As wildfires threaten much of the West during another hot and dry year, NCAR scientists are researching key aspects of these destructive events.

A project at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), called 3D-PAWS (3D-Printed Automatic Weather Station), is adding a new set of remote-sensing capabilities that will measure streamflow, storm surges, and snowfall depth to its suite of successful 3D-printed weather stations. This initiative will bring low-cost remote sensing instruments to the world’s “unseen” areas.

Scientists have developed a method to estimate summer rainfall in the Southwest months in advance.

The western US is facing a greatly heightened risk of extreme rain-after-fire events, which can cause mudslides, flash floods, and significant destruction.

A new study challenges a commonly accepted explanation that a "sudden stratospheric warming" caused the unusually cold weather over the U.S. early last year, a view which was widely reported in the media and discussed among scientists at the time.