Union Park Capital Announces Investment in OneRain and High Sierra Electronics

LONGMONT, CO – March 8, 2018. OneRain Incorporated (“OneRain”), Longmont, CO, and High Sierra Electronics, Inc. (“High Sierra”), Grass Valley, CA, are pleased to announce their entry into a new project with Union Park Capital (“Union Park”), a Boston-based private equity firm focused on lower middle-market industrial technology investments. OneRain and High Sierra will serve as the core platform in Union Park’s newly created Advanced Environmental Monitoring Holdings (“AE Monitoring”).

OneRain and High Sierra provide environmental monitoring systems and software to better understand and manage water-related missions and to protect lives and property. Since 1992, OneRain has helped shape the next generation of real-time hydrometeorological monitoring technology, allowing clients to optimize water management, heighten regulatory compliance, achieve successful civil works, and save lives. High Sierra, also founded in 1992, designs and manufactures systems to help identify threats posed by the weather, including flooding, dangerous road conditions, and vulnerable dams and levees. Together, with a focus on advanced technology and customer satisfaction, OneRain and High Sierra are leaders in flood warning, road weather safety, and water and wastewater management.

“We are thrilled to be joining the Union Park family,” says James Logan, who will remain as President of both OneRain and High Sierra. “As our relationship with Union Park developed, we quickly realized our vision for the future could not have been more aligned. Their strategy of keeping businesses operating autonomously and their willingness to allow us to continue to pursue our goals was very appealing. With the investment from Union Park, we’ll have the resources to expand our product and service capability for our customers.”

“James Logan and his team have done a fantastic job leading these two wonderful businesses,” notes Peter McGuire, Partner at Union Park Capital. “We have the utmost respect for what they have accomplished and could not be happier to have James continue at the helm of OneRain and High Sierra. It’s rare to find an organization with a combination of deep technical knowledge, product and service strength, and management capability. We look forward to helping these businesses grow and we are thrilled to begin the journey,” said Peter.

About OneRain Incorporated
OneRain Incorporated was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Longmont, Colorado, with additional offices in Australia and Germany. In August of 2016, OneRain’s owners acquired High Sierra to expand product offerings and strengthen their position in the weather safety market. OneRain and High Sierra both have in-house development and direct sales forces in the U.S. For more information visit www.onerain.com.

About High Sierra Electronics
High Sierra Electronics was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Grass Valley, California, with additional offices in San Antonio and Fort Worth, TX, and Louisville, KY. High Sierra specializes in flood warning sensors, equipment, and transmitters for public and improved traffic safety. For more information visit www.hsierra.com.

About Union Park Capital
Union Park Capital is a private equity firm solely focused on lower middle-market industrial technology companies. Union Park takes a long-term perspective to help stakeholders build value over time and drives value creation through profitably growing a business, not financial engineering. Union Park Capital is based in Boston, MA, and has extensive investments and expertise in the analytical instrumentation sector. For more information, visit www.union-park.com.

 

                                               

OneRain Announces Release of Contrail Field Decoder Software Version 1.4

LONGMONT, COLORADO, December 18, 2017 – OneRain Incorporated today announced a new release of software for its Field Decoder Solutions. Contrail® Field Decoder software and associated StormLink® IQ Receiver and StormLink RF Receiver products are used by flood warning managers and field maintenance personnel for on-site trouble-shooting, radio frequency verification, and performance testing of their hydrological monitoring networks.

Optimum network design and the peak performance of gauging stations are critical for the reliable delivery of data in real time flood-warning monitoring systems. OneRain’s Field Decoder Solutions enable best field practices and testing techniques with the ability to receive and decode radio communication signals at a site directly into a laptop. Field staff can readily test and verify that gauge sites and configurations are correct.

This latest version of Contrail Field Decoder Software includes several performance improvements and user interface enhancements:

  • A new “Settings” page which configures frequency and other settings
  • Collector connections! A one-click configuration to temporarily stream ALERT2 over a network to Contrail or other loggers for testing
  • An overhaul to the “Readings” Tab
  • Performance improvements everywhere, especially when viewing many messages at once
  • Disabled debug logging; decreases disk space usage

Update Availability

This software update is immediately available to all Contrail Field Decoder Software users. To get the latest version of the software:

    1. Open the Contrail Field Decoder Software application.
    2. Go to Settings > About > Check for Updates.
    3. If you are not running the latest version, you are prompted that there are updates available. Click the text next to the Check for updates button to go to the Download page and follow the steps to install the latest version.

If you are not prompted to install a new version of Contrail Field Decoder, you already have the latest version that your operating system can support.

 

About OneRain Incorporated
Since 1992, OneRain has been providing solutions that optimize water management, heighten regulatory compliance, achieve successful civil works, and save lives. Headquartered in Longmont, Colorado, OneRain’s software and services deliver mission critical information to serve clients responsible for flood early warning, dam safety and reservoir operations, water resources, stormwater and wastewater management. For more information, visit www.onerain.com or call 800-758-RAIN (7246).

 

Visit OneRain at Dam Safety 2017 and See GateOps™

If you’re attending the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) Dam Safety 2017 Conference in San Antonio, TX (September 10—14, 2017) swing by OneRain’s booth #703 and ask to see a demo of GateOps™ in Contrail®.

What is GateOps you might ask? GateOps is a set of automated management tools in OneRain’s Contrail hydrometeorologic management software that provides decision support for Dam and Reservoir Water Inflow/Outflow Operations.

GateOps automatically makes calculations and analysis based on real time weather, rainfall, streamflow, stage and water level sensor data along with other variable formulas, and presents recommended minimum and maximum outflow rates and prescribed discharge adjustments to help operators effectively manage a rainfall or high flow event.

FEATURES

  • Automated real time calculations and analytics using real-time data
  • Easy to understand visual graphics and custom real-time dashboards allow for quick data exploration and targeted decision-making
  • Event-based alerts enable operators to focus on the right information at the right time
  • Accelerates planning and decision-making abilities
  • Supports historical analysis, prediction, forecasting, and optimization
  • 24/7 web-based mobile and desktop access for authorized users

See you at #DAMSAFETY17

 

OneRain Supporting Customers Impacted by Hurricane Harvey Storm

OneRain’s Support Team has been on hand assessing the real-time rainfall and hydrologic data and providing assistance to their clients and Emergency Coordinators in Storm Harvey’s path.

 

Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by storm Harvey. The entire OneRain team is focused on doing all we can to help and support our customers in Texas and Louisiana during this devastating event.

Officials from Harris County Flood Control District, San Jacinto River Authority, Trinity River Authority, Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, and other agencies in the storm’s path, are relying on the data transmitted from hundreds of gauges that are spread throughout the region. OneRain’s systems gather and provide the continuous real-time data measurements, analysis and reporting of the rainfall, stream flow and water levels in the dams from these gauges, providing critical notifications and information to their Emergency Coordinators and First Responders. The data from these systems are also used by the National Weather Service to assist in the official issuing of flood watches and other warnings to the public.

There are so many hard-working people behind the scenes who have had little or no rest as they keep these systems operating.

As rainfall subsides in the next few days, the ongoing challenge will be knowing where and how all this floodwater will drain and flow after this history-making rainfall and flooding storm event.

 

OneRain and High Sierra Electronics Joint Sponsors of the NHWC 2017 Conference

OneRain Incorporated, in Longmont, Colorado, together with its sister company High Sierra Electronics, Inc. in Grass Valley, California, is proud to sponsor the National Hydrologic Warning Council (NHWC) 2017 biennial training conference and exposition being held in Olympic Valley, California from June 6 to 8, 2017.

2017 Marks the 25th Anniversary of Both Companies

Both companies, established in 1992, joined forces in August of 2016, and are thrilled to share the same 25-years anniversary.

Technical Training Open House and Facility Tour

OneRain and High Sierra Electronics welcome you to join us in celebration of this very special milestone. Coinciding with NHWC 2017 Conference week, we invite you to join us on June 9, 2017 for a special training and open house event.

Thank you to our clients, friends, and colleagues for your support during these past 25 years!  Many of you have been with us from the start. Our journey continues…

 

Celebrating 25 Years 1992-2017

About OneRain Incorporated
Since 1992, OneRain has been providing solutions that optimize water management, heighten regulatory compliance, achieve successful civil works, and save lives. Headquartered in Longmont, Colorado, OneRain’s software and services deliver mission critical information to serve clients responsible for flood early warning, dam safety and reservoir operations, water resources, stormwater and wastewater management. For more information, visit www.onerain.com or call 800-758-RAIN (7246).

About High Sierra Electronics, Incorporated
Established in 1992, High Sierra Electronics, Grass Valley, California, has been designing and manufacturing environmental monitoring systems for the protection of lives and property. High Sierra Electronics’ systems help identify threats posed by the weather, which include flooding, dangerous road conditions, and vulnerable dams and levees. For more information, visit www.highsierraelectronics.com or call 800-275-2080.

Training Open House Event Celebrates 25 Years

Please join us and other leaders, colleagues, and friends in the hydrologic warning community as OneRain and High Sierra Electronics both celebrate 25 years in business at a joint Technical Training and Open House event.

When: Friday, June 9, 2017
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
What: Four (4) *FREE* Technical Workshops, Facility Tour and Lunch
Where: High Sierra Electronics, Inc., 155 Spring Hill Drive, Grass Valley, CA

Thank you to our clients, friends, and colleagues for your support during these past 25 years!

This event follows the National Hydrologic Warning Council 2017 Conference in Olympic Valley, California. HSE offices are just 60 minutes away from NHWC Conference at Squaw Creek

Make your plans now! We appreciate your response for our planning purposes.

About OneRain Incorporated
Since 1992, OneRain has been providing solutions that optimize water management, heighten regulatory compliance, achieve successful civil works, and save lives. Headquartered in Longmont, Colorado, OneRain’s software and services deliver mission critical information to serve clients responsible for flood early warning, dam safety and reservoir operations, water resources, stormwater and wastewater management. For more information, visit www.onerain.comor call 800-758-RAIN (7246).

About High Sierra Electronics, Incorporated
Established in 1992, High Sierra Electronics, Grass Valley, California, has been designing and manufacturing environmental monitoring systems for the protection of lives and property. High Sierra Electronics’ systems help identify threats posed by the weather, which include flooding, dangerous road conditions, and vulnerable dams and levees. For more information, visitwww.highsierraelectronics.com or call 800-275-2080.

Post Wildfire Flash Flood Warning System

Fire and Water: Hazards Management after Wildfires

Between shifting weather patterns and human activity, severe wildfires are becoming a more frequent occurrence. While the immediate effects of these fires are well known, it is the after effects, including flooding, that need to be closely managed.

Author: Anu Sood 

One such example is the Las Conchas fire in New Mexico. On June 26, 2011, a tree fell on a power line in Santa Fe National Forest, which ignited the parched vegetation. The forest burned at an astounding rate of one acre per second, and by the time it was over, an estimated 156,000 acres of land had been burned. Among the areas burned were parts of Bandelier National Monument, Santa Clara Pueblo and Cochiti Pueblo. At the time, it was the largest recorded wildfire in New Mexico.

The loss of vegetation from the fire was just one of the catastrophic outcomes. With much of the vegetation removed and the ground becoming hydrophobic (or vitrified), intense downpour in the Jemez Mountains in August 2011 led to flash floods. Although newly implemented flood protection had reduced damage to the recently renovated historic visitor center, many park trails had been severely impacted.

“Ground conditions drastically change following wildfires—greatly increasing the potential for life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides during heavy rain.”

The Challenge

Knowing that it could take many years, and possibly decades, for the terrestrial ecosystem to recover, the agency responsible for maintaining the park set about to implement a more effective way to closely monitor the area’s water cycle. They were concerned about heavy rains and rising upstream water levels that could once again cause flash floods or landslides, thereby threatening lives and damaging property and park assets such as the visitor center. “To more closely guard the park against post-wildfire hazards, the local agency was looking for a system that would allow them to receive real-time notifications of rainfall and water level changes in various parts of the park,” said James Logan, CEO of OneRain.

Many of the systems in the market collected data regularly but are only able to send it at specific times or at specific intervals. This did not meet the crucial requirement to receive level information in real-time since water levels can rise very quickly right before a flood.

OneRain’s StormLink® Satellite Telemetry installed in the Cochiti fire burn area in northern New Mexico for flash flood warning. Real-time data is transmitted to OneRain’s secure data storage center for viewing, alarming and monitoring on the Internet via Contrail®

The Solution

OneRain developed and deployed several of their StormLink Monitoring Stations around the Santa Fe National Forest at Bandelier National Monument, Santa Clara Pueblo and the Cochiti Pueblo. Each consisted of either a rainfall gauge or a stream gauge connected to a satellite messaging terminal manufactured by SkyWave Mobile Communications and powered by a 10-watt solar panel.

OneRain’s StormLink solution provided many key functions and benefits for effective flood warnings. Since the system relied on satellite communications to relay data, monitoring stations were set up in mountains, canyons and other remote areas where other services are not available. Data from water gauges can be received by the monitoring software within 20 seconds of being collected and sent. This allows authorities to receive immediate notification when water levels rise rapidly during heavy rains and when data are needed in order to quickly assess risk levels.

OneRain’s Unique StormLink Protocol Guaranteed Timely Data Delivery for Advanced Warning
To ensure that data were received by the flood monitoring software, OneRain implemented a unique StormLink® handshaking protocol between the satellite messaging terminal and their Contrail® monitoring software that guaranteed data delivery. If acknowledgement of data receipt was not received by the satellite messaging terminal, it would resend information.

Finally, OneRain devised the system so that water and weather data could be received, alarm thresholds defined and automated notifications for triggered alarm events delivered to any number of appropriate personnel to warn of possible flood conditions. Alarm notifications could be sent via both email and SMS text messages.

Intense Rainfall Event Puts the Advance Warning System to the Test

The remote monitoring solution’s capability was quickly tested for its effectiveness. On July 25, 2013, rains in the region led to a 17-foot (5.1-meter) high wall of water barreling through a local canyon towards the visitor center. “The real-time water level information allowed the local agencies to mobilize flood protection measures in advance,” said Logan “The early warning ensured that no one was hurt and damage to the visitor center and surrounding areas were minimized.”

For more information about this project

See OneRain Presentation: “Post Wildfire Flash Flood Warning System: A Case Study of Frijoles Canyon”

 

About the Author
Original story appeared in WaterWorld Magazine (www.waterworld.com). At the time published, Anu Sood was the Global Channel Marketing Manager at SkyWave Mobile Communications.

About OneRain Incorporated
For more than 20 years, OneRain has been providing private and public sector clients across the United States and around the world with solutions to optimize water management, heighten regulatory compliance, achieve successful civil works, and save lives. OneRain’s innovative products and services serve clients in Flood Early Warning and Emergency Management, Dam Safety and Reservoir Operations, Water Resource Management, Post Wild Fire Mitigation, Urban Pluvial Water Management, and Stormwater and Wastewater Management. For more information, visit www.onerain.com or call 1-800-758-RAIN (7246).

OneRain and High Sierra Electronics Join Forces

Grass Valley, CA (August 11, 2016) – Logan Gayl, Inc., a California company owned by the shareholders of OneRain Inc., a leading software provider for the Flood Warning, Dam Safety, Reservoir Operations, and Hydrology markets, is proud to announce the acquisition of High Sierra Electronics, Inc., a leading provider of environmental monitoring and instrumentation for the Flood Warning, Hydrology and Road Weather markets.

This acquisition combines the strengths of OneRain’s software, High Sierra Electronics’ hardware, and both companies’ services divisions to provide end-to-end-supported software, instrumentation and field services to the hydrology marketplace.

“High Sierra Electronics’ seasoned management team has done a terrific job of building a solid and successful operation that provides high quality products and services to the hydrology market,” said James Logan, OneRain’s CEO. “OneRain and High Sierra Electronics share a passion for serving public safety and public agencies where real-time monitoring of hydrology supports their core mission.”

“We are thrilled about the possibilities this new synergy creates,” said Ilse Gayl, OneRain’s chairman.

“By teaming up, High Sierra Electronics and OneRain will be able to provide technology-leading, high quality solutions for our combined customer base,” said Jim Slouber, VP of Engineering for High Sierra Electronics. “This is the natural evolution of our business to provide more complete solutions for our customers,” said Kathy Slouber, President of High Sierra Electronics.

About OneRain Incorporated
Since 1992, OneRain has been providing solutions that optimize water management, heighten regulatory compliance, achieve successful civil works, and save lives. Headquartered in Longmont, Colorado, OneRain’s software and services deliver mission critical information to serve clients responsible for flood early warning, dam safety and reservoir operations, water resources, stormwater and wastewater management. For more information, visit www.onerain.com or call 800-758-RAIN (7246).

About High Sierra Electronics, Incorporated
Established in 1992, High Sierra Electronics, Grass Valley, California, has been designing and manufacturing environmental monitoring systems for the protection of lives and property. High Sierra Electronics’ systems help identify threats posed by the weather, which include flooding, dangerous road conditions, and vulnerable dams and levees. For more information, visit www.highsierraelectronics.com or call 800-275-2080.

Contact Information

Rosemarie O’Connell
Sales & Marketing
OneRain Incorporated
1531 Skyway Drive, Unit D
Longmont, CO 80504
Phone: 800-758-7246

Sue Swenor
Sales Manager
High Sierra Electronics, Inc.
155 Spring Hill Drive, Suite 106
Grass Valley, CA 95945
Phone: 800-275-2080

https://www.newswire.com/news/onerain-and-high-sierra-electronics-join-f…

Contrail Insight is Changing to “Contrail Analytics”

With the December 2016 Contrail® software release, OneRain is updating the suite of data analysis tools and data mining engines known as “Contrail Insight” to a new menu location and with a new name: “Contrail Analytics“.

The update affects Contrail Base Station and Contrail Server clients.*

Contrail offers two types of reports: On-Demand and Analytics. Making Contrail Analytics available requires a client-based permission. With this new update, the Analytics reports will live alongside the On-Demand reports making your library of reports easier to find and manage in one location: Administration > Reporting > Reports. More about access and new report features will be available in the online Help documentation coming with this release.

The team here at OneRain is always working to improve our user’s experience by creating better workflow, simplifying processes and adding new features and enhancements. Your feedback on Contrail’s features and usability are incredibly important to us so please let us know what you think.

We frequently release new features, improvements and bug fixes. For the latest information about Contrail software updates and releases, visit the Releases page at https://status.onerain.com

*Contrail Analytics is not available with Contrail Shared Web.

About OneRain Incorporated
Since 1992, OneRain has been providing solutions that optimize water management, heighten regulatory compliance, achieve successful civil works, and save lives. Headquartered in Longmont, Colorado, OneRain’s software and services deliver mission critical information to serve clients responsible for flood early warning, dam safety and reservoir operations, water resources, stormwater and wastewater management. For more information, visit www.onerain.com or call 800-758-RAIN (7246).

Why is HTTPS-Secure Important for Contrail?

The Whitehouse mandated HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) connection for Federal publicly-accessible websites back in 2015. The directive instructs Federal agencies with publicly accessible websites to provide service only through a secure HTTPS connection that encrypts nearly all information during communication between the website and user. (See M-5-13 memorandum “Policy to Require Secure Connections across Federal Websites and Web Services“.

Starting in January of 2017, Google Chrome will begin indicating all websites that do not use encryption as “Not Secure”. Other major web browsers (Opera, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Edge) will likely do the same.

Encryption between Browser and Contrail Server

HTTPS-secure provides an encrypted connection between the browser and the Contrail server. This ensures that the data transmitting between your browser and the Contrail server is safe by making sure that unintended users are unable to intercept the traffic. A particular instance in which this type of secure connection is highly important is during username login and password access to the application. If you do not have HTTPS certificates configured, this warning can put off public users from visiting your site, and leave you vulnerable to “Man-In-The-Middle” attacks when visiting your Contrail instance.
All OneRain-hosted Contrail editions are HTTPS secure. For locally installed Contrail Base Stations, a TLS/SSL (Transport Layer Security/Secure Sockets Layer) protocol certificate is required to enable encryption and authentication on your site domain and use the HTTPS protocol. OneRain can work with your IT department to implement your agency’s encryption certificates within Contrail ahead of this change. If using or implementing your agency’s certificate is an issue, OneRain can purchase and manage your certificate on your agency’s behalf for a small annual fee.

Starting in January of 2017, Google Chrome will begin indicating all websites that do not use encryption as “Not Secure”. Other major web browsers (Opera, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Edge) will likely do the same. (Learn more here)

 

Why have TLS/SSL Certificates?

A TLS/SSL* certificate is required to enable encryption and authentication on your site domain and use the HTTPS protocol. HTTPS-secure provides an encrypted connection between the browser and the Contrail server. This ensures that the data transmitting between your browser and the Contrail server is safe by making sure that unintended users are unable to intercept the traffic. A particular instance in which this type of secure connection is highly important is during username login and password access to the application. If you do not have HTTPS certificates configured, the “not secure” warning could put off public users from visiting your site, and leave you vulnerable to “Man-In-The-Middle” attacks when visiting your Contrail instance.

All OneRain-hosted editions of Contrail are HTTPS secure

For locally installed Contrail Base Stations, a TLS/SSL (Transport Layer Security/Secure Sockets Layer) protocol certificate is required to enable encryption and authentication on your site domain and use the HTTPS protocol. If your on-premise Contrail Base Station site domain is not secure, OneRain can work with your I.T. department to implement your agency’s encryption certificates within Contrail. If using or implementing your agency’s certificate is an issue, OneRain can purchase and manage your certificate on your agency’s behalf for a small annual fee.

*TLS/SSL (Transport Layer Security/Secure Sockets Layer) is the de facto standard for encrypted and authenticated communications between clients and servers on the Internet.

 
About OneRain Incorporated
Since 1992, OneRain has been providing solutions that optimize water management, heighten regulatory compliance, achieve successful civil works, and save lives. Headquartered in Longmont, Colorado, OneRain’s software and services deliver mission critical information to serve clients responsible for flood early warning, dam safety and reservoir operations, water resources, stormwater and wastewater management. For more information, visit www.onerain.com or call 800-758-RAIN (7246).