Huge temperature swings are well known to residents of the Front Range of Colorado, thanks to the arrival of sharp winter cold fronts as well as chinook-driven warm-ups.

You didn’t have to be a solar expert to see stunning beauty in the images that satellite-borne instruments sent to Earth in the late 1990s. The sophisticated new tools sampled the Sun’s electromagnetic energy at a variety of wavelengths, resolutions, and intervals, producing data that were both visually compelling and rich in science-relevant detail.

Integration and collaboration were major themes as NCAR and UCAR made their way through the first decade of the new century.

New branches of NCAR research sometimes emerge through the advent of new technology, a change in national priorities, or a disastrous weather event. Other research topics have threaded their way through the center’s entire half-century history.

A team of scientists is tackling a scenario that is the stuff of Hollywood thrillers: What happens if a medium-sized asteroid strikes Earth? In particular, what if it crashes into the ocean? The question is not fanciful.