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Weather Stations Update

Originally deployed in 2012, thanks to funding from the West Coast Inland Navigation District (WCIND) through a grant from Lee County, the RECON weather stations became the first weather stations in this area located directly over the water. Designed to give researchers and boaters near real-time information on the current over water weather conditions, they quickly became the go to weather source for the local boating community. ...

The River, Estuary and Coastal Observing Network (RECON) is a network of water quality sensors deployed throughout the Caloosahatchee river and estuary to provide real-time, water quality data to scientists, policy makers, and the general public.

The extensive watersheds of the Caloosahatchee (1,400 square miles) and Lake Okeechobee (4,400 square miles) each contribute water that flows into the Caloosahatchee estuary and the Gulf of Mexico. Water quality is affected by both Lake Okeechobee discharges and runoff from the Caloosahatchee watershed. Over time, these watersheds have changed from low-nutrient loading marshes and wetlands to high loading urban and agricultural land uses. Nutrients increase turbidity and decrease concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO). In addition, excess nutrients fuel nuisance algal blooms. Losses of low-nutrient adapted communities, such as seagrasses have contributed to changes in fish, crustacean and marine mammal communities.

Real-time Data

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Map View

Zoom-in and pan to sites and obtain a quick summary of current conditions

Boater Forecast

See tide predictions, wind forecasts, and wave heights from the region

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Imperial Metric

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Marine Lab
1535.9^mm

Description

Y Cloudy Beach early Rain in the amount of rain that has fallen for a given calendar year. It resets to zero on January 1st.

Rain is liquid water that precipitates or falls from the sky. Rainfall and water quality can be directly related. Large rain events can lower salinity levels. This can happen on a small local scale, such as when runoff from a small stream enters a bay or on much larger scales such as when the Caloosahatchee River discharges large volumes of runoff. In addition to lowering salinity the runoff is usually high in CDOM. Rainfall in our area is very patchy therefore rainfall totals can be highly variable over a relatively small geographical area.