The excitement of reopening on June 25 after being closed for three months was eclipsed only by the debut of our new exhibit – Pull Up Clouds.
Planning for an exhibit about cloud types began in 2019 with the design team at Carnegie Science Center. Construction on the exhibit began in early February with installation planned by the end of March. We all know what happened then. However, the Carnegie team was able to continue to work on the exhibit and in early June arrived in Punxsutawney to do the installation, which was not a simple thing. The exhibit’s ropes needed to be bolted to the wall at about 20 feet up and when the guys began the work, they encountered the brick chimney from the original boiler, used to heat the former post office in the early 1900s.
A one day installation job turned into two very long days, but the end result is dramatic and lots of fun! The exhibit prompts the visitor to pull on a rope attached to the likeness of a cloud. The cloud lifts to the altitude it usually appears in the sky-as shown by a colorful graphic-and reveals interesting facts about that cloud type. Visitors can learn about four basic cloud types and get a little bit of physical activity by pulling on the ropes!
Stop by to try the new Pull Up Clouds and to interact with old favorites like the Twist ‘n Shout Tornado Slide, the AccuWeather Green Screen Forecasting Station and the Perfect Precipitation make-a-thunderstorm exhibit. New open days at the Weather Discovery Center are Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.