NOAA's National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Office Tours

Tours of the Weather Forecast Office are available to individuals and small groups. Tours can be scheduled during business hours, Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM through 4:30 PM, except federal holidays. Due to the complexity of the topic and equipment, tours are limited to students from 4^th grade and up. Due to the limited space in the building and because much of the tour consists of looking at computer monitors, we must limit the size of the group to a maximum of 25-30, about the size of a typical classroom.

The tour of the office takes 30-45 minutes. Visitors would see;

• Weather observing equipment including rain gages, thermometers, humidity sensors, wind equipment, barometers
• Operations area including Doppler radar display, satellite pictures, NOAA Weather Radio, weather maps and graphics, forecast and warning operations
• Computer room, communications

The tour can be tailored to meet the needs of your group and can include information on severe weather, careers in meteorology, etc.

The Weather Forecast Office is located in Romeoville about 35 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, or about 6 miles north of Joliet.

Public Speakers

The National Weather Service can provide speakers for schools, youth groups, service organizations, businesses. Topics can include;

• severe weather or winter weather preparedness/safety
• careers in meteorology
• National Weather Service operations
• aviation meteorology
• marine meteorology

Talks can be scheduled weekdays and weekday evenings. There is no fee for a speaker.

For more information contact Warning Coordination Meteorologist Jim Allsopp at 815-834-1435 M-F 800 AM - 400 PM or email jim.allsopp@noaa.gov