‘Ville Celebrates Public Weather Awareness Day

Millersville meteorology students are working to spread the word about the weather and prepare the community for its adverse effects.  

Public Weather Awareness Day is an event hosted by Millersville’s student chapter of the American Meteorological Society. It will be held on April 14 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ville Courts in the Student Memorial Center. The day is free and open to the public.  

The purpose of Public Weather Awareness Day is to educate attendees about weather, particularly local weather patterns and their effects. “We’re in Pennsylvania where we get a lot of weather that can impact a lot of people,” says Peyton Simmers, vice president of Millersville’s student chapter of the American Meteorological Society. “We try to educate people like, ‘Okay, if you get into this situation, what do you do?’” Pennsylvania residents can expect to see a variety of weather-related events, such as snow and hail, tornadoes and flooding.  

This year’s theme is “Polar Opposites,” which aims to comment on the different possibilities of weather. “We’re going for a split tropical and winter theme,” says Simmers. 

The event will feature tables run by students and outside organizations, with informational games and activities that attendees can participate in. “We have our own students in the meteorology department who have tables for things like weather jeopardy and an instrumentation table,” says Simmers. Outside organizations, including the National Weather Service, will also be present.  

In the past, the day has closed with a weather balloon launch. “We’ve done it the past two years that I’ve been here, and I’m hoping to do it again this year,” says Simmers. Unlike traditional weather balloons, those launched at this event do not use a radio sound. “We send it up to give people the idea of how we actually do a launch,” says Simmers.  

For more information about this year’s Public Weather Awareness Day, click here.