Meteorologist Turned Treasure Hunter Finds 'Needle In A Haystack'

Meteorologist Dan Leonard claimed a hefty prize by using weather skills to win a treasure hunt in the Massachusetts woods.

It was all part of a contest called Project Skydrop.

"The premise was, they put an artifact, a golden artifact, in the woods," Leonard said Tuesday. "And other than a camera that showed it 24/7 … there was no other hints as to where it could be. It was essentially anywhere in the Northeast."

But the webcam also held two key variables spotted by Leonard, who is a senior meteorologist with The Weather Company, the parent company of weather.com and The Weather Channel app.

"So the webcam showed the temperature and the webcam also, even though it didn't show the sky, you could get a sense in the background, some of the trees, whether it was sunny or cloudy," he said.

Leonard started with the temperature data, comparing it to measurements from networks of local weather stations.

He deduced that the treasure wasn’t too far from his office in suburban Boston.

"I narrowed it down to a county but a county is huge," Leonard said. "So I had to get it even tighter. And for that, I turned to satellite data."

From there, it was a process of comparing the webcam views with views from space.

"So the way I was able to narrow it down even more with satellite data is ... look for days that were partly cloudy, partly sunny, partly cloudy, a lot of cumulus," Leonard said.

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"And every time at the treasure site where the webcam showed it was cloudy, I would circle any areas on the satellite that were showing clear skies that were sunny and I could eliminate those areas immediately and then vice versa."

"You never realize how big and deep the woods is until you're actually in it, trying to find some needle in a haystack," Leonard said.

Others were also narrowing in on the booty, including one team scanning the area with a small plane.

"I knew that time was not my friend here – I really only had one shot to do this," Leonard said.

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He went to a parking lot near the woods where he thought the treasure was hidden.

He looked at the webcam. He looked at the sun. He looked at the webcam. He looked at the sun.

Leonard decided to head southeast and look for a specific log shown in the webcam images. It wasn’t long until he stumbled upon the treasure, a trophy made of gold.

"We're in the fall and all the leaves on the ground are yellow and brown and it just completely blended in," he said.

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The trophy, which later led to a cash prize, is shaped like a funnel.

Leonard calls it the Golden Tornado.

"At the end of the day, the meteorology paid dividends for me," he said. "It really was everything."

Weather.com reporter Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.