Weather balloon instrument falls in Rockford
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A Rockford resident had a surprise recently when she discovered a weather balloon instrument or radiosonde on the trampoline in her yard. Photo submitted by Coosa County Sheriff’s Office
By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
A Rockford area resident had a surprise late last week when she discovered a deflated balloon with strings and a box attached laying on the trampoline in her yard.
The item had information on it stating to contact local law enforcement if found, so she called the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Michael Howell said that they responded to check into the matter.
Howell said the balloon was laying on the trampoline and looked like it had a plastic parachute with it and several strings.
He said one end of a string was draped across the power line and that there was a plastic white box hanging in a tree. Law enforcement officers were able to retrieve the box and determined it was some type of weather box for checking the weather.
“It’s pretty neat that something like that fell in Rockford,” Howell said.
He explained that the balloon that was carrying the weather box had actually burst and landed on the resident’s trampoline.
Howell said that it advised individuals to contact law enforcement in case it had any kind of pressure because of the gases that go into the balloon to keep it afloat. However, since this balloon had already busted, that was not a concern.
He added that the parachute was attached to it so that if or when the balloon bursts it does not fall too hard to the ground and also helps prevent it from injuring someone if it falls from the sky.
Upon finding a weather balloon instrument, Howell said the process is simply to dispose of it, so that is what the Sheriff’s Office did.
The National Weather Service reports that approximately 76,000 radiosondes are flown every year within the NWS upper air network. NWS said that means that opportunities to find one of these instruments does exist, even if it does not happen often.
The NWS radiosondes have very specific language printed on at least three sides of the radiosonde stating “Harmless Radiosonde Instrument,” a website address and a NOAA image, all found on the radiosonde’s labels.
NWS reports that there is no need to return radiosondes back to the NWS, meaning that it is up to the individual to make the decision on what to do with the radiosonde. NWS states that some people keep the unit as a keepsake and conversation starter while others have donated it to local schools or science clubs.
