MU-Columbia Professor of Meteorology Educates Kids at Sedalia Public Library

The Sedalia Public Library has a summer series where they invite special guests to visit kids about their specialty.   Wednesday (June 27), the special speaker was Tony Lupo, Professor of Meteorology at University of Missouri-Columbia.  While he came with the intent to talk about weather in general, he did reference the excessive heat warning that the National Weather Service issued, and that kids should drink lots of water and that the ground needed lots of water to not be so dry.   He told the kids that the cycle we are in has to deal with La Nina effect and that our winter was not as harsh as previous years.

Lupo also talked about how Missouri is in tornado alley and that the the United States has many more tornadoes than a lot of countries to due to its landscape and terrain.   Lupo brought a tornado in box that he created for kids to see and even put their hands in and touch.  This tornado in a box was not very powerful, but it gave kids the idea of how they are made.

Lupo asaid that while tornadoes are harsh,  Missouri's biggest issue is flooding as was experienced last year.

The kids asked lots of questions, such as what was the hottest day on record and Lupo referenced that Warsaw once reported it was 118 degrees in 1988.   Lupo also talked a bit about how to become a meteorologist afterwards and that you needs lots of math and science programs and that the love for weather starts young.