DENVER -- A partnership spearheaded by 7NEWS Chief Meteorologist Mike Nelson has brought real-time weather data back to the city of Denver for the first time since it left in 1995 with the opening of Denver International Airport.

The weather station idea began in 2007 with a phone call to Nelson from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, asking for advice on installing a weather station at its facility.

From there, a partnership was established between several public and private sector organizations, including the museum, 7NEWS, the National Weather Service, Denver City Council and Vaisala, a weather instrument manufacturer.

After dozens of meetings and countless hours seeking necessary approvals, the site for Denver's newest weather station was selected and the project received a green light.

“This truly unique partnership has allowed continuation of the historical record of weather and snow measurements in Denver,” said Lynn Maximuk, central region director for the National Weather Service. “The cooperation of multiple levels of government, the media, and private industry can serve as a model in expanding observational networks, which are a critical backbone of our ability to study and better understand climate changes.”

The new weather station was dedicated at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2009.

“This new highly accurate weather station in the heart of Denver will provide more precise data, helping us better predict short-term weather and track our changing climate,” said Nelson.

Live data is free and available to the public through the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the National Weather Service, and weather broadcasts on 7NEWS.

Click here for a current view and live data and from the weather station located at City Park Golf Course near downtown Denver.

Weather Station Details

Denver's new weather station, a large fenced-in antenna about three stories high, tethered by guy wires and loaded with sensors, is located at the heart of City Park Golf Course, near the 12th tee, less than 3 miles east-northeast of the state capital.

The elevation at the weather station is 5,307 feet.

Data collected by the station includes:

wind speed and direction
sky condition (cloud cover)
temperature (actual and wind chill)
barometric pressure
visibility
relative humidity
dew point
heat index
precipitation (measured hourly)

The weather data is transmitted to local, regional and national sources, including 7NEWS, the National Weather Service in Boulder and the National Climatic Data Center.

Official Station Remains At DIA

Despite the new station near downtown Denver, the city's official weather records will remain at Denver International Airport for now.

But as the weather station establishes a new climate record, climatologists will examine the city's weather history to determine the best method for incorporating the new information with currently documented normals and extremes. While it won't be anytime soon, it's possible that the official weather station could move back to the city in the years to come.

Regardless of what is declared official, the data streaming from City Park Golf Course will be documented daily and used for climate monitoring along the Front Range, much like data received from area airports, including Centennial, JeffCo and Buckley Air Force Base.

Denver Weather History

Weather data was first collected at various downtown locations from 1871-1916 before finding a home on the roof of the downtown Post Office until 1950.

The climate record moved to Stapleton Airport in 1950 and then to DIA in 1995.

Supplemental weather data was collected for the city by the state climatologist between 1950 and the early 1970s at the downtown Post Office and for a time on the Auraria Campus.

Cooperative data is collected today by employees at Denver Water and by meteorologists at 7NEWS.