The Tamesis
The National Weather Museum and Science Center in Norman, Oklahoma, the only U.S. museum dedicated to weather artifacts, said late last month it was at risk of closing.
Founded in the early 2000s, the nonprofit is funded entirely by donations, grants and partners and does not receive any federal funding. But recently, the Cleveland County Economic Development Coalition (CCEDC) said it would stop funding the museum due to a contract dispute with the Norman City Council. CCEDC and its predecessor, the Norman Economic Development Alliance, have long been major funders of the National Meteorological Museum.
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CCEDC provides approximately $5,000 per year for museum operations, with the museum expected to move from its current building (which director Ross Forsyth describes as a “temporary home”) to a purpose-built space starting in 2016.
“We curated these artifacts that are unique and can’t be found anywhere (elsewhere) and we kind of paved the way for the predictions we’re getting today,” Forsyth told local news outlets Norman Codex. “Then we combine that with new technology … and then we become a 501(C)(3) education nonprofit.”
The museum is primarily dedicated to teaching about weather events and the scientific and technological development of weather monitoring, and its collections include early Doppler radar, a T-28 aircraft, an aircraft designed in the 1950s to fly through storms, and a vehicle damaged in a large tornado in May 2023.
The museum is currently raising funds on its website to keep the museum open. So far, it has raised about $11,000 of the $13,200 it needs to stay open through the spring.
“We’re the only weather museum in the country … and we offer such a unique offering,” Forsyth said. “Norman is the weather capital of the country, if not the world. We thought we would get more support.”
