Michigan beach walker finds rare NWS weather balloon on Ludington shore

Описание: A Mason County woman made a rare discovery along the Lake Michigan shoreline — finding not one, but two National Weather Service weather balloons used to track crucial atmospheric data.

Weather balloons are launched either once or twice a day from the National Weather Service Offices and each balloon ends up landing in different spots.

Mary Lou Ohnsman of Ludington found one of these weather balloons a few years ago, and found another one recently.

“I walk the beach near Ludington, Michigan, frequently and I find all kinds of things: four cell phones, thousands of pieces of glass, money,” Ohnsman said. “This is the second one I found, the weather balloon.”

These weather balloons, otherwise known as a radiosondes, track all sorts of data such as temperature, dewpoint, humidity, wind direction and speed, pressure and more. They help get weather model data as well.

“The first one, someone told me what it was. And then this one most recently, just more intrigued by what it is, what to do with it,” Ohnsman said. “I'm in part for the environment but also working with NOAA, what goes on behind us for it to show up on a shoreline.”

If you ever find one, there is a serial number for each radiosonde, and if it is visible, you can search this on a website and then find the data for that date.

This particular radiosonde, Ohnsman found on February 11 on the shoreline in Ludington, but the balloon was launched by the National Weather Service in Green Bay, Wisconsin on October 19, 2025.

It ended up landing in Lake Michigan near Washington Island, Wisconsin.

The wind then pushed it to the Michigan shoreline.

“In the morning, it was sunny that day, there wasn't as much ice and more sand, not as much snow,” Ohnsman said.

If you ever find a radiosonde, first make sure to cut the string attached. Some things you can do with the radiosonde, you can keep them like Ohnsman is doing, you can also choose to donate it to a school or science club.

“The first one I found, someone had told me it's been several years, but they told me what it was and I regret, I believe I threw it away,” Ohnsman said.

Ohnsman said she was stunned but excited when she found a second one and even more stunned when her friend found one as well.

READ MORE: https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/ma...

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