The National Weather Service in Lincoln opened its doors Saturday for the first time in 19 years, and wants to be more accessible to the public in the future.
Nearly 800 members of the public toured the facility that issues severe weather alerts for Central Illinois.
Ed Shimon, warning coordination meteorologist, said tour reservations were free and sold out in less than 48 hours. Shimon said staff was very pleased with the response and was able to open up some additional tickets after the initial wave.
Shimon said it's important to allow the public a behind-the-scenes look at weather operations because it builds trust.
"I know the warnings come flying out and hit our weather radios, but what's actually going on behind the scenes, and how does all that come together?" asked Shimon, adding, "seeing someone eye to eye, and talking to them, and asking questions, gives a foundation to our agency and a trust that we need to have out there."
Ryan Knutsvig, meteorologist in charge, said "it's always a great opportunity to let the public come in and see how we do things, and you know, get kids excited about the weather and the science of weather as well."
The 10-minute tours, he said, guided visitors through the areas where weather forecasts and warnings are sent. They also saw the break room that doubles as a tornado shelter for NWS employees when the weather they report on gets up close and personal.
The weather service hosted the tour during a year in which the state has already shattered its annual record for tornadoes [210] and is approaching an all-time record for any state, according to the Weather Channel.
Knutsvig said just last year, a tornado got too close to the facility for comfort. When that happens, NWS employees take shelter and either the Chicago or St. Louis NWS location covers Lincoln as backup. Last year, Chicago was monitoring Lincoln's weather and was ready to act.
"It's a pretty seamless transition," Knutsvig said. "They can just jump in and start doing warnings for us."
Shimon said the types of visitors at the open house represented "the full gamut" of community members. He said lots of families came out, plus weather spotters, ham radio operators, teachers, home schoolers and more. Additional community groups also attended, including the American Red Cross, the University of Illinois Department of Climate, Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Tazewell County Unified Command Post vehicle and more.
Teddy Wodika, a 9-year-old from Bloomington, said his favorite part of the day was when he learned "hailstones could be like the size my head" and he was able to see an example. He said next time there is extreme weather, he'll think back on his visit to the NWS.
A highlight of the day was a weather balloon launch.
Shimon explained that weather balloons sample the atmosphere and send information back to the NWS. Lincoln is one of 95 balloon launch locations in the United States. All across the world, balloon launches are coordinated twice a day. They happen at midnight and noon in England, which is 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., respectively, in Illinois. Shimon said additional balloons can be launched as needed.
"The models need a simultaneous sampling of the atmosphere," Shimon said. "A quality balloon launch is extremely important, so that the computer models know what the atmosphere has in it right now and what could it be capable of in the future."
Once a balloon launches, Shimon said it rises for about an hour and 50 minutes and gets to about 125,000 feet. "Every second of that transport, it's a signal sent down to our antenna here on the tower and into our computer system," he said.
Meteorologist Chris Geelhart demonstrated the balloon launch. He has worked for the NWS for 31 years and said he's seen a lot of change in that time. He cited the invention of Doppler radar as the most impressive technological advance he's seen in his career.
Knutsvig said the weather services hopes to host more open houses more frequently in the future.
