April 25, 2025. According to NRCC Director Art DeGaetano, the NOAA contracts that authorize FY 2025 funding for regional climate centers have been signed. However, operating funds for the remainder of FY 2025 (beyond June 17, 2025) are pending at the time of this message. All indications suggest these operating funds will be received but the status of operating funds for FY 2026 and beyond is unknown.
If you’ve ever used the NEWA website to check when pests might arrive, track crop development, or see local weather data, you’ve experienced a small part of a larger system. Behind the scenes, powerful tools and trusted weather data work together to help farmers, gardeners, educators and researchers make better decisions. One of the most important partners in making this happen is the Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC).
NEWA is part of Cornell Integrated Pest Management (Cornell IPM), a program within Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences that supports safe, science-based strategies for managing pests and crop health. Cornell IPM partners with the NRCC to power the NEWA platform and ensure the tools you rely on stay accurate, reliable and available every day.
How the NRCC Supports You through NEWA
Gathering and Organizing Weather Data
NEWA pulls in hourly weather data from more than 1,000 stations across the Eastern United States. The NRCC collects that information, checks it for accuracy and organizes it into a format that can be used by NEWA tools. This includes measurements like temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind and solar radiation.
Linking Real Conditions with Weather Forecasts
The NRCC helps NEWA match real-time weather observations with forecast data from NOAA—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This unique connection means users receive both current conditions and smart predictions for what’s likely to happen in the days ahead.
Hosting and Maintaining Tools
NEWA’s decision support tools don’t run on their own. The NRCC hosts these tools on secure servers and keeps them running smoothly 24/7. This includes tools for managing pests, tracking crop stages and monitoring disease risks — resources used by growers every single day.
Quality Control for Better Accuracy
Weather data isn’t always perfect. Sensors might fail or report strange values—like saying it’s 120 degrees in the middle of the night. The NRCC performs quality checks to catch and fix these issues before the data is used in any NEWA tool.
Building for the Future
As NEWA expands, the NRCC supports the development of new tools and helps improve existing ones. Their technical team works closely with Cornell IPM to build a platform that grows with the needs of the agricultural and environmental communities.
Why This Partnership Matters
Cornell IPM created NEWA to help people make smart, safe decisions using weather-based information. But it’s the partnership with the NRCC that makes this vision a reality. Without the NRCC’s data systems, technical support and connection to NOAA forecasts, NEWA simply couldn’t function the way it does today.
This behind-the-scenes work keeps NEWA strong, reliable and free for the people who depend on it —whether they’re managing a commercial farm or growing vegetables in a community garden.
Last updated 4/25/2025 by Dan Olmstead, NEWA Project Lead and Senior Extension Associate at Cornell Integrated Pest Management, which is part of the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.