Fayetteville launches weather report and alert system at City Center Park

Fayetteville, Georgia (July 17, 2025) The City of Fayetteville has installed and activated a weather station at City Center Park, which not only offers real-time weather updates but also automatically shuts off the spray pad water supply when lightning is detected in the area.

“We are excited about this weather alert system, which will help keep our residents and guests safe and informed,” said Deputy Public Services Director Cajen Rhodes. “Up to now, anytime we know there is lightning in the area, we manually shut off water supply to the spray pad, and then we ask people to leave the area until the storm passes. With this new system, the water is shut off automatically when lightning is within a five-mile radius of City Center Park, and people will hear a siren followed by verbal instructions to leave the area due to lightning. Thirty minutes after there has been no more lightning in the area, the system automatically restarts the water supply, and the spray pad reopens.”

Rhodes explained that all of this is controlled by the new Perry Weather digital weather monitoring platform, which includes a small weather station installed on a tower adjacent to the City Center Park spray pad. Technology called StormBridge links the weather information system to spray pad water pumps. Live weather reporting from the weather station and a live camera feed are viewable on the City’s website: www.fayetteville-ga.gov/parkweather.

“We think this new system will be useful as well to our residents and guests who are deciding when they want to visit City Center Park and the spray pad attraction,” Rhodes continued. “They can look at the website to find out if the spray pad is open or not, and they can even see how hot or muggy it might be at the park. This is a pretty cool feature.”

Rhodes noted that City of Fayetteville staff will continue to monitor City Center Park and the spray pad in person as well.

The spray pad at City Center Park is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and it is closed on Mondays for routine maintenance. The spray pad will also be open Labor Day Monday, September 1. It will be closed for the season beginning Tuesday, September 2.

For more information, visit www.fayetteville-ga.gov/parks.