Frankfort ASOS Retiring as Official NWS Climate Site

The National Weather Service (NWS) is announcing the official retirement of the Frankfort, KY Automated
Surface Observing System (ASOS) as a designated climate site. This decision follows a prolonged outage and
upcoming equipment transitions that prevent the station from meeting strict federal climate recording
standards.

The Frankfort ASOS station has been offline since late June 2025 due to unresolved power supply issues, in
which Kentucky Mesonet data have been used as supplemental data to NWS climate products. The site is also
scheduled to transition to an Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) by the summer of 2027: AWOS
configurations typically do not meet the rigorous sensor, reporting, and maintenance criteria required to
maintain an uninterrupted, high-precision official NWS climate record. Furthermore, the power supply issues are
not expected to be resolved prior to equipment transition from ASOS to AWOS.

While the upcoming AWOS installation will continue to provide critical, real-time aviation weather data for pilots
and local airport operations, it cannot serve as a direct replacement for official NWS climate archiving.

To ensure local meteorologists, researchers, and the public retain access to high-quality weather tracking, the
NWS highlights the Kentucky Mesonet site located in Franklin County. The Kentucky Mesonet—a statewide
network of automated weather monitoring stations developed by Western Kentucky University—operates a
robust, research-grade site in the county. This local Mesonet station is fully equipped to provide much of the
same high-quality meteorological data historically generated by the Frankfort ASOS, including temperature,
precipitation, wind speed, and humidity.

Real-time local observations for aviation and public safety will resume at the airport once the new AWOS system
is fully commissioned and online. For daily weather tracking, historical comparisons, and agricultural or
emergency planning, the NWS encourages stakeholders to utilize the Franklin County Kentucky Mesonet data.

The NWS extends its gratitude to the local technicians, airport partners, and the Kentucky Mesonet team for
their ongoing collaboration in keeping Kentuckians informed of local weather conditions.