Meteorologists bring you ... Weather Fest

You can handle a weather rocket, create a flooding torrent of mud, and learn how to make a cloud inside a one-gallon jar this Sunday. 

It’s all part of a one-day exhibition called Weather-Fest, which pops up once a year as part of the American Meteorological Society annual conference.  The meeting this year is in Seattle, from Sunday through Jan. 27th. 

"One of the things I found most fun [last year] was watching children pretend they were a TV weather person, with a green screen, like the TV stations have," said Peggy LeMone, the group’s president (and an atmospheric scientist, who earned her doctorate at the U.W.). "They have kids actually practicing using it, making their own weather broadcast, and they can see themselves on the air."

Last year, in Atlanta, the event drew 4,500 people. 

The WeatherFest is meant to teach people basic ideas about the weather and atmosphere, and to promote scientific literacy. Several exhibits will be from local high schools. 

On Monday, the meteorologists will turn their attention to technical issues in interpreting weather data and how climate change is affecting weather forecasts.

----

Details, if you want to go:

• Sunday, Noon - 4pm
• Washington State Convention Center, Exhibition Hall 4F
• Free and open to the public
• WeatherFest website