Project Thunderstorm: Important government study of thunderstorms in Wilmington

WILMINGTON, Ohio - As you know, Ultimate  Doppler 9 is the most powerful Doppler in the Tri-State, giving us the ability to track thunderstorms first. Our current understanding of the structure of those thunderstorms can be traced back in Ohio’s history. 

An important government project that took place right here in Ohio in the 1940s.  It was a meteorological study of thunderstorms that provided information that meteorologists still use today. 

Project Thunderstorm is a government study conducted in 1947 out of Wilmington, Ohio. A three man team consisting of a pilot, radar operator, and weather observer would fly airplanes right through thunderstorms.

Dr. Jeff Underwood, the Historian for the National Museum of the United States Air Force knows a lot about the project.

“Flying through a thunderstorm really wasn’t a good idea, it’s still tough, but in 1947 planes were going down and hundreds of people were being killed a year because of trying to fly through thunderstorms. So that’s what this is about…that’s why this airplane, this P-61 is so important.”

The data collected from Project Thunderstorm gave us our first good look at the structure and lifecycle of a thunderstorm. It’s the same information that meteorologists use to this day.

Now, the Clinton County Historical Society wants to honor Project Thunderstorm and its significance to the Wilmington area. Kay Fisher, of the Clinton County Historical Society, is raising money in order to do just that.

“What we’re trying to do is to get a Ohio Historical Marker for this project and it would honor the events that happened with Thunderstorm.”

The marker would be located at the Lytle Creek Greenway in Wilmington, across the street from Wilmington Air Field, which was once the Clinton County Army Air Base where Project Thunderstorm took place. 

If you want to see one of the planes used in the project you can head on over to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton.  There are only two P-61s that took part in the study left.  One in Washington D.C., and one right here in our own backyard. 

It’s important to note, that not only were airplanes used in Project Thunderstorm, but also mobile radar and weather stations on the ground with the participation of the Weather Bureau, which is now the National Weather Service. 

Michael Kurz, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service, has a great web article on Project Thunderstorm that you can find here:  http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/research/ThunderstormProject/TSP.php

If you’d like to donate to the Clinton County Historical Society for the Ohio Historical Marker to honor the project, you can find more information on their website here: http://www.clintoncountyhistory.org/

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