A new weather balloon launch site at Shasta College will help scientists track atmospheric rivers and improve weather forecasts across the Northstate. The site is the northernmost launch location in the state established for the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Researchers said the new location will help fill a gap in weather observations across Northern California, particularly in the Shasta and Redding areas. … The region is particularly important for studying atmospheric rivers because some storms move north while others travel inland, making the area a key location for gathering weather data.

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• A News Cafe (Redding, Calif.): Shasta College selected as radiosonde sampling location for atmospheric river program