SPRINGDALE — Josh Worthy and his students expected the weather balloon they launched Saturday to land near Mountain Home in north-central Arkansas.
They were surprised when it landed in Kentucky.
Fast Facts
Weather Balloons
• The National Weather Service launches about 75,000 weather balloons each year.
• The National Weather Service launched weather balloons from 102 sites throughout the U.S., Caribbean and Pacific.
• The white boxes the National Weather Service attaches to their balloons are called radiosondes, which are battery-powered instruments.
• The National Weather Service recovers less than 20 percent of the radiosondes they launch with their balloons each year.
• The National Weather Service started using radiosondes in the late 1930s.
• Data from the radiosondes is used for weather predication models, local severe storm forecasts, climate change research and air pollution models.
Source: National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration
Students in the Springdale School District were in class on Saturday to make up time missed from snow days. The students in the Environmental And Spatial Technology program at Sonora Elementary School used their class time to launch a weather balloon, said Worthy, program facilitator.
They launched the unit, with two helium balloons attached, just before 10 a.m., Worthy said. First the balloon went west, then south and when it reached West Fork, it turned around and moved northeast. At 10:15 a.m., Worthy and two students headed out in a car to follow the balloon while they tracked its location.
They were still driving at 1:30 p.m. when they checked the balloon's location and noticed it was going faster than they were, Worthy said. They drove about 50 mph, and the balloon was traveling between 60 and 100 mph.
The balloon was in the air six to seven hours before it landed near Scottsville, Ky., in a forested area, between two dirt roads and near a river, Worthy said. The balloon landed about 600 miles from where it was launched.
Landen Ferguson and Luke Evans, fifth-graders in the program, were with Worthy trying to find the device. Landen said it was like going on a "big journey."
They're mostly guessing about what happened, because they can't be sure until they find the unit and the two video cameras attached to it, Worthy said. The two balloons attached to the device probably didn't have enough helium to rise above the jet stream fast enough. Instead, they got caught in the flow of wind.
"It just sort of hovered instead of punching through it," he said.
It's common for weather balloons to get caught in jet streams, said Joe Sellers, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa, Okla. A jet stream is a band of strong wind that carries weather systems, like the rain Northwest Arkansas gets in spring. Summer and fall are the best seasons to launch weather balloons locally. The jet stream is normally north or south of this area during those seasons.
The National Weather Service launches balloons every day across the United States, and they usually reach 50,000 to 60,000 feet, Sellers said. The movement speed can vary, but usually ranges between 80 and 90 mph. It's normal for balloons to land far from where they were launched because of wind and jet streams.
"Hundreds of miles is not uncommon," he said.
The units normally land when the balloons rise so high and expand so much that they burst, Sellers said. The parachute then helps the unit float to the ground.
Worthy said the next step is to get the balloon back. The unit was meant to only be used once, but since it's worth about $600, they would like to retrieve it. They also want to watch the footage from the two video cameras attached to the device.
Worthy and his students emailed 12 principals and assistant principals at schools near Scottsville, Worthy said, hoping an administrator or student could find the unit.
"We thought it might be an educational opportunity for any school," he said.
Worthy received word late Tuesday afternoon two high school students in Scottsville found and the balloon and planned to retrieve it today from the tree it's lodged in.
Three principals said they would like to help. One principal said he might take students from his environmental science class to help find the device.
If they launch another balloon, Luke said, they will need to fill the balloon with more helium so it will rise faster. Worthy said that might mean getting a larger balloon.
Landen said he learned that if they launch another balloon, "There's going to be ups and downs."
"Literally," Worthy said.
NW News on 04/09/2014