The Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center · 201 North Findley Street · Punxsutawney, PA 15767 · (814) 938-1000 · info@weatherdiscovery.org
Recent News from the Weather Center
Weather Center issues fun-warning with new Twist & Shout exhibit
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Written by Tom Chapin
The Twist & Shout exhibit — which shows guests how tornadoes form and what it feels like to be in the vortex of a tornado — is the last of the large exhibits at the Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center, although several smaller exhibits will be unveiled in the future. (Photo by Tom Chapin)
PUNXSUTAWNEY — There’s an F5 twister at the Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center, but in this case, the F doesn’t stand for Fujita, the scale used to measure a tornado’s intensity.
The F stands for fun.
“You’ll feel like you’re right in the midst of a tornado,” said Mary Jean Johnston, project administrator at the center, about its newest exhibit, Twist & Shout.
This piece — envisioned in March 2005, created and installed a few weeks ago by Design Craftsmen of Midland, Mich. — the Twist & Shout recreates the sensation — albeit a lot less dangerous than the real thing — of being near a tornado.
Young-sters climb a ladder — or an “updraft” — and into an area surrounded by the “funnel,” with debris attached on the inside.
Once a child climbs the ladder into the funnel, a fan above the funnel is activated and the wind swirls through the funnel, blowing the debris and helping the child feel like he or she is really inside the vortex of a twister.
The speed can be adjusted — but not too much, of course — to increase the wind intensity.
Escaping the funnel, the child can then travel down the twisty slide and crash into soft foam blocks — or “debris” — just like a real tornado would do to any structure in its path.
Near the funnel and slide are useful safety tips if one is ever caught in a tornado, as well as scientific explanations of how tornados form.
Also alongside the funnel are examples of real debris, such as a piece of white picket fence, a tree limb, pieces from metal roofs, leaves and more.
Johnston said the Twist & Shout is the last large exhibit to be installed by Design Craftsmen, the firm also behind other large, interactive exhibits such as Phil’s Burrow, The Perfect Storm and a weather balloon in the main lobby and more.
She said there will be more smaller exhibits installed to fill up free space in the center’s main gallery, including a wall-sized piece that the center secured through a grant from the Jefferson County Hotel Tax Committee.
Even when it’s not Groundhog Day, the center continues to be a busy place.
Johnston said she is already booking school trips for this coming spring, and the center sees a good, steady flow of visitors during the summer.
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