Organization

Weather Research Center was founded in 1987 by Jill F. Hasling and her father, Dr. John C. Freeman, both Certified Consulting Meteorologists and Fellows of the American Meteorological Society. Weather Research Center is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation and was founded to respond to a need to educate the public about weather and weather safety. WRC is the successor organization to the Institute of Storm Research founded in 1966 at the University of St. Thomas.

Freeman and Hasling's groundbreaking research in orbital influences on the atmosphere, long range predication, marine and tropical weather forecasting for the community and the corporate clients provides the WRC with the solid experience for its operations.

Current Activities
Since WRC inception in December 1987, WRC meteorologists have served over 650,000 people in the regional and national community . The Center's activities are focused on: 1) education of newly graduated meteorologists in the art of global marine and tropical weather forecasting, 2) outreach/community education programs for school children and adults, and 3) weather research.

Funds for the annual budget come from grants and fees for global weather forecasting, research, education programs, membership, admission to WRC's Weather Museum, and charitable donations.

A. Education of newly graduated meteorologists. Since no university is providing hands-on global, marine and tropical weather forecasting training, graduates from Texas A&M, the University of Oklahoma and elsewhere come to the WRC as interns for on-the-job training. Internships last for 1 to 3 years and interns are compensated for their work at WRC. They benefit from the opportunity to prepare actual forecasts for a variety of corporations, largely oil and drilling companies with operations worldwide.

B. Outreach/Community Education Programs. WRC inspries students through science experiments and presentations of the Weather Museum. Programs which emphasize science and mathematics are available both at the Museum and through site visits to partner organizations. These programs include Weather Camp, Weather Labs, Weather Classes and Student Summer Internships. WRC's 20 plus partners include American Meteorological Society, Cy-Fair ISD, HISD, Community in Schools, Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts, etc.

C. Weather Research. These research projects range from forensic meteorology to detailed hurricane risk analysis for Texas Department of Insurance, detailed wind study and forecast for the installation of high-tech fabric Radome designed to withstand winds of more than 130 mph, forecasting for recovery tasks such as the Titanic, space capsules and other intricate projects. Clients have included Oceaneering, Raytheon, etc.

Plans For The Future
The John C. Freeman Weather Museum opened at 5104 Caroline Street on April 21, 2006. In order to operate in adequate space with room to grow and to meet the present and rapidly increasing demand for professional and community education, the Board of Directors approved the plan to expand the museum's educational programs .

WRC Mission
WRC advances the science of weather and the knowledge of the weather's impact on the global community through research, prediction and education.

WRC Vision
WRC exists to make a difference by helping the community learn about weather through outreach, education and research inspiring interest in math and science.