The Old Standbys

• The weather forecasting network still needs to know about surface conditions. Traditionally that data was recorded by a handful of mechanical instruments and pressure gauges. Though now frequently retrieved by digital means and supplemented by high flying apparatus, surface data still plays an important role in weather forecasting.
  
  

Weather Balloon

• The National Weather Service (NWS) launches weather balloons twice a day from 1,100 sites scattered around the world. Each balloon has a recording device that registers temperature, pressure and wind direction and then transmits this information back to Earth via radio signals. To be of use, the weather balloon has to reach an altitude of 23,000 feet. If the flight falls short, a second balloon is sent in the same manner. After maximum height is reached, the radio device is returned to Earth by a small parachute. If found, it is returned to the NWS, to be rebuilt and reused. Only about 20 percent of all radio devices, called radiosondes, are ever found and returned to the weather service.
  
  

Airplane

• The national weather forecasters have at their service the Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, which uses a WC-130 turboprop plane not only to fly directly into tropical hurricanes but also to check out any other storm that may affect the nation's weather. Based in Biloxi, Miss., this outfit plays an important function in obtaining critical data that cannot be obtained by any other manner, not even satellites.
  
  

Satellite

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, has both stationary and orbiting satellites that constantly send back images of the Earth's surface that aid the overall weather forecasting effort. Besides the visual storm-tracking info, the sophisticated instruments are able to detect moisture content in clouds, ocean temperatures and even pick up distress signals from seacraft.
  
  

Computer

• The biggest aid to modern weather forecasting never leaves the ground or ventures outside a building. With its capacity to process a huge amount of data in a very short amount of time, the computer has become a huge aid to plotting the path of storms. This process is fundamental to the computer-generated weather predictions that we hear so much about and which weather forecasters rate so highly in their daily weather outlook.