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WeatherWise: WBZ, Museum Of Science Exhibit

Test Your Severe Weather Knowledge

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Here in New England weather is more than casual conversation. It is ever changing, often dramatic, and can have a huge impact on our lives.

To help educate the public about weather, the Museum of Science, Boston and WBZ have embarked on a major weather initiative. Mish Michaels is the lead meteorologist on the project called "WeatherWise."

Benjamin Franklin once said some people are weatherwise, but most are otherwise. No matter where you fall on the weather informed spectrum, this new exhibit at the Museum of Science will help you better appreciate, understand, and even predict New England weather.

Tucked behind the museum's famous lightning show is a new 3,000 square foot exhibit on weather.

"We'd like both the public that comes for visits and also the students and teachers that come here to really understand what weather is all about." said Cary Sneider, Vice President of the Museum of Science.

There is plenty to see and do.

Haile Contaste found the simulated tornado "cool and impressive."

That's just the beginning. Two weeks worth of weather spins before your eyes on a big globe.

"The single point that we are trying to get across to the visitors is something that we are calling 'nowcasting,'" explained the museum's Larry Ralph.

Simply put, 'nowcasting' is a short term forecast for just the next few hours. The exhibit is designed to help you become a nowcaster.

To get started, take a trip down the severe weather corridor. Here you can feel temperature differences, hear the rain and thunder, and watch a front move in.

WBZ's Mish Michaels is your tour guide through the entire exhibit.

You can check out current conditions at our WeatherNet station, or simulate your own weird weather in a computer game. "When you change the earth from spinning to stop you get really freaky weather," reported Ned Kleiner.

It's great for the kids but the adults learn a lot as well.

"We hope that this is just the beginning… that this will really become a center for weather education here in New England," Sneider said.

The exhibit will be at the Museum of Science for at least the next 10 years and is just one piece of the WeatherWise project. Annual teacher conferences, meetings for weather observers, and a summer weather institute all make up various outreach components, all designed to help make teachers, students, and the general public "weatherwise."

If you want to visit the WeatherWise exhibit, it is located in the museum's Theater of Electricity, in the Blue Wing, Basement Level. The Museum of Science is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. everyday but Friday. Fridays it is open until 9 p.m.

Tickets to the general exhibit halls, which include the WeatherWise exhibit, cost $15 for adults and $12 for children.

Maps and Directions

Parking information

MofS floor plan (pdf)

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