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Outreach Page
Welcome to the outreach page from The National Weather Service in Wilmington North Carolina. One of NOAA's cross cutting priorities is Environmental Literacy, Outreach, and Education. Several staff members in the office participate in all sorts of activiites from visiting schools to working an information booth at local festivals.

Schedule of upcoming events:
*South Topsail Elementary (Hampstead, NC)...January 28th - 30th
*Rachel Freeman Elementary (Wilmington, NC)...February 2nd and 3rd

To request a speaker via email...contact the
ilm.webmaster@noaa.gov

Or call the office during normal business hours from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM at 910-762-4289
Quick Links 2007:
Blue Crab Festival
Wrightsville Beach Elementary
YMCA Mens Club
Kohls Cares for Kids
Coastal Legacy Workshop
Quick Links 2008:
Rachel Freeman Elementary School
Seaside Elementary School
South Topsail Elementary School
Seaside Elementary School
North Topsail Elementary School
Landfall Community Response Team
Coastal Carolina Air Show
Earth Day Celebration
Rachel Freeman Elementary School 2nd Visit
Ogden Elementary School
South Topsail Science Fair
St. Mark Catholic School
Florence Air Show
Kohls Cares For Kids
Latter Day Saints
Hadden Hall
StormReady/Columbus County
PowerSquadron Talk
Parsley Elementary School
Riverfest
Belville Elementary
Lincoln Elementary
Acme-Delco Elementary
Cape Fear River Watch
Latino Festival
Bright Ideas Grant Distribution
Belville Elementary (December)
Friends School of Wilmington
On May 19, 2007...we attended the Blue Crab Festival in Little River South Carolina. We spoke to several hundred folks...and a good time was had by all. Click on the images to the right for a closer look.
a picture of the Blue Crab Festival 2007 a picture of the Blue Crab Festival 2007 a picture of the Blue Crab Festival 2007
a picture of the Wrightsville Beach presentation a picture of the Wrightsville Beach presentation a picture of the Wrightsville Beach presentaion Rockin Chair Players
On June 6, 2007 we visited Wrightsville Beach Elementary School. We teamed with The New Hanover County Department of Aging and The Red Cross to give a comprehensive presentation about hurricane preparation.
The National Weather Service visited the YMCA mens club on June 15, 2007.
a picture of the YMCA Mens club a picture of the YMCA Mens club
On Thursday June 29, 2007 we attended the Coastal Legacy Workshop in Manteo North Carolina.
a picture of the Coastal Legacy Workshop a picture of the Coastal Legacy Workshop a picture of the Coastal Legacy Workshop
On January 28, 2008 Erik Heden gave a presentation to Rachel Freeman Elementary School in Wilmington.
A picture of Erik Heden at Rachel Freeman Elementary School A picture of Erik Heden at Rachel Freeman Elementary School A picture of Erik Heden at Rachel Freeman Elementary School
On Jan 14, 2008 Steve Pfaff gave a presentation to a group of 50 Junior Lifeguard members at Seaside Elementary in Garden City, SC. Steve presented information about all types of weather that affects the beach environment including thunderstorms and rip currents. After the presentation, members of the junior guard were selected to come up to the stage and answer 10 questions. This was the seventh year that Steve assisted Duke Brown, Director of the Seaside Elementary Junior Lifeguard group, by providing weather training.
A picture of Steve Pfaff at Seaside Elementary School

On May 24th we were at the Florence Air Show in Florence, SC. Despite some clouds and a few sprinkles early in the day, over a thousand people attended the event.

We had the perfect location for our booth because we set right by our weather reporting station in Florence. This station, called ASOS (automated surface observation system), measures weather parameters such as current temperature, wind speed, rainfall, and humidity to name a few. This system is where the weather observations for Florence come from.

Through the help of our Electronics Technician (ET), David Black and our Information Technology Officer (ITO), Carl Morgan, we were able to give 10 individual tours of the ASOS. The tours lasted about 10 minutes and we covered the following instruments or sensors: tipping bucket rain gauge, temperature/humidity sensor, dew point sensor, current weather sensor, ultrasonic anemometer and wind vane, ceilometer, freezing rain sensor, and visibility sensor. We covered how each instrument or sensor works, what it measures, how it measures it, and any limitations of the equipment.

In addition to the tours of the ASOS, we handed out pamphlets on rip currents, hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, and floods. Our most popular item was the sky watcher chart guide to the sky cloud chart poster. For the little kids we handed out owlie skywarn, a weather coloring book. The most important thing we brought to the air show was the sunshine and dry weather, which appeared from late afternoon on.

Our booth at the 2008 Florence Air Show two kids playing with the tornado in a bottle David Black showing how the tipping bucket rain gauge works Erik Heden showing how rain is measured in the rain gauge Erik Heden showing how the thermometer sensor has a fan to blow air by it
Carl Morgan answers a question on hurricanes Carl Morgan describes how birds can show up on doppler radar Carl Morgan shows where the rip currents brochure is Erik Heden describes how the tornado in a bottle simulates the atmosphere Carl Morgan offers up the tornado in a bottle for an ice cream sundae

On November 20th meteorologist Stephen Keebler and Erik Heden from the National Weather Service in Wilmington along with 5th grade teacher Phillip Lampron from South Topsail Elementary, attended the Bright Ideas grant presentation at Jacksonville high school. At the awards presentation they received a $700 Bright Ideas grant from the Jones-Onslow Electric Membership Corporation. This is the 2nd year in a row that NWS Wilmington and South Topsail have received a Bright Ideas grant. Out of 775 total applicants, we were one of the 308 applicants selected for the grant. 5th grade teacher Charlie Baker could not attend the presentation but he is a vital part of the grant.

The Bright Ideas grant program, sponsored by North Carolina's electric cooperatives, strives to improve education in North Carolina classrooms by awarding grants to teachers for innovative, classroom-based projects in grades K-12 that would not otherwise be funded. Since the program started in 1994 $5.9 millon has been awarded to North Carolina students. Stephen and Erik along with the 5th grade teachers at South Topsail will teach the 5th graders weather safety with a primary focus on tornado safety. Over the course of three classes the students will learn how to read and indentify frontal and pressure systems on a map along with what type of weather is associated with them, thunderstorm/lightning/flooding safety, and tornado safety. At the end of the series, each tornado will receive a mini-tornado. The money from the grant will help purchase these tornadoes.

From left to right, Stephen Keebler, Rick Maredy, Phillip Lampron
National Weather Service
Weather Forecast Office, Wilmington NC
2015 Gardner Drive
Wilmington, NC 28405
(910) 762-4289


Page Author:
Web Master's E-mail:  ilm.webmaster@noaa.gov
Page Last Modified: January 13th, 2009