Wisconsin Mobile Storm Probe #
Sadly, The Wisconsin Mobile Storm Probe has been retired. It will no longer be deployed out in the field, but its learning opportunities and opportunities it has given us will not be unnoticed
The Wisconsin Mobile Storm Probe (WMSP) was the original creation before the Serge team was ever put together. During the Summer of 2025, Mason Edwards proposed the idea to Eli Mares to make this original probe. Mason being an engineer, Eli being a computer scientist, both being an excellent duo, it was a match made in heaven.
The creation of the first probe was a slow process. It was the first time creating a project of this scale for both people involved, and because of this it led to a rather faulty segment of time. There were many first iterations made, all being scrapped for various reasons. Too wobbly, too light, unable to wire the electronics, lots of trial and error involved. This was not limited to the physical aspect either, the program for the probe was re-written many times, all trying to address the different issues that kept arising in deployments
The important thing to note from the first probe was that it was an extremely valuable learning opportunity for the people involved. Because of this, a lot of the original probe was of lower standards, meaning data was lost, pieces were broken often, although we were both extremely proud of it, the quality of the probe wasn’t satisfactory for the both of us.
Despite this, the WMSP had many deployments out on the field. One of the more notable deployments for the WMSP was around July 16th, 2025 in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Our WMSP team was able to set up in the trajectory of a funnel cloud, successfully capturing the data during it. Sadly, the funnel never fully condensed and lifted before it could make contact with the WMSP. Although there was no direct intercept, it was a huge accomplishment for the team to successfully position for a tornadic event.
Sadly, this luck would not carry all the way through. On April 20th, 2026 in Sussex, Wisconsin, The probe would be successfully deployed in a line for intercept by a tornado. After the team left the area for safety, the probe was found extremely damaged. Debris had been launched, and pierced the probe. This led to our electronics being short circuited due to water damage, and all the data collected from the event gone. This deployment would end up being the final one for the WMSP, as most of the electronics could no longer be used, and the team realized the opportunity to create something better.
Although it was an extremely janky project that had lots of flaws, it was still an amazing project that led to the creation of the Serge team and the new probe Zephyr. It also helped the team become amateur storm chasers, learning all of the precautions to take when out on the field. If it wasn’t for this probe, the team would not be out collecting the data they are today.