Balloon Launch #2

Outreach Program:

Here is a balloon launch with smaller rubber balloon.

Instruments in for the ride were:
-A camera (it took a picture every minute of the ride).
=An ozonesonde (to measure ozone).
=A radiosonde (measure temperature and pressure and has the gps unit to track the balloon).





Here's what filling the balloon up looks like:




3....2...1... launch





Unfortunately, the balloon rose at a much slower rate than expected. We lost contact with the balloon and the gps unit battery only has about a 4 hour lifetime.
Balloon has yet to be found. Bye-bye camera, ozonesonde, and radiosonde. No camera chip found, no atmosphere pictures....sorry.

Balloon Launch

The best way to study the particles in the stratosphere is to send you instruments up there on a balloon.

There were instruments to measure cloud nuclei, aerosols, and ozone as part of the package. It weighed about 50 pounds. Tin foil looking shields protect temperature sensors from direct sunlight.

Up, up and away!!

Random Salt Lake City Precip facts

So far this month we have recieved 0.81 inches of precipitation, differing from a normal value of 0.45 from June 1st to June 14th. However, last year we had recieved 1.77 inches by this date since June 1st.

Since October 1st (the beginning of the water year):

Salt Lake has had 11.60 inches of precipitation. Normal is 13.37 inches and last year we had recieved 14.45 by June 14th.

For snowfall since Oct. 1st:

Salt Lake got 36.4 inches differing from the normal value of 62.5 inches. Thats 26.1 inches less. Last year we had recieved 48.3 inches of snowfall.

*(all above statistics from the National Weather Service site at http://www.weather.gov/climate/getclimate.php?wfo=slc )

So despite flooding and lots of rain over the last little while we are below average for Salt Lake City on precipitation recieved for the water year. The little bit of extra rain so far this month is helping us to catch our average amounts.

Historic World Weather June 15th

1991 - Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines blew its top beginning a rampage that would hurl debris as high as 100,000 feet into the sky. Material from the eruption would spread around the globe, leading to climate changes worldwide as the sun's energy was blocked out and global temperatures cooled by as much as 1 degree F. 343 people were killed in the Philippines as a result of the eruptions and 200,000 were left homeless. *

*(all from http://theweathercompany.com/cgi-bin/wxnotebook.pl , check out this website for more.)

Historic World Weather June 9th

1989 - This tornado did not stop to pay the toll. After causing some damage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it crossed the Delaware River, passing over part of the Ben Franklin Bridge. It did not damage the bridge, but did drop a lot of debris on it. *

*(all from http://theweathercompany.com/cgi-bin/wxnotebook.pl , check out this website for more.)

Historic Utah Weather June 6th

1961: Three men were suddenly struck by lightning on Taylor Mountain in Uintah County. They were burned on their shoulders and backs. *

1967: A 47 year-old Copperton woman touched a tree with her lawn mower at the same time lightning struck the tree; she was killed instantly. *

*(Source: Mark Eubank's UTAH WEATHER, By: Mark Eubank and R. Clayton Brough).

Historic Utah Weather June 3rd

1963: A tornado in Bountiful ripped the roof from Bountiful Elementary School, doing $20,000 damage and scattering debris over a half-mile area. The tornado hit a house across the street, tearing the roof off and dropping it on a car next door. It then skipped over a half block and ripped the roof off a shed, carrying it across the owner's home and depositing it 200 yards away in a small orchard. It then tore the limbs off a box elder tree and broke off a three-foot diameter cottonwood just above the ground, throwing it across another residence. The tornado touched ground again two blocks away, destorying a two-car cinderblock garage. The tornado then skipped about a half-mile uphill, where it completely destoryed one home under construction and damaged several others. Several sheets of 3/4-inch plywood were peeled from a nearby lumber stack and were carried over 300 feet; one was driven six inches into a telephone pole. Following the tornado, 3/4 to 1-inch hailstones broke windows and damaged several cars. No injuries were reported. *

*(Source: Mark Eubank's UTAH WEATHER, By: Mark Eubank and R. Clayton Brough).