HRD participates in American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting

The world’s largest yearly gathering for the weather, water, and climate community took place earlier this month in Denver, Colorado. Scientists from NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory participated in the 103rd annual American Meteorological Society meeting from January 8 - 12 through formal presentations, posters, panel discussions, and more.  AOML/CIMAS scientist Mu-Chieh (Laura) Ko …

HRD scientists participate in American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting

The American Geophysical Union held their annual Fall Meeting 12-16 December in Chicago, and also online. Every year, the Fall Meeting unites >25,000 attendees from 100+ countries in the Earth and space sciences community to discuss findings, connect scientists from around the world, advance the profession and connect over passion for the impact of science. …

Study on estimating rain rate in hurricanes published in Geophysical Research Letters

The study significantly reduced the estimated errors and uncertainties of the rain rate by combining observed raindrop size and radar reflectivity using machine learning. Flooding from rainfall is one of the most damaging and deadly hazards associated with tropical cyclones, so estimating rainfall amounts is important to keep people and property safe.  Forecasters use weather …

Study that shows improvements to hurricane models predict how the energy from the ocean transfers to the atmosphere underneath hurricanes released online in Weather and Forecasting

This study examined how changes to the planetary boundary layer (PBL) scheme based on information from large-eddy simulations affected hurricane model forecast performance during the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. The modified PBL scheme produced more realistic storm structures, on average, when compared to best-track information and observations from Hurricane Hunter Aircraft. The modified PBL physics …

HRD scientists attend Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program Annual Meeting

Last week, researchers from HRD attended the 2022 Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program (HFIP) Annual Meeting in Miami, Florida.  Group photo of some of the participants of the 2022 HFIP Annual Meeting, both in person and virtually.  The primary objective of this meeting was to discuss key HFIP strategies including advances to NOAA's next-generation Hurricane Analysis and Forecast …

Review of aircraft missions into Hurricane Earl

NOAA conducted 20 aircraft missions into Hurricane Earl in late August and early September. The series of flights over 12 days was the longest series of flights into one system that NOAA has conducted. We recently reviewed these flights, and the slides from the review can be found here. Flight tracks of all the NOAA …

NOAA completes historic missions into Hurricanes Earl, Fiona, and Ian

Despite the late start to the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane season, NOAA Hurricane Hunters have been very busy flying operational and research missions into and around Hurricanes Earl, Fiona, and Ian during the last few weeks. The crew of NOAA42 before a flight. Credit: Holly Stahl NOAA/AOML HRD scientist Kathryn Sellwood analyzing dropsonde data during the …

Happy International Cloud Appreciation Day!

As NOAA begins flights into Tropical Storm Fiona, we want to celebrate the first International Cloud Appreciation Day. Sponsored by the Cloud Appreciation Society, this is an internationally recognized day when people around the world are encouraged to spend a few moments appreciating the beauty of the sky. We thought we'd share some of the …

Thirtieth anniversary of Hurricane Andrew’s landfall in South Florida

Hurricane Andrew made landfall on August 24, 1992, near Homestead, Florida, becoming one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in U.S. history. It had an extremely low central pressure of 922 millibars and maximum sustained wind speeds estimated at 165 miles per hour. The storm rapidly intensified less than 36 hours before landfall, leaving most residents less …

Frank Marks participates in WeatherBrains podcast – 8 August 2022

HRD director Frank Marks participated in WeatherBrains podcast 864 to discuss the Lakeland High School Weather Club's impact on the field of meteorology in the U.S.. In October 1967, Weatherwise magazine ran an article entitled, “Meteorology at Lakeland High School,” about an advanced high school Weather Club, and in January 2022 Weatherwise provided a 55 year …