Redding’s Shasta College Starts Weather Balloon Program to Improve Atmospheric River Forecasts in North State

REDDING, Shasta County — October 26, 2026. Shasta College has become a new weather-balloon launch location in a research partnership intended to improve tracking of atmospheric rivers across Northern California. Scientists conducted a test release at the main Redding campus on Thursday, October 22, with college earth-science students and instructors observing.

What the balloon measures

The instruments attached to each weather balloon, called radiosondes, send data about atmospheric temperature, humidity, wind and pressure as they rise. This helps forecasters understand approaching moisture-rich storm systems. The initiative is part of a partnership between the California Department of Water Resources and the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Program information says a balloon can climb roughly 82,000 feet in about 90 minutes. The data can feed into computer weather models and improve understanding of reservoir inflows in systems such as Shasta and Oroville. More observations can improve forecasts, but they do not guarantee precise prediction of flooding at any particular home or road.

Why a Redding station helps

The region previously had a gap in relevant upper-atmosphere observations near the northern end of the Central Valley. The Shasta College site contributes to wider research and may support the long-term goal of better emergency planning and reservoir operations. The experiment was led by the stated agencies; California58 did not attend the launch in person.

Sources: Shasta College’s release reprinted October 22 and UC San Diego CW3E project information. Local newspaper: Redding News.

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