The New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) is a unique learning environment housing both a public military junior college and high school at the same campus. NMMI is no stranger to unpredictable weather, where conditions can change in an instant, leaving school administrators and athletics staff in a race to decide—should we take shelter, or will the storm pass us by? Since NMMI cadets spend a large amount of their time outside for physical training, outdoor practices, and military drills, it is essential to have a solution in place to monitor the weather. John Carpenter, Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer at NMMI trusts Perry Weather to keep his students, staff and community safe and make informed decisions concerning the weather.

The Case for Reliable Lightning Detection in New Mexico

“New Mexico has a very unique climate. Weather can roll in at any time. Just because it’s sunny outside doesn’t mean you don’t have lightning…I have some colleagues that work also down here in the southern part of the state that have actually had some of their athletes struck by lightning.”

John Carpenter, Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer

Lightning is a serious concern across the southern region of New Mexico, and having a solution in place to detect lightning is a baseline safety measure for many schools in New Mexico. However, it’s just one piece of the puzzle; NMMI also needed a way to notify everyone when lightning was in the area in a timely and effective manner.

Prior to using Perry Weather, NMMI used WeatherBug for their lightning detection. When WeatherBug detected a lightning strike, the alert notifications were often sent to John and his staff long after the actual strikes occurred. John saw significant improvements after switching to Perry Weather. The system not only sends instant text alerts and notifications, but it also activates outdoor warning sirens with visual strobes, alerting everyone in the area to take shelter.

In one instance during a football game in early August, the Perry Weather system alerted NMMI staff ahead of a large incoming storm, getting everyone off the field ahead of time.

“Within about five minutes, we had a torrential downpour and we had three inches of rain in less than a 30-minute period. It did delay our game about three hours, but everybody was safe. We didn’t have any worries.”

John Carpenter, Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer

In addition to the lightning detection and alerts, Perry Weather also gives NMMI a clear way of understanding when its safe to return to activities with its lightning countdown timer. As soon as a strike is detected, the lightning countdown timer begins counting down from 30 minutes. If a strike is detected during the countdown, the timer restarts at 30 minutes. If no further strikes are detected, the timer sends an all-clear message, letting everyone know it’s safe to resume.

How NMMI is Responding to The NMMA’s New Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) Policy

Apart from lightning, another prevalent weather safety issue for New Mexico schools is high temperatures. In New Mexico, Heat stress has been a particularly hot topic since the New Mexico Activities Association (NMAA) implemented a new policy requiring the use of Wet Bulb Globe Temperature at practice and competition sites to assess heat conditions. In secondary school athletic programs across the US, WBGT is quickly becoming the gold standard for assessing heat stress. John Carpenter was an early adopter of WBGT, taking manual readings with a handheld device before the NMAA policy was implemented.

Many schools have opted for cheap, ineffective monitoring solutions in order to check the box of compliance. Among those options, are handheld Kestrel WBGT units. While cost-effective, Kestrel units have a handful of issues that make them an ineffective solution:

• Innaccurate Readings – Due to the small size of its black globe sensor; temperature readings can vary greatly, forcing ATs to modify practice before the true WBGT rises to a level where modifications are needed. 
• Long Set-up Times – After setting up the device, the device needs around 30 minutes to warm up to give a more accurate reading.
• Manual WBGT Logging – There is no simple way of automatically logging the readings throughout the duration of the outdoor activities.

“I’ve had previous experience where you have to go out, take the sling psychrometer, swing it around, compare it to the chart, and then tell the coaches the bad news. Now, with the Perry Weather app, everybody can get the text, or I can show the coaches, or they can log in to their own personal account and they know what our practice schedule is going to be.”

John Carpenter, Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer

Perry Weather automates these manual processes, logging historical WBGT readings and sending alerts to John and his coaching staff across multiple practice locations. The system also measures WBGT with a 3.5 black globe sensor, providing a much more accurate reading than small handhelds. This ensures that students can get indoors to cool down only when the conditions call for it. 

Not only does Perry Weather monitor and log WBGT, but it also sends out automated text messages to the athletic trainers and coaching staff, letting them know if outdoor activities need to be modified or stopped. Perry Weather has simplified this process and helped NMMI stay compliant with the new policies.

Why the Perry Weather Team Makes a Difference

Beyond the technology, Perry Weather’s customer service has also been a differentiator from past weather safety solutions. On-call meteorologists track large storm cells and send NMMI custom reports ahead of the storms moving in. They are also available by call or messaging through the Perry Weather mobile app 24/7.

Before games or outdoor events with a large attendance, NMMI can email or message Perry Weather to get a custom forecast. In the midst of a storm, Perry Weather is there to let NMMI know when the storm will blow over. 

Perry Weather has filled a big gap in NMMI’s overall safety operations, enabling John to spend more time being an athletic trainer and less time being a meteorologist. With accurate, real-time weather data, 24/7 meteorology support and instant lightning and weather alerts, John and his team can focus on what matters most: keeping their athletes safe.