By Guy Page

The University of Vermont has opened the first weather station in the Vermont Mesonet, a planned statewide network of automated weather stations to monitor and report real-time data to improve extreme weather preparedness, agricultural planning, and research. 

Led by UVM’s Water Resources Institute, with partners including Vermont State University’s Lyndon Meteorological Program, the Vermont Mesonet aims to reduce significant gaps in the state’s meteorological, river forecasting, and flood warning capabilities. Radars in Chittenden County, for example, are blocked by mountains and do not reach certain rural areas in the state. This can leave forecasters “in the dark” when making some forecasts and supporting flood response efforts. 

“Vermont is currently one of only twelve states without a statewide mesonet network,” said Joshua Benes, UVM Water Resources Institute’s Associate Director of Research Facilities and Networks. “Just like similar mesonet networks run by universities nationwide, the Vermont Mesonet will send real-time data to the National Weather Service and emergency managers. Given how much Vermonters have dealt with flooding lately, and how critical farming is to the state, this network will fill a major gap by providing the precise, local data needed to protect both.” 

Other automated weather stations exist in Vermont—focused on aviation or fire safety—UVM aims to develop the state’s first mesonet—a system of automated weather and environmental monitoring stations that observe localized, rapidly changing weather events, from thunderstorms to flooding.

Homesharing triples in three years – The number of homeshares in Vermont has tripled in recent years, Ric Cingieri of HomeShare Vermont said at the Vermont State House this morning. As the program has expanded into the Northeast Kingdom and southern Vermont, and in general visibility, the number of Homeshare-involved home owners has jumped from about 30 to 110, Cingieri said. Homeshare Vermont meets two main housing goals: helping aging neighbors (avg. age, 72) stay in their homes with help from tenants’ assistance and in-home help, and helping people who have passed rigorous background checks find affordable housing. 

In FY ‘25 the State of Vermont provided about $500,000 in state and federal funding. For more information, go to www.homesharevermont.org. 

The following three shorts come from the today’s daily newsletter of the Journal-Opinion, the weekly newspaper for Bradford and surrounding towns on both sides of the Connecticut River.

Corinth author wins VT Book Award – Sasha Hom, the author of “Sidework,” is the winner of the 2025 Vermont Book Award for fiction. Vermont Humanities announced the award recipients on Saturday in Montpelier.

“Hom won the fiction prize for her first novella, “Sidework,” which follows a Korean American mother and adoptee who lives on the West Coast in a van with her four children, two dogs and husband,” notes Seven Days. “He homeschools the kids while she waits tables.” 

Gusty winds knock out power – Nearly 9,000 customers in Vermont were without power late afternoon yesterday after powerful wind gusts blew through the area ahead of heavy rain. 

The story was the same across the river with multiple utilities reporting thousands of customers lost power for at least several hours yesterday afternoon and evening. 

rk Miles buys NH company – “rk MILES, a fourth‑generation, family‑owned lumber and building materials company based in Manchester Center, has acquired Varney & Smith Lumber Company, a long‑standing lumberyard and building materials supplier located in Lisbon, New Hampshire,” reports Vermont Business Magazine.