One of the nation’s premiere agricultural weather services is celebrating 25 years in 2021 as the founders continue to provide accurate and detailed weather information to clients around the nation in a variety of industries.
AWIS was founded in 1996 as the Agricultural Weather Information Service after the National Weather Service (NWS) began to downsize and decrease its emphasis on agricultural forecasting. Rodger Getz, Stephen Adams, and Karl Harker were all NWS meteorologists who felt the need to provide weather forecasting for farmers and ranchers in the southeast was important enough to start their own business.
“Originally being part of the weather service, we focused on the southeast – Alabama, Florida and Georgia,” said Harker, who is Vice President for Operations. “We basically expanded our services to the rest of the United States and even worldwide.”
Over the years, as the company began to grow into other areas and industries, the name became AWIS, but the team remains the same dedicated group of meteorologists who take pride in being able to help their clients protect their businesses with accurate forecasting. Despite expanding into areas such as construction and energy, AWIS is still very much focused on agriculture.
“It’s what we founded our company on, so it is still a critical part of our business,” Harker said, noting that AWIS specializes in freeze/frost forecasting for citrus, fruit, vegetables, nursery crops, and other cold sensitive crops. “It’s not just having a forecast of whether it’s going to freeze or not,” he added.
AWIS has one of the most extensive databases in the weather business, housing hourly and daily observations from over 15,000 locations around the world, some dating back to the early 1900s. This data is used to provide Normals, Departure from Normals, as well as climatological trends which assist in improving forecasts.
“This database is used in historical reports after significant weather events that result in insurance claims and construction delays,” said Tim Risner, AWIS VP for Advanced Technology. “We provide quality-controlled weather observations as well as producing real-time forecasts.”
The AWIS Ag Weather Subscription Service is designed to provide comprehensive weather information geared towards all aspects of agriculture, including field crops, livestock and irrigation management.
To celebrate 25 years, AWIS is offering a free one-time consultation for an upcoming weather event in 2021, as well as a 7-day free trial subscription to the Ag Weather Service. Contact through the website awis.com and type 25 YEARS in the message box.
