According to Weather Service, only 1 out of 5 radiosonde released are recovered. However, if you do find one, please return it because they can be reconditioned and used.

Because density is altered by altitude, the helium balloon can reach a height of 9,000 meters, or 29,537 feet. Anything higher than this altitude will cause the helium within the balloon to expand and the balloon to pop.

The balloon flights last for around 2 hours, can drift as far as 125 miles away, and rise up to over 100,000 ft. (about 20 miles) in the atmosphere!

On average weather balloons will ascend for about 90 minutes before bursting. They typically reach about 60,000 to 105,000 feet.

The short answer is no… and you don’t want to. In the United States it is illegal to use a cell phone or devices which use cell phone transmitters to track high-altitude weather balloons in flight according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Regulation 22.295.

The balloons are visible for about ½ hour and with the naked eye, look like the first star in the sky but are seen long before starlight. They drift with the wind and are never in the same place from night tonight.

No, hot air balloons will not fly at night because they’re legally not allowed to per Federal Aviation Administration or FAA rules. The FAA has a Visual Flight Rules chart that dictates that visibility when ballooning must be at least one mile out, which is not always possible when flying at night.

Originally Answered: Whar does a weather balloon look like at night? They come in 3 common colours that I’ve seen: red, brown and white. Red and brown would be very hard to see, but white balloons, which I’ve seen hundreds of, look like white circles in the night sky.

When it comes to tracking a weather balloon, the three most common options are a satellite tracker, an APRS tracker, or a cell phone. Each option has its benefits and limitations. A cellphone tracker is illegal and should never be used.