At this camp, the teachers learned something, too.

Eleven boys and girls ages 10 to 14 participated in the first Western Kentucky University Weather Camp last week in the Environmental Sciences and Technology Building. 

The camp was run by the student Meteorology Club at the university – all the members wore black or grey T-shirts with WKU and a lightning bolt on the front and a “super storm” radar signature plastered across the back. The WKU students love weather, and some have even chased severe storms – including twisters – through the Midwest as part of an advanced meteorology class.

The students organized the camp and taught the kids about storm fronts, tornados, temperatures and how weather systems can spring up in an instant.

“Our goal is to teach the kids the importance of science and hope to spark their interest in meteorology,” said Tyler Binkley, a rising senior meteorology and geographic information systems major at WKU. The students heard about weather camps at the annual American Meteorological Society/National Weather Association conference in January in Austin, Texas, and Binkley said WKU’s was “the first student-run weather camp in the nation.” The club is the local chapter of the AMS/NWA.

“I really like science, not just the weather,” said Matthue Harmon, 12, of Bowling Green. He thought information at the camp about tornadoes was “pretty cool,” especially when the kids saw pictures of how tornadoes look in the sky. 

Allison Bush, 10, of Bowling Green, isn’t a fan of tornadoes, but there are other aspects about the weather that she likes.

“I like weather balloons,” she said. “They are shiny and pretty.”

When weather news comes on television, Amber Shirley, 11, of Bowling Green, said she wants to know what’s being talked about. She said one thing she learned at the weather camp was the difference between what is called a “land spout” and a tornado. She explained a land spout is a wind system that rises from the ground, sort of a large dust devil, while a tornado comes down from above.

Caleb Bruce, 12, of Bowling Green, said he used to draw a little weather map of his own when he saw one on television. 

“I don’t know a lot about weather – I want to touch up my skills,” he said.

Tara Wagoner, a rising senior at WKU from Tennessee, helped Binkley, along with Andrew Dockery, a rising junior at WKU from Louisville. Wagoner said she loves weather, and she wants younger students to have an opportunity to learn about it. 

“I didn’t get to learn about it when I was little,” Wagoner said. From mid-May through June 1, Wagoner was part of a WKU storm chasing group that witnessed six tornadoes, including an EF4 twister.

“I was never scared,” she said. “The adrenaline took over. We were at a safe distance.” The students traveled in a 15-passenger van that looped through Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas. 

Why does she like tornadoes?

“They are rare. You have to have the correct amount of ingredients, so many ingredients, for one to occur,” she said.

Landon Hampton, a 2006 Butler County High School graduate who went on a similar WKU storm chasing mission in 2010, showed the kids some of the nearly 20 tornadoes the group encountered.

“Seventeen tornadoes are a lot to see in a lifetime,” Hampton said. “It was one of the most successful storm chases in history.” 

Hampton told the kids one of the best ways to learn how to forecast severe weather is to get out in the areas where it forms.

“It is one of the best, if not the best, learning methods,” Hampton said. “You get to see the clouds in motion and see the rotation of storms.”