This cache is an old coffee container and easily accessible.
It's initial items include glow in the dark stars, various toys
(including Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons), and a geocoin.
So bring the kids and trade for what you like.
You do not need to enter NOAA's National Weather Service
property for this cache.
I placed this cache because I wanted you and your children to
see where all of the weather forecast information originates for
our region. The Doppler radar (inside the giant soccer ball)
generates lots of weather data for them. It cycles the lower,
middle, and upper atmosphere about every 20 minutes. The
weather ballons they release twice daily (6 a.m./p.m.) with the
attached microsonde captures tropospheric data as well. They
are one of only two or three spots in the entire US that takes
ozone readings (upper atmosphere, not the pollution in the lower
atmosphere). They even have lots of little "old school"
weather instruments, but most of their data comes from high-tech
devices.
I hope you'll take the time to learn more about the weather and
weather forecasting after visiting this site. These guys have done
a great job keeping us informed and relatively safe over the years
and have certainly saved a lot of lives with their tornado and
severe weather forecasting. And any time that you hear that
electronic voice on the television or radio know that it is
emanating from this building.
Their web site states the following:
The Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Nashville, Tennessee is
part of the Southern Region of the NWS. Operational personnel
include ten forecasters, whose responsibilities include issuing of
severe weather warnings and statements, public (zone) forecasts and
discussions, aviation forecasts (called "terminal aerodrome
forecasts"), short term forecasts (called "nowcasts"), and fire
weather forecasts.
WFO Nashville has warning responsibility for thirty-nine
counties across Middle Tennessee. The county warning area generally
extends from the Tennessee River in the west to the Cumberland
Plateau in the east, and from the Kentucky state line in the north
to the Alabama state line in the south. The Nashville county
warning area comprises 16,833 square miles with a population of
2,114,592 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002).