Nicoma Park Junior High came online with the Oklahoma Mesonet in August of 1994. This was made possible through a multifaceted grant better known as EarthStorm. Students now have near real-time data to use in classroom research and individual research projects.
Nicoma Park is a virtual suburb of the Oklahoma City area and this places it very near the center of the state. Students wanted to examine weather from all four corners of the state and to research cold front passage. Together we felt it was necessary to look at some key factors. Some of the most obvious would be air temperature, wind speed, and the terrain that the cold front passes over. Oklahoma offers a great opportunity for students to examine the cold front’s impact, from the flat plains of Western Oklahoma to an abrupt change to the coniferous and deciduous forest of Eastern Oklahoma.
Students have researched the effects of cold front passage and how the terrain impacts weather factors. We will present student/teacher guided research to help explain the findings. We will also explore other avenues and weather issues that could impact the frontal passage through our state. Some of the other factors include the following: precipitation, dew point, humidity and cloud formations. We continually depend on the services provided by the Oklahoma Climatological Survey and the Oklahoma Mesonet for our near real-time data and guidance. Students have gained a good base knowledge of weather and a feel for how frontal passages impact so many different parameters