Kids Take Over Taunton, Mass., NWS Offices for a Day

Eleanor Vallier-Talbot
General Meteorologist and Outreach Program Leader
National Weather Service - Taunton, MA

It was a cool and drizzly June 4th at the Weather Forecast Office and River Forecast Center in Taunton, Mass. when all of a sudden, the whispers of little voices were heard coming down the hall. 

Several children of WFO and RFC staffers arrived to film a live action segment for the PBS production of the popular animated television series "Curious George."  The 10 children, between 6 and 10 years old, were the on-camera students coming to visit a real weather forecast office to learn about observing and forecasting the weather.

The children spoke to one of the meteorologists who was preparing and sending a forecast.  WFO Senior Meteorologist Matt Belk explained to them how he prepares his forecast. 

Belk told the children, "I look at satellite and radar pictures, weather observations from around New England and the rest of the United States, and lots of other information to help me create a forecast for our region."  He then showed them some of the weather forecast graphics on the Graphic Forecast Editor, with all the different colors for temperatures, rainfall, wind speed and direction.

Even though the children did not get to meet Curious George or the Man in the Yellow Hat in person, all of them thoroughly enjoyed their visit to NWS Taunton. 

"My daughter, Megan, hasn't stopped talking about it,” said WFO Administrative Support Assistant (ASA) Donna Dumas.  “She loves Curious George and can't wait to see the show when it goes on the air," said.

The segment featuring the WFO and RFC in Taunton will begin airing on PBS television stations nationwide in either late 2008 or early 2009.  Once aired, the video segment will be posted on the "Curious George" portion of the PBS for Kids web site.