Storm Chasing "Weather Beast" Vehicle Utilizes Magellan MX600

WHAS11 News Meteorologists pose in front of the Weather Beast.
About a year ago, WHAS11 of Louisville, Kentucky, debuted the Weather Beast, a Dodge Ram specially outfitted for storm chasing and broadcast including a Magellan MX600™ Weather Station with Weather Display™ console and WeatherMaster™ Software.

“While chasing storms and tornadoes with a vehicle like the Beast can be a thrill, the main goal is to match up what we see on the radar with live video of what’s happening from the ground.  We often call this ‘ground truth.’  This ability increases accuracy and immediately shows us and viewers at home how severe the weather actually is,” said  WHAS Chief Meteorologist Ben Pine in an announcement. “Yes, the Beast looks super cool, but more importantly, it is an amazing tool for the WHAS11 First Alert StormTeam."
 
The Magellan MX600 Weather Station includes ultrasonic wind speed and direction measurement, temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, and rainfall sensors, as well as compass and GPS readings.
At CWS, we love this video because it features not just the on-air meteorologist, but also Aaron Pryor, chief engineer, whose work behind the scenes makes this technology possible.

This video shows more of the weather station if you know what you’re looking for. On the exterior there’s the Magellan MX600 all-in-one sensor. Inside the vehicle look for the Weather Display console below the control panel and WeatherMaster on the laptop next to the steering wheel.
Weather Display Console  (bottom left) inside the Weather Beast.
WeatherMaster is displayed on a laptop up front.

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