The year 2010 brought a difficult and sometimes tragic few months of weather events—first the snowstorms and record cold that battered much of the Northern Hemisphere, then tornadoes and floods in the United States.

Their letter to the president of the University of Virginia supports a statement by the university's faculty and questions the Virginia attorney general's use of governmental authority.

After a very unusual tornado caused extensive damage along a 34-mile (55-kilometer) swath of northern Colorado in 2008, a team of scientists from NCAR and Colorado State University undertook a multidisciplinary study integrating meteorology, climatology, and social science.

A study that includes NCAR scientists suggests that plant leaves emit far less methane when exposed to sunlight than previously thought. The research estimates that foliage is the source of less than 1% of Earth’s methane emissions.

Pineapple Express, monsoonal flow, El Niño, Madden-Julian Oscillation—these are some of the atmospheric patterns that shape our weather and climate. This glossary provides definitions for the major patterns that wax and wane across our planet.