The MEDOW project had a significant outreach component that included two major education and outreach events with large attendance. Over 700 individuals experienced the DOW. This included the demonstration of the DOW at the Public Weather Awareness Day (PWAD) event which took place on 2 April 2016. PWAD was sponsored by the Millersville University Student Chapter of the AMS and is an event open and free to the community. Over 400 members of the community, including many school children, gather to experience a sundry of hand-on activities and a variety of games all designed to increase awareness on all topics related to weather and climate. Furthermore, the event includes representatives from NOAA, AccuWeather, Weather Trends International, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, and many others. The DOW was parked outside along with fire trucks from the community Blue Rock Fire Company and was undoubtedly the center of attraction and had a constant stream of visitors inside the cab.

Inside the DOW 6 cab, Ms. Gilliland showed examples of data and past events and explained how the radar is used to look at different types of precipitation events and storm systems. Visitors were able to see the controls and computer screens and particularly enjoyed videos of past tornado events sampled by DOW 6. 

In addition, on April 5th Millersville University hosted the 29th Annual Women in Mathematics and Science Conference. The Conference brought in over 350 students from the surrounding schools and was designed to introduce and encourage female students in middle and high school to pursue education and careers in Mathematics and Science. This year’s Conference keynote speaker was Dr. Pamela Heinselman from the National Severe Storms Laboratory who spoke about her career path with a special focus on the Phased Array Radar and her research. The Conference included a demonstration period and the DOW was on display in front of the Student Memorial Center, where the Conference took place (see footage on the DOW on April 5th).

In addition to the students in the Radar Meteorology, Meso- and Storm-Scale Meteorology, and Physical Meteorology that participated in formal training and the three IOPs, a number of other meteorology students participated in informal training with the DOW. Millersville Meteorology has 120 meteorology majors and most were introduced or received information training while the DOW was on campus. It is also important to note that during training and off-times the DOW was parked in a centrally located parking space and was continuously surrounded by students and other visitors.

Fig 10: Public Weather Awareness Day, April 2.

Fig 11: Balloon Launch at Public Weather Awareness Day.