Research that reaps results

Feature Story

How investigating the atmosphere is improving our lives

Autumn comes to Colorado

UCAR Digital Image Library

Longer cooler nights tell deciduous trees it's time to lose their summer green

Urban planning with science in mind

Profiles in Science

Clarence Mann, University of Michigan

Discovering the Atmospheric Sciences

Site Spotlight

A channel for prospective students

Weekday trail closure extended - Mesa Trail connector closed through 10/12 info >

NCAR & UCAR News

U.S. Weather Commission proposed

Post date: September 27, 2012

An expert panel is asking Congress to create the first weather commission, which would leverage public and private expertise to better protect lives and businesses.

Cars and homes destroyed by tornado in Collegeville, TN, photographed on 5/8/11

System helps pilots avoid turbulence

Post date: September 19, 2012

A new NCAR turbulence avoidance system has been approved at Juneau International Airport and can be adapted for additional airports in rugged settings.

Juneau Airport, with high mountains in background

News from UCAR Members & Affiliates

Researchers devise more accurate method for predicting hurricane activity

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new method for forecasting seasonal hurricane activity that is 15 percent more accurate than previous techniques.

North Carolina State University

Hurricanes that pass over fresh water can be stronger

If a hurricane’s path carries it over large areas of fresh water, it will potentially intensify 50 percent faster than those that do not pass over such regions.

Texas A&M University

Hurricanes can intensify if they pass over fresh water

August 21, 2012 | A single cloud can have dramatic effects on local weather conditions, but forecasting models do not fully capture individual clouds or cloud types. Now researchers at NCAR are developing tools that could enhance the precision of weather forecasts by taking clouds into account, with results that could help drivers, road crews, and others.

road stretching to horizon, with blue sky and clouds above

Mapping hurricane vulnerability

August 17, 2012 | When a hurricane hits, the first concern of emergency responders is often coastal communities. Yet a 2000 study found that 63% of hurricane-related deaths occur in inland counties, often as the result of intense rain, flooding, mudslides, and tornadoes.

Map of eastern U.S. showing vulnerability extending as far as Great Lakes

Opinion

Now you see El Niño, now you don’t

Bob Henson • September 28, 2012 | In recent months there’ve been hints of an El Niño on the horizon that might help quench the ongoing U.S. drought. But those hints might turn out to be as meaningless as a mirage on a parched highway. Though...

View from research site, Kanton Island, American Samoa

Hurricane storm surge: in a category of its own

Bob Henson • September 4, 2012 | As hurricanes go, Isaac wasn’t the easiest to predict. Fortunately, the residents of the central Gulf Coast got ample notice of the storm’s arrival this week, and the death toll was remarkably low given the...