The SOS field project has yielded clues about the sublimation of snow in a mountain environment.

The research coming out of the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) in 2023 ranged from fascinating to impactful. From La Niñas and El Niños to supercomputers named after wind and the impacts of literal wind, here are the highlights of NSF NCAR’s top science stories from the past year.

The Sublimation of Snow field project will eventually help water resource managers to better quantify critical water resources stored in mountain snowpacks.

A new computer modeling technique developed by NCAR scientists offers the potential to generate months-ahead summertime drought forecasts across the Western United States with the capability of differentiating between dry conditions at locations just a couple of miles apart.

Water resources will fluctuate increasingly and become more difficult to predict in snow-dominated regions across the Northern Hemisphere, new research shows.