What so many seem not to understand is that if you start breaking everything into separate entities, you lose any efficiency and additive benefits you had by having them all as a single NCAR. It's worse than shooting ourselves in the foot. It's significant amputations when there's no infection.

With Great Lakes Day approaching, @realshri.bsky.social's column for @planetdetroit.org reminds us that the lakes are "great uniters...perhaps the last bastion of true bipartisanship in Congress." Still, we need our leaders to do more to best protect our water. planetdetroit.org/2026/02/grea...

Nice piece on storm surges in Lake Erie, home to the most "the most dramatic, damaging and deadly surges” in the #GreatLakes. And on how not to build coastal resilience: armoring the shoreline is like "like putting a toddler in a room and closing the door." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/s...

Insurers want to protect NCAR: "NCAR has long supplied the foundational capabilities that enable catastrophe modeling and climate-informed pricing. Disruption would heighten uncertainty in risk assessments, and undermine the stability and affordability of insurance coverage for U.S. consumers."

Significant air pollution episode over Michigan the past 2 days as 50° temps melt a 7-week-old snow pack, mobilizing PM 2.5 particles that had fallen on the snow. Light winds, low mixing, and fresh emissions contributing to the event. AQI largely in the orange "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range.

new links between #GreatLakes winter storms & global climate patterns uncovered. Findings show how large-scale teleconnections shape storm temp, moisture & precip, key for improving seasonal forecasts: news.umich.edu/discovering-... by @abbathehut.bsky.social and other @UMich CIGLR researchers

Data centers are important for the future of Michigan and Great Lakes' water not only because of their direct and indirect effects on water supply and usage but - perhaps more importantly - because they are exposing flaws in our water protection policies. www.detroitnews.com/story/news/l...

Excited to share a new paper (EOR) from the group, led by Evan White, in which we derive probabilistic 1-8 day severe hazard forecasts from global AI weather prediction models! Check it out here: journals.ametsoc.org/view/journal...

We're thrilled to welcome Fraser King to our faculty as an assistant professor. Learn more in a brief Q&A with Fraser about his background, research, and what excites him about UW–Madison and AOS: www.aos.wisc.edu/news/q&a_fra...

A five-minute masterpiece to brighten your day ❤️

“White House officials characterized the dismantling of NCAR as a return to the center’s original mission—to make the weather great again… Weather and climate aren’t easily separable, though, and never have been.” www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...

For example: “In 1987, NCAR began testing a new Doppler radar that predicted dangerous wind shear events and alerted pilots…There has not been a microburst-induced crash of a commercial airplane in the United States since 1994.”

I love how so many news outlets have spotlighted NCAR’s deep back catalog of scientific advancements. www.cpr.org/2025/12/19/s... @coloradopublic.bsky.social

The Trump Administration's plan to dismantle the @ncar-ucar.bsky.social is senseless & dangerous. It would weaken weather forecasting, climate research, & the science that keeps people safe. We urge that this plan be abandoned. Call Congress to #SaveNCAR today. buff.ly/7ka1BQA

In case you want to share with your networks, this is a good article by the NYT on the broad scope of work done by NCAR and some of the key discoveries (e.g., microbursts and aviation accidents).

On Kindness, Power, and Hypocrisy. “And [Stephen Miller] says to me, ‘You know, you have a lot of power in the discretion you use to be kind to people.’ And I looked at him and I said, ‘You know, you do, too.’” [kottke.org]

Join us for a critical conversation on the future of U.S. atmospheric science. UCAR President Antonio Busalacchi hosts this town hall on what’s at stake if NSF NCAR is dismantled. buff.ly/jR6tGwo

Check out #CIGLR's new blog post: Lake-effect snow is dramatic, but hard to predict. A recent study by #CIGLR’s @abbathehut.bsky.social w/ @NOAA @UMich & @UofIllinois explores how snowflakes grow in these storms & why models often struggle: ciglr.seas.umich.edu/big-lakes-bi... #GreatLakes

California's Central Valley has been shrouded in Tule fog for the last 16 days.

Join us TODAY @ 12pm! for a #GreatLakes #seminar titled: "Modeling the Fate and Transport of Plastic Pollution Using Great Lakes Hydrodynamic Models and Exploring the Potential Impact of Data Assimilation" Who: Matthew Hoffman (RIT) Registration & more: ciglr.seas.umich.edu/event/120420...

Lovely, intricate map of all the rivers in the US (lower 48). [kottke.org]

winter measurements of temperature throughout the water column of Lake Ontario suggest it "appears to be a warm monomictic lake, rather than having a dimictic mixing pattern as previously described—there is no sustained ice cover or inverse stratification that inhibits vertical mixing in winter."

Climate Central has brought back the U.S. Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database, tracking the nation’s costliest storms, floods, and fires. In the first six months of 2025, there were 14 events totaling $101 billion in losses. Read more from Desk reporter Hêctor Alejandro Arzate.

Simply incredible imagery of Hurricane Melissa this morning as it approaches Jamaica.

"NOAA has built a reputation for world-class research...For every dollar invested in NOAA, the country’s return is orders of magnitude greater in productivity, transportation, farming, fishing, business development, and savings to communities in insurance and public safety."

And there we have it. #Melissa's WV eye temperature has broken -5°C, making it warmer than any other eye observed through geostationary water vapor imagery. Takes an upper echelon warm core for this

Women may experience a three-fold reduction in mortality risk from coronary heart diseases, when following recommended exercise guidelines, compared to men, according to a study in Nature Cardiovascular Research. go.nature.com/47t8eZq #medsky 🧪

Satellite image of a beautiful midlatitude cyclone over the Great Lakes

Speechless. A fisheries science center that has a 100 year history in Ann Arbor.

very cool timelapse this evening #COwx

The most important thing universities should do in a world with AI is to greatly increase the number of professors, so that classes can be smaller and more class time can be spent directly interacting with students as people.

This is SUCH an important point. Most people are worried about climate change: but most people feel helpless and think nothing’s being done (so why should they do anything?) This is why my weekly newsletter always includes good news on climate solutions as well as actions we can take!

Granted - I never learned how to code properly. But at least I *know* I never learned how to code properly. Thanks Stack Overflow!

Printing presses kept their letters in cases. Capital letters went in the upper case. Smaller letters went in the lower case. This is why we say ‘UPPER CASE’ and ‘lower case.’ Ok, but what did we call them before the invention of the printing press? MAJUSCULE and minuscule.

The Oatmeal’s take on AI art. “When I consume Al art, it also evokes a feeling…until I find out that it’s Al art. Then I feel deflated, grossed out, and maybe a little bit bored. This feeling isn’t a choice.” [theoatmeal.com]

✨New publication alert✨: “Recommendations from the Sea Grant-Led Invasive Species Language Workshop” — a report on the workshop I organized in DC last year! #BiologicalInvasions #InvasiveSpecies 🧪 www.reabic.net/journals/mbi...

A powerful story of pathology done right - and the sacrifices a mom was willing to make

Very interesting!

THIS is exactly why federal funding is necessary for clean water and Great Lakes restoration. #GreatLakes www.mlive.com/environment/...

Whistleblower report on NASA funding from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation www.commerce.senate.gov/services/fil...

Changing water temperatures and human-driven introductions of fish have altered the composition of fish populations in streams and rivers across the USA over the past three decades, a study in Nature suggests. go.nature.com/47ZCcWH 🧪

The federal government has censored the work of dozens of scientists, including work by my lab, on the impacts of climate change on Acadia National Park. Signs have been removed from Cadillac and Great Meadow. They’re also removing signs about the Wabanaki’s sacred connections to Cadillac.

Some lightning today

ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. https://bit.ly/47Wxc59

🧪 New National Academies report concludes that rising greenhouse gas levels imperil public health and the 2009 endangerment finding “has stood the test of time.” Game on. Gift link: Top Scientists Find Growing Evidence That Greenhouse Gases Are, in Fact, a Danger www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/c...

How Climate Scientists Saw the Future Before It Arrived. “‘The goal of climate modeling is really to build a fake version of the Earth,’ a coarse-grained copy of the planet that’s stripped down to ‘the processes we think are relevant.’” [quantamagazine.org]

This is AI2ES, my AI institute. No way around it other than to say this is really awful. We are doing so many amazing things! We want to keep doing amazing things but without this level of funding, we will not be able to do so.

*cracks knuckles* okay so you know how the media has a problem with taking snippets of scientific studies out of context and writing articles which mislead the public? now imagine a computer program is doing that when you ask it questions about scientific literature but also it makes stuff up.

The American Meteorological Society's formal response to "foundationally flawed" DOE mis/disinformation report on #ClimateChange is excellent & timely. Frankly, I have been more impressed w/@ametsoc.org's ability to effectively meet the moment this year than other scientific professional societies.