As Upstate New York experiences a record-setting number of tornadoes, there is a push to boost the nation’s weather monitoring system.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D – New York) visited New York State’s Mesonet Operations Command Center at UAlbany Monday, pushing for millions more in funding.  

Twenty-three tornadoes were confirmed so far in July in New York state, the most ever confirmed in one month.

Ten of them happened on July 16, which Schumer said made the need for additional funding all the more urgent.

“For many communities in Upstate New York, the past month has been like a scene out of the movie ‘Twister,’” said Schumer.

That’s why Schumer is visiting the New York State Mesonet Operations Command Center at UAlbany.

Thirty-three hubs like it around the U.S. gather live pictures and data from weather stations.

Schumer announced he would push to increase funding by 50%, seeking to infuse the monitoring systems with an additional $30 million.

“The more information you have, coming from more different places, at the same time, the better you can predict what happens,” he said.

The Mesonet network sends hyper-local data to the command center and helps New York State prepare for and respond to emergencies like the tornadoes across Upstate New York.

“If you can know better and quicker and more in advance where a tornado will hit, and precisely where it will hit, you can save lives,” he said.

Mesonet Director Dr. June Wang showed NewsChannel 13 how real-time pictures of the town of Edinburg on July 16 helped the state see and respond to the damage from the tornado there.  

More funding could help add more weather stations and, one day, drones to monitor the weather.

“We are in the process of working with others whether at some of the sites, we can deploy the automatic drones, meteorology drones and target for special weather events. That’s still really far away down the road,” Dr. Wang said.

Schumer said he fears funding for the National Weather Service could be in jeopardy if former President Donald Trump wins the presidency. He said Project 2025 would cut its funding. Project 2025 is a policy plan written by some of Trump’s former staffers, but Trump himself has said he knows nothing about the plan.