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Up, Up And Away, Weather Balloon Collects Data On Today's Storm

ROCHELLE (CBS) -- In an empty field today, a high-tech weather balloon was sent skyward to collect mounds of data for meteorologists.

It's a project, weeks in the making, CBS 2's Marissa Bailey reports.

In the middle of nowhere, a high-tech science project took flight.

'Today we have an extremely fast jet stream which is really creating a lot of the severe weather,' said Victor Gensini, a professor at the College of DuPage.

The balloon will be launched into tonight's anticipated storms, collecting all of the data.

"As it's ascending through the atmosphere,it will constantly be taking measurements and temperature, dew point, wind speed, wind direction," Gensini said.

The researchers also plan to chase the storm, based on the data sent back from the balloon.

"The biggest thing when we'll be on the road is we'll be watching radar to anticipate where these storms are going to develop and then we'll track them once they do," Gensini said.

The balloon starts off at about six feet in diameter and grows to about 12 feet in diameter before popping.

Gensini says it's likely to land hundreds of miles from here, because of strong upper level winds. If you find it, you are asked to contact the College of DuPage.

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