CBS3 Mobile Weather Lab Visits Sandy Run Middle School

"The temperature is around 45 degrees, the wind speed is around 7 mph, and the wind chill feels about 38 degrees."

You might have expected those words to come from CBS3 meteorologist Justin Drabick as he visited Sandy Run Middle School Tuesday afternoon, bringing along his mobile weather lab to broadcast the forecast live from the field.

However, those words instead came from sixth grade "Owl" Lizzie, as she read from a monitor in the trunk of a decorated Audi Quattro, reporting the weather in real time over the air.

[See the TV spot of Drabick and the students here.]

Lizzie was one of nearly a hundred students who had the unique opportunity to take some time off class Tuesday to head outdoors and meet with Drabick. While their science teachers may have preferred questions about weather systems, the students seemed to have different curiosities.

"Do people recognize you in public and stop and say 'hi'?" asked one student.

"What kind of car is that, is that an Audi?" asked another.

"Was that car on 'Pimp My Ride?'"

Eventually the questions did turn to some of the apparatus on the vehicle.

"I get to drive this around a lot, it's not a storm chaser," said Drabick. "We can't take this into a tornado because it's not armored, and there's a lot of equipment on here."

Drabick later turned to the camera for a 30-second spot, with the children cheering as the cameraman panned over them and their signs. While on the air, the meteorologist pointed out his favorite, one that read "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

Lizzie and two other students were lucky enough to receive some face time on air, with one lamenting over the lack of snow and the other inviting Drabick to his birthday party.

Shortly after the spot ended, with winds gusting to 10 mph and the wind chill falling to just above freezing, Drabick and teachers moved the instruction inside. The visit was organized in part by Sandy Run teacher Tina Tofel, who said that the Mobile Weather Lab makes about three visits a month to schools in the Philadelphia region.