A tropical island breeze is blowing for WKU’s White Squirrel Weather. As part of White Squirrel Weather’s partnership with Beam Suntory and WeatherSTEM, a weather monitoring station was recently installed at the Cruzan Rum Distillery in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
White Squirrel Weather launched in October 2016 and has been working with WeatherSTEM since 2017 to provide hyperlocal forecasts and customized data at 17 sites in Kentucky, one in Alabama and now one in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Eight stations are located at Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark facilities along Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail.
“This partnership gives our students the chance to interface with private industry, practice forecasting and develop critical skills as they move on and look for jobs after graduation,” said Dr. Josh Durkee, Professor of Meteorology and University Meteorologist. “These applied, experiential learning opportunities that provide a service to businesses and communities set the WKU Meteorology program apart.”
