The recent happenings of helium-filled objects looming across the U.S. may seem new, but certain balloons, weather balloons, are actually a daily occurrence over the continental United States and the world. Lead meteorologist Kevin Wagner of the National Weather Service in Sullivan, Wis. told WTMJ that a single weather station typically launches one balloon in the morning and one in the evening every day, for a total 93 twice-daily balloon across all U.S. offices. That’s a part of over 800 weather balloons in the worldwide network launching simultaneously.
“Typically, filling them at the surface they’re about six feet in diameter, but as they go up through the atmosphere they actually do expand in size,” said Wagner. “They get to about 100,000 feet before they pop, and by the time they get to that high in the atmosphere they do expand to around the size of a small house or small garage. The balloons are made of a latex, so they’re super stretchy.”
From the time of launch to a weather balloon popping, it’s about two hours. During that ascension, the balloon collects and sends back data on temperature, wind, moisture and pressure. Wagner says that in addition to the weather service, it’s common for universities to launch weather balloons for research or educational instruction. But he’s never heard of missiles shooting one down.
“When we typically fill them up our main goal is for it to rise. We make sure to put enough hydrogen or helium into it so it rises up. We’re trying to capture a snapshot of what’s going on at that location.”
Once released, a weather balloon is at the mercy of the wind and other environmental conditions like ice buildup which determine how quickly it will pop and fall back to earth.