On a hot September day Tuesday, as temperatures soared to 92 degrees, Colorado State University students, researchers and others gathered at the parking lot outside the Department of Atmospheric Science building.
A white weather balloon was inflated and U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper from Colorado let it go into the sky.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever launched a balloon since I was 9,” Hickenlooper told the Coloradoan.
Colorado State Climatologist Russ Schumacher, who’s also a professor at CSU, said there are lots of weather station measurements on the ground but not as many up in the air.
“When we launch these weather balloons, there’s a little instrument package that measures temperature, humidity and pressure and then, using GPS, it can measure the wind speed and the direction,” Schumacher said. “So you get a vertical profile up through the atmosphere … and on some days, you’re trying to figure out if storms are going to form and how strong they’re going to be, and that’s key data for looking at that.”