Most counties in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles are covered by NOAA All Hazard Weather Radio transmitters, allowing for the transmission and receipt of life- and property-saving watches, warnings and statements from the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office (WFO) at Amarillo, Texas. Several years ago, WFO Amarillo noted an opportunity to use the transmitter network as an educational tool. As a result, the Kids' Weather Hour program was conceived.

Kids' Weather Hour is a creative, educational and interactive program designed to help students learn about weather by having the questions they submit answered on-air. It not only makes meteorology accessible to young students who live in a highly weather-conscious area, but also promotes the NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio and fosters partnerships among the National Weather Service, local schools, the public (who are free to listen during the live broadcast), BWXT Pantex (which provides weather radios to all participating schools), and Wal-Mart (which provides two bicycles that are awarded via raffle to students who submit questions). This presentation will detail the history and evolution of the Kids' Weather Hour at WFO Amarillo and will illustrate the current state of the program.