When tornadoes skip across the state or an ice storm threatens power supplies, Mississippians need the most up-to-date weather information possible.

That information is now available on a website maintained by the geosciences department at MSU. The site, located at http://www.msstate.edu/dept/geosciences/radar/, provides "real-time" radar images of weather activity in the Magnolia State.

"We believe we are the only university in the nation with a live-radar system on the Internet," said MSU Climate Lab coordinator Patrick Francis. "The Mississippi State site also provides the only real-time weather radar images for Mississippi."

Computers in the university's geosciences department receive Doppler radar images from three sites-Jackson, Memphis, and Columbus Air Force Base-and create the weather map that's posted on the Internet. The image is updated every 60-seconds.

The MSU site was established in October 1999 to give the most up-to-date weather information available to geosciences faculty and students.

Word of the site spread, and it soon was receiving several thousand visits a day.