Those symbols represent weather fronts—the transition zone where different air masses meet. As fronts move through an area, they can bring dramatic changes in weather, including rain, thunderstorms, gusty winds, temperature changes, and finally clearer skies after the storm passes. 📸: EPA

“This is important for better forecasting of severe weather for a major agricultural region and helping with long-term prediction of storm patterns weeks or even months in advance.” said NSF NCAR RAL scientist Zhe Zhang. Read more! news.ucar.edu/133070/field...

🎉 FastEddy® 5.0 🥳 Announcing the latest release of this community, open source GPU-based model. Extensions include nesting to LES from FastEddy, nesting within MPAS mesoscale model, virtual towers & more. Try it now! ral.ucar.edu/fasteddy Full story: ral.ucar.edu/news/introdu...

Experience fluxART. Join us for a special Explorer Series event discovering creative insights and sharing multimedia artwork w/ Faculty Fellow Maoya Bassiouni & artists Julia Oldham & Mallery Quetawki. 🗓️: Wednesday, May 27, 7:00 – 8:30 P.M. MDT 📍: Mesa Lab and online webcast https://bit.ly/4nILVXp

Wildfires are commonly characterized by the total number of acres burned rather than the rate at which they spread. However, studying the speed of a fire adds another important dimension that can help scientists better understand, manage, and prevent fires in the future. 🔥

🌟 Congratulations Dustin Swales - DTC PROUD Award winner! 🌟 Physical Scientist, NOAA GSL. He made indispensable scientific, technical, & leadership contributions to the DTC Common Community Physics Package (CCPP) project. More on his accomplishments & impacts! dtcenter.org/news/dustin-...

CONGRATS Victor Weeks! Selected as a 2026 Fellow in the Better Scientific Software Fellowship Program. Victor's project explores responsible integration of AI into scientific software development, helping advance quality, reproducibility, & innovation in scientific computing. bssw.io/pages/meet-o...

Museums help connect us to the world around us—and at the @ncar-ucar.bsky.social Mesa Lab Visitor Center, discovery is happening every day! ✨🔬

Join us June 9-10, 2026, for From Fossils to Forecasts, a two-day professional development workshop designed for K-12 educators interested in exploring connections between Colorado's ancient past, present, and future.

#ICYMI For TEDxBoulder, NSF NCAR scientist Yaga Richter breaks down how science and society are intertwined, exploring how the Earth system is deeply interconnected and why we need to study it for a resilient future. https://bit.ly/4u4B0JK

We had a great time yesterday at Operation Water Festival!💧 Hosted by the City of Boulder, this event brought local students together for a day of interactive learning all about water—from drinking water treatment and conservation to ecosystems, geology, and the science of water on Earth!

DTC Seminar Now! 1-2 PM (MT) ✨🌐 Siwei He presents: ✨🌐 Evaluating Noah-MP Snow and Soil Processes over the Montana Mesonet See you there! dtcenter.org/events/semin...

🌐✨Expand Your Horizons✨🌐 Join us for the next DTC Seminar featuring Siwei He, Montana State University, presenting “Evaluating Noah-MP Snow and Soil Processes over the Montana Mesonet” Monday, May, 11 2026, 1-2 PM (MT) Free hybrid event Learn more! dtcenter.org/events/semin...

We still have a few spots open for summer field trips this July and August!

Remember the 2016 ORCAS campaign that studied the Southern Ocean? Gliding around Antarctica, the NSF NCAR Gulfstream V was outfitted w/ special instruments to collect data on the Southern Ocean’s capacity to uptake carbon. This year, that same data was used to inform a new study.. [📸: Jonathan Bent]

🤩 We’re excited to share that the DTC Visitor Program is now accepting applications! This is a great opportunity for researchers to collaborate & contribute to advancing modeling, evaluation, & software tools. Learn more & apply! dtcenter.org/news/dtc-vis...

✈️ ICYMI: NSF NCAR recently highlighted the launch of the Domestic Aviation Forecast System (DAFS), a major step forward in aviation weather. Generating more detailed forecasts of evolving icing & turbulence risks, giving pilots real-time flight path conditions. 👉 news.ucar.edu/133066/new-a...

NSF NCAR supports two state-of-the-art “sky lab” aircraft-- but what’s the difference? Let’s break down the stats for the NSF NCAR C-130 versus the NSF NCAR Gulfstream V (GV) and explore just what makes these two aircraft unique and specially-suited for different research projects:

What is our perfect date? April 25th ⛅ Because it's not too hot and not too cold... all you need is a light jacket.

Looking for in-person teacher professional development opportunities over the summer? Join us June 9-10, 2026, for From Fossils to Forecasts and explore Colorado's ancient past, present, and future!

From the ocean to the exosphere, we’re dedicated to advancing Earth system science for the betterment of society– not just on #EarthDay but every day! 🌎 Our experts harness observations, models, instruments, HPC & other resources to ensure NSF NCAR supports cutting-edge research.

Happy Earth Day! 🌎 Today is a chance to pause and get curious about the planet we call home! From the air we breathe to the water we rely on, Earth is full of systems, stories, and connections waiting to be explored.

On 4/23/26, the Longmont Museum is hosting a special Explorer Series film screening of Gathered in Darkness, a documentary produced about the Citizen CATE 2024 mission. After the film, hear from the lead scientists & filmmaker about the filming & data collection process. https://bit.ly/3QbN11a

Thunderstorms are powerful, complex, and surprisingly common—there are about 2,000 happening around the world at any given moment! ⛈️ However, not all thunderstorms are the same! Thunderstorms can be categorized by convection cell structure, or by the location they form and the reason the air rises.

Join Us Today! 1-2 PM (MT) 🎯 Michelle Harrold, John Halley Gotway, Christina Kalb presents: 🎯 METplus: A Community Framework for Flexible and Reproducible Model Evaluation 🌎 RAL Seminar Series - Explore, Learn, Connect 🌎 Watch Live: ral.ucar.edu/live

Looking forward to this RAL Seminar next week! Highlighting METplus verification & its role in advancing model evaluation. Thanks to the DTC's Michelle Harrold, John Halley Gotway, & Christina Kalb for their leadership & contributions. Explore more about METplus! dtcenter.org/metplus

We’re looking for community input! During the last two weeks of April, we are hosting AI Community Engagement Workshops, seeking input on AI and machine learning in Earth system science. There will be twelve 90-minute sessions on six topics. ⏰ Register by 5p.m. MT tomorrow https://bit.ly/4te00ht

We’re excited to be part of Party for Our Planet at the Children’s Museum of Denver this Friday! 🌎

Stop downloading terabytes. Start scaling science. 🚀 Mya Sears (@ncar-eol.bsky.social) cut her data workflow from weeks to under a minute using GDEX. 🤯 Watch GDEX Unlocked: youtu.be/PQLyEAy2LgM Join the community commons: rebrand.ly/gdexsub-blu #NSFNCAR #DataScience #HPC @ncar-ucar.bsky.social

Let’s explore machine learning and subseasonal forecasting! In Tuesday's virtual Explorer Series conversation, Kirsten Mayer discusses how NSF NCAR scientists use machine learning to uncover what conditions make long range forecasts more accurate. Details: https://bit.ly/48tYsr5

“This new, advanced aviation icing & turbulence forecast system is another milestone in our efforts to continuously improve the safety & efficiency of our national airspace system,” said Wiebke Deierling, lead of NSF NCAR’s aviation turbulence group. Learn more! news.ucar.edu/133066/new-a...

Understanding water availability across the US is more important than ever. In partnership with USGS, our WRF-Hydro® team has developed 40+ years of high-res hydrologic simulations across CONUS, unlocking new understanding of droughts, trends, & future water scenarios. ral.ucar.edu/news/wrf-hyd...

Learn how MPAS is gaining ground as WRF’s successor, with research and operations shifting across sectors. The NWS Director at AMS2026 urged a unified modeling foundation, calling for academia, government, and industry to align and collaborate. Register: https://bit.ly/4lL9Owh

We're excited to announce the release of our Adapted GLOBE Weather Pathways lessons!

Turn your schoolyard into a science lab 🌞🌳 In our classroom activity, Cool Playgrounds, students investigate how temperature varies across different surfaces like grass, asphalt, and shaded areas, then use their findings to design a cooler playground.

What is an atmospheric science field project? Scientists from many disciplines—such as atmospheric science, oceanography, geology, and even social science—often work together to study specific weather and environmental phenomena.

🌎 Explore, Learn, Connect - RAL/MMM Joint Seminar 🌎 ☁️ A Survey of North American Polar–Subtropical Jet Superposition Events: Development, Impacts, & Future Changes ☁️ Andrew Winters, Asst Professor, ATOC CU Boulder ☁️ WED, April 15, 2026 | 1-2 PM (MT) | Free Hybrid Event ral.ucar.edu/events/2026/...

☀️🌆 How hot is your neighborhood? The new HUMID Dashboard makes decades of high-resolution urban temperature data easy to explore, helping cities pinpoint "hot spots" & plan cooling strategies to protect communities. 💡Research improving urban resilience: gis.ucar.edu/news/humid-a...

We’re not foolin’ you! The Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO) has officially reopened in time to assist NASA’s Artemis II mission with space weather warnings! It has been closed since Mauna Loa’s 2022 eruption blocked the road, making the site accessible only by helicopter for special operations.

Absolutely breathtaking view of the Artemis II launch. Wow.

In the upcoming Explorer Series lecture, NSF NCAR’s Mariana Cains explores how convergence research and AI can help researchers address societal needs and hazardous weather for myriad situations. Join us on Wednesday, April 8, from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Mesa Lab and online. https://bit.ly/4cgnQTm

Looking forward to this! 🌟 Thanks to our own Ligia Bernardet for being part of this important conversation.

Looking for new ways to engage your students in Earth system science? Join us for one of our upcoming virtual professional development workshops—designed to bring together real-world science and classroom-ready resources!

Recently, the SciEd team had the opportunity to partner with faculty at @lsu.bsky.social to host a one-day teacher workshop focused on hurricane science and resilience along the Gulf Coast.

An impressive view of the tornadic supercell that produced massive hail in Illinois earlier today.

What’s beneath your feet? 🌍 The geosphere includes the solid part of our planet—rocks, minerals, soils, mountains, beaches, and even the molten rock deep inside Earth. But it’s not just about what the Earth is made of, it’s also about the powerful processes that constantly reshape the planet!

✈️ International Collaboration ✈️ Scientists from NSF NCAR’s CGD Lab are in Kyoto, Japan this week for the CMIP meeting, joining the global modeling community to coordinate experiments and improve tools for understanding Earth’s complex systems. #EarthSystemScience #GlobalScience #NSFNCARCGD

Join Us Today! 1-2 PM (MT) 🍃 McKenzie Larson, Ph.D. Candidate, Dept of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (ATOC) - CU Boulder presents: 🍃 Future Changes to Extreme Downslope Windstorms Across the Northern Colorado Front Range 🌎 RAL Seminar Series - Explore, Learn, Connect 🌎 Watch Live: ral.ucar.edu/live

Earth is a system made up of many connected parts, often described as “spheres”: the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, and geosphere. Studying these spheres helps scientists better understand how our planet works.

From chasing eclipses to improving space weather forecasts and everything in between, NSF NCAR is committed to producing valuable solar and space weather research to benefit both the scientific community and society at large. 🧵