Southwest Florida Weather Camp Program

Welcome to the Southwest Florida (SWFL) Weather Camp Program web page. In addition to finding information about our ongoing weather camp programs, we have included information about weather camps we are aware of that operate across the U.S.

The SWFL Weather Camp is predicated on bringing real learning about weather and related disciplines (e.g., climate, oceanography, geography) to students from 6th to 12th grades. We specifically target our camps to students with a passion about weather; however, we also focus on students involved in scouting, 4-H, and Civil Air Patrol programs, as well as those students that simply have a science interest.

This year (2020), due to COVID-19, we have taken our camp experience to a virtual level. During the June - August 2020 period, we'll be offering two middle and two high school camps. These low-cost camps will be fully interactive and will engage students in numerous activities, discussions, and data gathering/sharing projects. Participants will also have the opportunity to continue to reap the benefits of the camp program through ongoing mentoring and college/career guidance following attendance at the formal camp program.

Full details (including a complete camp program description, a list of FAQs, and application and release forms) are now available (see box to the right). You can also contact H. Michael Mogil (camp director) at 240-426-2900 or weathercamps@weatherworks.com to discuss any aspect of the camp program.

Although each campsite determines its own curricula, many camps go far beyond just learning about weather and climate.

At some camps, communication training is a key component, with students preparing a poster or a PowerPoint slide show and then sharing their work through oral presentations.

At other camps, students engage in impromptu speaking assignments and/or 30 to 45 second elevator speeches. Most camps work hard to foster teamwork through group projects.

Some camps emphasize instrumentation (e.g., radar, radiosondes), while others showcase how weather interfaces with other parts of society (e.g., visits to emergency operation centers, solar farms, or agricultural activities). Obviously, under a virtual camp setting, curricula will be undergoing changes.

Given the relatively-limited number of meteorologically-focused campers who have attended weather camp, the NWXCP has an extremely high success rate.

This includes at least 7 campers who have received AMS and/or NWA scholarships, and one camper who has amassed almost $100K in scholarship and related funding for college.

Other campers have served in various summer field research programs, and one camper has severed on NWA Committees as a college student member. Another camper capitalized on his camp experiences and joined his middle school newspaper staff as weather reporter; another camper has amassed some 20,000 followers on his Facebook page.

In addition, several campers have presented research papers at NWA and AMS conferences, including four who were still in high school when they first presented.

The NWXCP and individual camp sites have developed various social media sites to provide information about the camp program and/or allow campers to interact with one another.

You'll find a listing of local social media sites along with local camp information on the interactive camp map. You can access the national program's Facebook site here.