Video: UND, NWS Launch Weather Balloon Into Blizzard

Some People Embrace The Worst Of Winter Weather In The Name Of Science

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (KVRR) – How are you spending this blizzard morning? Hunkering down inside under a blanket?Because in the northern valley, weather scientists are right in the thick of it.

Alexandra Kent with the National Weather Service and UND Associate Professor in Atmospheric Sciences Aaron Kennedy launched a weather balloon into this blizzard around 4 a.m. Wednesday.
The NWS says the balloon will sample the atmosphere at the heart of the blizzard with its 50-mile an hour-plus wind gusts. Professor Kennedy already posted some of the data.

And since I can’t make heads or tails about what it says, I asked KVRR Meteorologist Noah Coté to tell us what kind of info weather balloons provide in a blizzard.