Millions of eyes were on the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton even as another major UK news story took shape—one dealing with meteorology rather than monarchy.

The surfeit of snowfalls across the U.S. East Coast over the last two winters brought ample evidence of just how much the white stuff can vary from place to place—and how difficult it is to assess accurately.

It’s been two decades since NOAA launched its Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Program. The C&GC program was created in response to a lack of trained specialists, and it’s kept up with continued expansion in climate change study.