Our work at NSSL consists of basic and applied research on all
types of severe weather, with the ultimate goal of better warnings
to save lives and reduce property damage. Many of the scientists
here have a life-long passion for weather and work every day to
understand the forces behind it. The research conducted at NSSL
is especially important when severe weather threatens. The more
we understand, the better we will be able to develop the tools forecasters
need to predict and warn for tornadoes, blizzards, severe thunderstorms,
flash floods and hail.
-- Dr. James (Jeff) Kimpel, Director
Director's Office
- Director, Dr. James (Jeff) Kimpel
- Deputy Director, Kevin Kelleher
- Executive Director of Facilities and Strategic Planning, Doug Forsyth
- Public Affairs, Keli Tarp
- Information Technology Services, Jeff Horn
- Field Observing Facilities Support, Dave Rust
Research Divisions
- Forecast Research and Development
Dave Stensrud, Chief - Radar Research and Development
Doug Forsyth, Chief - Warning Research and Development
Dave Jorgensen, Chief
The National Severe Storms Laboratory was created in 1964 with combined objectives from the National Severe Local Storms Research Project at Kansas City and the Weather Radar Laboratory at Norman, Oklahoma. The great variety of severe weather occurring here also made Norman an ideal location for the new research laboratory.
NSSL's first director, Dr. Edwin Kessler documented the Purposes and Programs of the U.S. Weather Bureau National Severe Storms Laboratory in his 1964 Technical Note 2-NSSL23.
NSSL "aims to extend our understanding of severe convective phenomena such as tornadoes, hailstorms, and heavy rains. For the study of these phenomena, modern weather radar is an indispensable tool, and considerable specialization in techniques of radar data display and processing, including synthesis of radar data with other kinds of information, is required. It is natural, therefore, that the Laboratory also serve the Weather Bureau as a research facility for development and applications of radar to general meteorology and the national weather system."
Today NSSL's mission remains much the same:
The mission of the National Severe Storms Laboratory is to enhance the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's capabilities to provide accurate and timely forecasts and warnings of hazardous weather events such as blizzards, ice storms, flash floods, tornadoes, and lightning. NSSL accomplishes this mission, in partnership with the National Weather Service, through a balanced program of research to advance the understanding of weather processes, research to improve forecasting and warning techniques, development of operational applications, and transfer of understanding, techniques, and applications to the NWS and other public and private sector agencies.
