Units to record daily data. The information is submitted to NWS forecasters via an online form or telephone.
The data supports multiple functions, including flood monitoring by the Mid Atlantic River Forecast Center and the maintenance of historical weather records dating back to the 1980s at Riverton-Belvidere and Riegelsville, and 1994 at Easton-Phillipsburg. These records aid in research, insurance claims, and emergency declarations by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
This agreement is separate from an 18-year-old collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey’s New Jersey Water Science Center, in which the Commission funds installation and maintenance of radar-based river-level monitoring devices at five bridges. Those readings, transmitted hourly to the NWS, help meteorologists forecast river conditions and assist local communities with flood warnings.
More information on current river conditions is available at nj.usgs.gov and water.noaa.gov.
