Listen "11/30/23 - Meteorological Fall Recap + Weather Balloons w/special guest Clint Miller"
Episode Synopsis
Summary Iowa weather history and forecast for the coming week Glisan, Justin: "A significant snowstorm in 1928 fell in a wide band across Iowa, with heaviest snow near Mills and Clinton counties." Glisan, Justin: "After a dry November, an active pattern emerged over the last 10 days with snowfall, ending a very dry start to the month." Glisan and Dan discuss the potential for snowfall and warmer temperatures in Iowa, with Glisan highlighting the uncertainty of the timing and location of these events. Dan questions the accuracy of the temperature predictions, citing a previous instance of warmer temperatures than expected. Dan Fillius grows lettuce, cilantro, Hakurei salad turnips, spinach, and overwintering onions in his low tunnels. He differentiates between baby spinach and regular spinach, with baby spinach being younger and planted at a higher density for salad production. Much missing here due to AI limitations Tracking weather balloons using SondeHub.org Weather balloons are tracked in real-time on a website called SoundHub.org, which aggregates data from people who receive them and shows their historical flights and predictions. Weather balloons and their role in forecasting Radio soundings are important for understanding weather patterns, as they provide temperature, pressure, and humidity data from 15-20 miles high. Launches of high-altitude balloons occur twice daily from Valley, Nebraska, and can move across Iowa and Nebraska depending on winds. Recovering weather balloons and tracking devices Clint Miller uses a device that listens on 403 megahertz to find weather radiosondes, which are used to collect weather data, and has found 11 of them so far. Clint Miller and other groups are reverse engineering and reprogramming weather radiosondes to use them as trackers for bicycles during marathons. Dan Fillius and Clint discuss the process of recovering weather balloons in the field after they burst and parachute down. Clint Miller found a lost weather balloon and tracked it for 90 days, eventually recovering it. A small group of hobbyists in Central Iowa are actively recovering lost weather balloons and sharing their experiences in a Discord group. Weather forecasting, jet streams, and radiosonde data Clint's team uses radiosondes to collect data on temperature and moisture profiles in the atmosphere, which improves forecast accuracy. Glisan and Clint discuss the impact of weather patterns on the location of weather balloons in Iowa, with stronger winds in colder months potentially transporting them further east. Jet streams are fast-moving wind currents in the atmosphere, found at high altitudes and near the poles, which can significantly impact flight routes and times. Weather balloons and geocaching with a guest Clint shared his passion for weather balloons, explaining how they fall from the sky and how he and others track them using GPS and other tools. Dan and Clint discussed geocaching, with Dan mentioning an event at a county park in Marshalltown where participants had to find geocaches to receive Halloween treats. Clint recovered a sonde after correctly answering a weather-related question on a Twitter poll.
More episodes of the podcast What in the Weather?
9/25/25 - Frost before Oct. 11 not likely
25/09/2025
9/17/25 - How bad was the summer this year?
17/09/2025
9/11/25 - Summery Weather Ahead
11/09/2025
9/4/25 - Summer Season Recap
04/09/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.