- Starting the morning of Monday, July 1st, the NWS Tallahassee office will discontinue weather balloon launches due to the rising cost of helium.
- The NWS office will rely on on-ground observations and weather balloon launches from surrounding offices for local weather data.
- Watch the video above to learn more about the helium shortage impacting local weather balloon launches, and why helium alternatives cannot be used at the local office.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A tool that gathers crucial data for weather prediction will soon be discontinued.
I’m First To Know Meteorologist Riley Winch in the College Town neighborhood at Florida State University.
I’m investigating what’s keeping weather balloons grounded and the impact it could have on your neighborhood’s forecast.
Typically, weather balloons are released into the atmosphere twice a day.
They carry instruments to measure temperature, humidity, pressure and wind.
They're filled with either hydrogen or helium.
But now, a global helium shortage is forcing the National Weather Service to discontinue helium balloons at 12 stations throughout the county, including the one here in Tallahassee.
In a statement, the National Weather Service says in part quote: "NWS will re-evaluate options for purchasing helium in FY25 if the agency budget allows and/or helium prices improve."
I asked Ken Hanson, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State University, about the issue.
“Concerns of a helium shortage have been going on for decades, and it’s just in last 5 or so years we’ve seen a really big increase in the cost of helium”
While helium is one of the most abundant gasses in the universe, most of it is found in and around stars. Here on Earth,
“Helium actually deposits in the same place as natural gas deposits, so if you extract natural gas from the earth, chances are there’s a portion of helium and you can actually separate that.”
And the number of helium extraction sites in the United States is only 14, with the supply of helium diminishing.
According to the US Geological Survey, during the past 30 years, as much as 118 million cubic meters of helium gas was extracted back in 1998. In 2023, that number was down to only 60 million cubic meters.
So why not just switch helium to hydrogen, like most National Weather Service offices are doing?
Susan Buchanan from the National Weather Service tells me “Since hydrogen is flammable, some sites are not compatible with its use due to safety concerns in densely populated areas (i.e., sites that are located close to occupied buildings on college campuses). The Tallahassee upper air site fits this description, which is why we cannot convert the lifting gas to hydrogen.”
Going forward, the weather service will rely on data from balloon launches from surrounding offices and on-ground weather observations to keep forecasts up to date.
From the College Town neighborhood, I’m meteorologist Riley Winch, ABC 27.
