When predicting the weather, data from weather balloons provide information about what’s going on in the atmosphere to help provide accurate forecasts. NBC 5 Meteorologist Samantha Davies explains.

Balloon data are most important when the weather gets out of hand. For instance, you can take the relentless storm pattern earlier in the month.

For decades, the National Weather Service has released weather balloons at a clockworklike cadence at more than 100 sites across the country, as well as over the Pacific and the Caribbean. Twice a ...

The service announced on March 20 that it would temporarily suspend weather balloon launches in Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, “due to a lack of” weather forecast office staffing.

A high-altitude balloon is held fast as it is inflated on the Valparaiso University campus in Valparaiso, Indiana, Saturday, July 12, 2025. The collaborative effort with NearSpace Education’s ...

The National Weather Service in Bismarck, ND and Aberdeen, SD are the closest weather balloon launch sites in our area. The Aberdeen office is currently only launching one balloon per day due to ...

Over half of the National Weather Service offices across the United States release weather balloons every day. Typically, these balloons are released twice per day — once in the morning and once ...