The American Water Charitable Foundation, a philanthropic nonprofit established by American Water, and New Jersey American Water announced Oct. 26 the completion of a Rutgers New Jersey Weather Network weather station in Franklin Township.

The station was supported by a $25,000 State Strategic Impact grant awarded in 2024 to the Rutgers University Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist. New Jersey American Water made space available for the station at its Canal Road Water Treatment Plant, providing a secure location for its installation and operation.

The weather station is operating as part of the Rutgers New Jersey Weather Network (NJWxNet). Through its online data portal, users can access current and historical observations from Franklin Township, including temperature, dew point, relative humidity, barometric pressure, precipitation, wind speed and wind direction, with data available in five-minute, hourly and daily intervals.

Current conditions and station information are available on the Franklin Township station webpage.

“Through the coordination among Rutgers and New Jersey American Water, this new station expands our capability to monitor real-time weather conditions in Central New Jersey,” said New Jersey State Climatologist Dr. John Krasting. “While the data will be invaluable to our office, the real winners are local residents, who will now have state-of-the-art observations from their own community informing everything from severe weather warnings to decisions about their daily lives.”

NJWxNet connects weather-monitoring stations throughout New Jersey and makes local observations available online. The network supports weather forecasting, climate monitoring and other weather-related applications by providing timely information from communities across the state.

The grant also supported the creation of an educational lesson focused on regional weather and climate data, including observations collected at the Franklin Township station.

Designed for middle and high school classrooms, the resource helps students and educators explore local weather and climate patterns using real-world data, with a focus on communities served by New Jersey American Water, the largest regulated water utility in the state.

This curriculum is available at no cost through the New Jersey State Climate Office’s education resources webpage.

The State Strategic Impact grant is part of the Keep Communities Flowing Grant Program, focusing on three pillars of giving: Water, people and communities. State Strategic Impact grants support high-impact projects and initiatives throughout American Water’s national footprint.