At a storm recovery briefing in Cheektowaga Monday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, the state is moving forward with a new weather forecasting network.
Over the weekend Cuomo had faulted the National Weather Service for its work ahead of last week's deadly snowstorms in the Buffalo area.
"To the extent any weather forecaster felt that they were criticized - that was not the intention," Cuomo said.
The new weather forecasting system that the state is working on has nothing to do with the last week's storm.
"What we said, back in January was, we want more and precise information as soon as possible. Because with this frequency of extreme weather, not only is time money, but time can be the difference between life and death," Cuomo said.
The state system will be "more precise" because it will have more sensors for detecting changes in weather patterns.
"They will have sensors that can tell you the height of the creek, and the speed of the water in the creek. If you know that a creek is rising, and you know how fast it's rising, and how fast the water is moving, you know that there's going to be a flood in the valley. And you know when there's going to be a flood in the valley," Cuomo said.
The cost is pegged at nearly $19 million. Cuomo said, it's a good investment. And he said, the new weather forecasting system will be previewing in the next few weeks.