Valdosta State Universitys STEAM Center for Applied Creativity and Innovation’s the Art and Science of Weather is back. The Art and Science of Weather is a series of interactive exhibits designed to help people gain a better understanding of weather phenomena. Watch the video to see how student apply the knowledge to their real lives.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT

As you can see besides me, this tornado simulator doesn’t compare to the severe weather Valdosta has seen in the last few months, but it will give you a better understanding of it.

I’m Malia Thomas, your neighborhood reporter in Valdosta, and I’m at the Valdosta State STEAM Center, speaking with students about how the weather impacts them.

“It’s just so interesting learning about these things, just knowing like how it happens, what happens…”

Sean Wright is a sixth grade student at Pine Grove Middle School.

He’s here as a part of a field trip to learn about weather patterns.

He tells me he’s learned about why storms form as well as why we have different seasons.

“We learned about the axis of the earth and how it, like, makes the seasons, so I know that maybe during December, the sun is hitting a whole different spot, so we’ll be cold. That helps me know, like, why its cold.”

The exhibits hit close to home as some students still remember the impact Hurricane Idalia had on the area less than a year ago.

Khloe Berry, Sean’s classmate, was reminded just how bad things got on her street during that time.

“Water was out. Lights were out, so it was really hot. I couldn’t really sleep; I thought I was gonna pass out in the house… like, it was like really bad in my neighborhood.”

That’s what these displays are all about, to give neighbors a better understanding of how all types of weather phenomena works and how it can affect their daily lives, such as their clothing, their health, and even their livelihoods.

Valdosta has been seeing extra rain in the last year, with a surplus of 13.86 inches of rain, over a foot taller than average.

This was best seen during Hurricane Idalia’s wake last August, with 7.04 inches of rain falling that day.

“Although we don’t go over necessarily hurricane preparation it’s mostly having them just understand why we have hurricanes and and helping them again understand the world around them.”

Brian Gerber, the STEAM Center’s director, tells me while they don’t go over weather preparedness, knowledge keeps neighbors from being blindsided.

Sean agrees; he believes the entire city should come an interact with the exhibits.

“You can gain knowledge from this. Like, you can actually know something useful.”

The weather exhibit will be open to the public on March 23rd. In Valdosta, I’m Malia Thomas, ABC27.