Want To Learn More About Weather?
Living in the Midwest, keeping an eye on the weather forecast is a daily necessity. We live in one of the few areas that you can utilize both your heat and air conditioning in the same day. But how often do you think about the creation and conveying of that forecast?
This Saturday, Oct 21 the National Weather Service Quad Cities, IA/IL is hosting an Open House at their brand-new location at 9040 Harrison St. Davenport Municipal Airport. From 2-6 p.m. the public is invited to check out the new facility while learning about what the NWS QC does for us on a daily basis.
While the NWS QC crew has been located in the Quad Cities for years, this brand-new state of the art building became their new home this past summer. This is the first opportunity to see the newest technology, up close and personal.
Andy Ervin, the Lead Forecaster at NWS QC, is looking forward to showing off the newest and latest technology. He says it has “been a long time since radar technology has been improved” and he “would like to share with folks what the new radar is capable of”. The new system, GOES16, is a part of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It provides atmospheric and surface measurements of the Earth’s western hemisphere for weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, space weather monitoring and meteorological research. Andy shared that past systems created images “once per hour, and are now creating high resolution images about once per minute. It is faster than radar technology”.
The new Operations floor will be another key item to check out at this weekend’s Open House. The new setup involves a glass wall between the meeting room and Operations floor, allowing for more interaction and media presence during severe weather.
How would you like to witness an actual weather balloon launching? This will be happening on Saturday, as well as an opportunity to meet the staff! The knowledgeable staff members will be available for questions.
Do not miss this one of a kind opportunity to get up close and personal with the meteorological equipment and processes we all take for granted. Or as one of the individuals providing us with our daily weather updates, Andy Ervin, said “We’ve come a long way since the 1950’s in the Quad Cities Area. We are always improving and would love for folks to come see where we are.”
