New York will soon begin work on a new weather detection system intended to provide better data on floods, wildfires and severe weather.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that the federal government has approved the installation of sensors at 19 sites around the state. The full weather detection system is expected to have 125 sensor sites when completed.

The $24 million system will be funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The weather detection system is designed to help state and local officials respond to floods, wildfires and other events by providing real-time data on air, wind, soil and radiation conditions. The information will be transmitted from the sensors to the University of Albany, where it will then be sent to researchers and emergency management agencies.

(AP)