Latest news with #weatherballoon
CBS News
3 days ago
- Climate
- CBS News
Scattered to numerous storms expected today for the Pittsburgh area
It's going to be another day with scattered to numerous storms expected today across the Pittsburgh area. First Alert: None Yesterday was our 10th 90-degree day of the year as temperatures managed to briefly spike up in between waves of thunderstorms during the early afternoon. This morning begins much like the last several across our area with temperatures struggling to drop below 70-degrees amid very humid conditions. As expected, these storms produced very heavy rain in spots with localized swaths of 2-3"+ although a majority of folks did not receive this. There were multiple reports of flash flooding in Central to Southern Washington county. A stationary front is gradually dissolving over the region with additional waves of energy aloft in the atmosphere pivoting in from the northwest. This will support a continued opportunity for rain and thunderstorms through early evening. Atmospheric moisture levels remain unusually high across our area, so any of these cells will be able to produce heavy rainfall rates in a short amount of time. As a matter of fact, there is a good chance that when the morning weather balloon is launched, we will likely break a record for the amount of moisture in the air. The peak of t-storm coverage won't occur until midday through early afternoon. Once the trough passes to our southeast, expect storms to shift south of I-70 by 6-7pm and exit our area for the most part between sunset and midnight. With high relative humidity, clearing skies, and light winds, much of the area should see dense Monday morning. This fog will begin to mix out by midday to early afternoon with partly cloudy skies and hot conditions. Air temperatures Monday through Wednesday will likely reach 90 degrees with heat indices in the mid to upper 90s. As far as storm chances go, these will highly depend on when spokes of lift from disturbances called shortwaves pivot into the area. The core of the heat ridge will be centered across the Midwest and Mississippi River Valley Monday-Wednesday. A weak shortwave will move into the area late Monday evening. This may trigger a stray to isolated storm chance Monday evening in our westernmost counties. Another wave may move in on Tuesday evening with strong storms more likely into portions of Central OH, but if these survive the trip, we may take part in that activity as well. The day most likely to see storms this week will be between Wednesday evening into midday Thursday as a stronger cold front moves through. Some storms could briefly turn severe Wednesday afternoon with remnant showers on Thursday. Substantially drier air and slightly below normal temperatures are expected to end the week. WEATHER LINKS: Current Conditions | School Closings & Delays | Submit Your Weather Photos
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
NWS in Nashville tries to keep sunny outlook despite DOGE cuts
Meteorologist Alexandra Holley held a giant weather balloon and the rapt attention of a group of youngsters. "It'll tug on you, and you let it go," she told her young helpers as they prepared to set the orb aloft. The 6-foot sphere climbed toward the clouds. Onlookers waved goodbye. Some roared in awe. "I've never seen a weather balloon," said Bryce Hoyt, 10, of Mt. Juliet. "I was expecting it to be a normal-size balloon." The latex object, filled with hydrogen, was headed more than 20 miles up into the Earth's lower atmosphere, Holley explained during the July 15 demonstration at the National Weather Service's Nashville office. Its flight was expected to last about two hours, during which it would transmit data back every minute to the weather service office, tracking atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature and wind speed. "Our launch will help mold what we're forecasting," Holley said. Balloons also help the National Hurricane Center track storms. NWS sends balloons up at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily. Eventually they reach an altitude where pressure dissipates. Then they expand to the size of a single-story house and pop, Holley said. Bryce played a hand in this week's event, helping tie a knot around the ballon's base. He'd love to become a meteorologist some day, he said, so he can be in charge of releasing the balloon. Uncertain future forecast for NWS The balloon launch was part of an event meant to help the public to learn about the weather agency. It came amid budget cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that experts warn threaten the future of agencies that operate under NOAA, like the National Weather Service. 'It will stop all progress' in U.S. forecasting, James Franklin, who retired in 2017 as chief of the National Hurricane Center's forecast specialists, told USA TODAY. 'We're going to stagnate and we're not going to continue to improve as we go forward.' "If NWS products and services are reduced, we all suffer," renowned Alabama meteorologist James Spann said in a social media post earlier this year, "especially during times of life-threatening weather." Inside Climate News, a nonprofit news organization, reported that federal cuts have led to a decrease in the number of weather balloon launches across the country. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defended the cuts during a June 5 hearing on Capitol Hill, saying NOAA is 'transforming how we track storms and forecast weather with cutting-edge technology.' The weather service's Nashville office lost about seven employees from Jan. 1 to May 27, records show. The weather service has 16 employees with seven openings as department operate under a hiring freeze, according to NOAA spokesperson Marissa Anderson. "The National Weather Service continues to meet its core missions amid recent reorganization efforts and is taking steps to prioritize critical research and services that keep the American public safe and informed," she said in a statement. "NWS is committed to investing in new technology and prioritizing public safety." Anderson said NWS is working to fill filed positions to be advertised as critical and an exception to current hiring freezes. She did not say if any of those positions would emanate from Nashville. The weather service employees around 4,250 people across 122 local offices, each doing the same daily balloon launches. The proposed White House budget for NOAA would see a 40% cut, or approximately $2.3 billion less than in 2024. It costs around $1 billion to fund NWS across the country; Holley said that equates to $3 per person in the United States to fund the agency that provides life-saving weather information to people impacted by flooding, tornadoes and other severe weather events. "We issue severe weather warnings and watches," Holley said. "We are the only people in America that can do that," she said. "We issue 7-day forecasts for the entire nation. We monitor river conditions. "We are here watching the weather for you guys." USA TODAY reporter Dinah Voyles Pulver contributed to this story. Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@ and on X @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NWS in Nashville works to help inform public amid funds cuts Solve the daily Crossword
BBC News
30-06-2025
- Science
- BBC News
The school Lego weather project that ended up in space
Have you ever had a lesson at school which ended with a big lovely surprise?That's exactly what happened to pupils at one primary school in first they thought they'd lost their weather balloon, just minutes after launching it into space. However they managed to track it down and had quite the shock when they decided to watch the footage back from the on-board discovered that the balloon - along with its passenger Dan the Lego man - had been on an out-of-this-world adventure! What happened to Dan the Lego man? Staff and schoolchildren at Gobowen Primary School thought all was lost when the tracker on their weather balloon went balloon was being used as part of a science project to measure temperature and wind speed as it flew across the had a small camera on board as well as one passenger – Dan the Lego school thought it would land somewhere in Derbyshire but they lost contact and thought it was all it turned out that Dan had other sights to see. To everyone's surprise the tracker came back online the following day, showing that the balloon had popped and landed in the nearby county of footage from the flight shows that too much helium in the balloon meant that Dan rose up through the clouds and higher and higher above the more than an hour, the smiling Lego man made it to space! However, soon after the balloon popped and Dan started hurtling back down to Earth at plummeted thousands of feet, crash-landing in a quarry in discovering the balloon was back from its galactic adventure - it was retrieved along with Dan, who was still full of smiles.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Robotics class sends off high-altitude weather balloon
DRUMS, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — The phrase 'teamwork makes the dream work' has become popular ever since a clergyman coined it a couple of decades ago. The expression certainly applies to some local students. They achieved their dream of having a class project take flight quite literally. Juniors and seniors at Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences received their marching orders for a high-flying project in John Berta's robotics class. Their project? To launch a 42-foot high-altitude weather balloon more than 100,000 feet into the atmosphere. They worked on this project for several weeks, a project the school has done in previous years. 'I was like really kind of nervous because it was such, like, a tedious process on the ground getting, making sure everything was okay,' said graduating senior Avery Sherman of Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences. This year's launch marked a first. Never before had the class attempted one in the evening. They scheduled this launch at around 7:30 p.m., well after school hours. 'The goal here was to try and time the max height of the balloon with at least on, or about, sunset so that we can see the line of sunset across the earth,' teacher John Berta explained. 'So what's going to happen is as it goes up, it's going to start to pull this up, so everybody kind of has to give with it,' said Berta. Before the launch, much needs to be done, including getting enough helium, building a payload container, and even alerting the Air Force about their high-in-the-sky project. Teen artist 'blooming' into her craft 'Funny enough, it's a lot of prep work and making sure lights blink properly,' said graduating senior Ryan Brislin of Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences. With a tracking device and a 360-degree GoPro camera firmly attached, it is finally 'go' time. The onboard camera from above captures the jubilation down below. 'A lot of people don't think that much work goes into this stuff, but its great seeing all the work you put into it and then it's a simple thing, so we launched a balloon to the sky, but to think about how much work went into it and the aftermath and everything, it's awesome,' explained Evan Thomas, graduating senior from Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences. The camera captured the breathtaking view of the sun setting along the curvature of the Earth. The project is something Mr. Berta's students will likely never forget, among them a 'Here's to You Kid' from January 2025, Eagle Scout Paige Greco. Girl Scout helping a dying bat population with bat boxes 'Yeah, it was definitely really nerve-wracking like all throughout school I was like stressing, but it's so, it was so relieving and a really good memory to be able to say that that happened,' said Greco. Mr. Berta tells 28/22 News the high-altitude balloon burst in roughly two hours and landed about 50 miles from Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences. He recovered the payload two days later from 40 feet up in a tree at Camp Canadensis in the Poconos. To the 2025 robotics class at Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences, here's to you, kids! If you have a kid you think should be featured on Here's To You Kid!, send in a nomination online. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Highschool caps off year launching a weather balloon
HAZLETON, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— Students from the Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences marked their school year's end with a high-flying science experiment. The robotics class launched their annual high-altitude weather balloon from the campus in drums. This year's marks a first, with students aiming for a nighttime launch to capture the earth's curvature at sunset. New technology helping stroke victims rehab Juniors and seniors spent months preparing the helium balloon, camera equipment, and payload to reach and capture the view more than 100-thousand feet in the air. 'It was definitely really nerve-wracking, like all throughout school I was like stressing, but it was so relieving and a really good memory to be able to say that that happened today in my senior year,' expressed Paige Greco, senior, Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences. 'A lot of people don't think that much work goes into this stuff, but its great seeing all the work he put into it and then it's a simple thing. We launched a balloon to the sky, but to think about how much work went into it and the aftermath and everything, it's awesome,' added Evan Thomas, senior, Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences. Their instructor says they hope their cameras capture not just a stunning sunset, but possibly lightning from storms and city lights from far above. The balloon should land somewhere near northwest New Jersey, with recovery planned for Saturday morning if it doesn't get stuck in a tree like last year's balloon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
