Photos by Sydney Cromwell.
Meteorologist Bill Murray and Pizitz staff help prepare the weather balloon for launch.
As part of their science unit on weather, sixth-graders at Pizitz Middle School released a weather balloon from the football field Monday, March 7.
In order to release the balloon, the students had to learn about weather mapping and the ideal conditions to release a balloon. Students Ranee Brady and Gabrielle Velezis said those factors include wind speed, precipitation, icing, cloud cover and the speed of the jet stream. Local meteorologist Bill Murray of the Weather Factory helped the Pizitz students learn how to forecast weather up to 16 days in advance and decide that March 7 was the ideal launch day.
"We had an all-day session early in January where we taught all 450 kids how to use the GFS, which is the American global model," Murray said. "We showed them how to look for icing, how to look for clouds and, most importantly, how to stay away from the jet stream because we didn't want this thing to end up in Virginia or West Virginia," Murray said.
The balloon included a GPS and GoPro camera to help track it. Sixth-grade science teacher Diane McAliley said the Pizitz PTO helped fund the weather balloon, for which she wrote a $1,200 grant.
The launch went smoothly, with the balloon clearing the trees surrounding the football field and disappearing into the sky as students, teachers and PTO parents cheered it on. Sixth grader J.T. Davis said the helium-filled balloon would pass through the troposphere and into the stratosphere.
"Today is a great day because the jet stream is low and ... the upper level and the low level winds are low so the balloon isn't carried so far away that we can't find it," J.T. said.
"We're just happy we could get a day like this. It's really perfect so we don't have icing that could throw it off or winds that could make it in a crazy area or a far off area," fellow student John Harden agreed.
McAliley said that the weather balloon traveled over 20 miles into the air in the course of four hours, before popping and returning to the ground near Woodland, Alabama. It took 47 minutes for the weather balloon to parachute to the ground. A balloon recovery team, consisting of sixth graders Hal Holland and Cash Belknap and their parents, tracked the balloon this afternoon.
"We hope it doesn't land in somebody's yard and someone won't give it to us. That's the one thing we're afraid of," Cash said just after the balloon was launched.
Murray and McAliley said they hope to release another weather balloon next year. The cost will be reduced since some materials can be reused, but they will need to write another grant and find the funds.
