One of the neatest observations made by lightning mappers: we clocked this meteor fireball at ~57 kilometers per second (125,000 mph). That is FAST!

We did some science last night! (Phased-Array Polarimetry for Electrification and Lightning)

MetPy Mondays is back! John Leeman from NSF Unidata introduces what’s new in MetPy and previews a new 15-part MetPy Mondays series focused on practical meteorological data analysis, remote data access, and case study plotting. buff.ly/BQitB7I

This is on the Saturday after the @ametsoc.org Madison meeting. Disappointed I will be on the road to another thing!

The Madison Mallards are organizing the world's largest Euchre game as they play one this summer as the "Right Bowers" 🃏 Full pics and details ⬇️ news.sportslogos.net/2026/04/29/m...

excuse me? I wrote the code for this commit using nano. I then used @vscode.dev to publish this commit, because I couldn't be bothered to find my personal access token wanted to use the github extension for login. NONE OF THE CODE WAS WRITTEN BY COPILOT. IT INJECTED THIS INTO THE COMMIT MESSAGE.

GLM has been game-changing for the community that monitors meteors. Great example! It’s also one of the many new capabilities that would be lost in the current plan to stop flying a GLM-like instrument after the current fleet reaches end of life.

The full complaint is worth a read. There are several additional overreaches in there that I wasn't previously aware of.

My latest for @science.org on the fraught future of NCAR as NSF's deadline nears. It can still go so many ways.

Great piece out today in Physics Today on historical origins, contemporary relevance, & fundamental irreplaceability of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which remains at imminent risk of dismantling for partisan political reasons.

Running a grad student code sprint tonight with a spaghetti meal. We have this sauce for fans of the history of weather radar color maps. @pyart.bsky.social

As the AMS Annual Meeting approaches, don’t forget that TTU Atmospheric Science is hiring for two faculty positions. We’ll be at the meeting and can visit if you have any questions in advance of the application deadline.

Wrote a summary of a great keynote by @zey.bsky.social at NeurIPS, arguing that we’re having the wrong nightmares about AI: not AGI or superhuman benchmarks, but good-enough genAI at scale threatens "load bearing frictions" society relies on to signal effort, authenticity, sincerity, credibility.

🚨 METEOROLOGICAL JOB ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 In response to the deadly flooding event that occurred in the Texas Hill Country this past summer, TTU has received $24M from the state legislature to develop and implement a weather measurement and modeling system to serve the state.

Second game in a row where the lock screen score is opposite the in-app score. You’ve got a bug, @espn.com!

Do you love to write code or teach others about data-centered Earth Systems Science? Interested in the interplay of science and data? The NSF Unidata Summer Internship program is looking for you! Apply by February 6, 2026 to work with us next summer: buff.ly/5nsLdRu

Took advantage of being sick today to make a joke about amplitude and phase shifts to my voice as part of an exam review on the frequency domain. 😎

Calling all ensemble forecast system enthusiasts! The State of Texas is funding development of a new ensemble prediction system (100 members, 2km grid spacing) with an embedded WoFS interface, to be developed at Texas Tech! Passing along 3 open research scientist positions towards that development:

Texas Tech Geosciences is hiring two open-rank Atmospheric Science faculty positions in Precipitation Hazards, and in Data Science; part of an interdisciplinary, multi-year Atmospheric Hazards Strategic Hire. See the details for the Precipitation and Data Science positions and join us in fall 2026!

I have been wondering what is the driving philosophy of the present political moment. Focus here is placed on a particular philosophy of apocalyptic thinking, not the politics of WWII Germany.

Good read on an advancement in the fundamental mathematical physics that we use to quantify the atmosphere. Fun to imagine how the result might also apply to improved statistical representations of cloud and precipitation particle interactions.

🚨 If you're interested in working on a coordinated response to the DOE climate report, please enter your info on this google form 🚨 Please RT this so as many people see it as possible. forms.gle/BL9xUAfRxA...

“If the U.S. is no longer the world’s technoscientific superpower, it will almost certainly suffer for the change. … Science itself, in the global sense, will be fine. The deep human curiosities that drive it do not belong to any nation-state. An American abdication will only hurt America.”

Passed my @ttu.edu Atmospheric Science M.S. defense today! Excited to continue on to a PhD with my advisor, @deeplycloudy.bsky.social, looking at lightning with phased array radars

Hi All - We are convening a session at AGU this December, please share with your groups and consider submitting to our session! @ltgbug.bsky.social #lightning #AGU2025

This is @persistent.info’s post with some more technical details – and some further twists like using an LLM to a control an old computer! blog.persistent.info/2025/07/infi...

I wrote something new! It’s a UI design history essay about Mac’s Control Panel, and it uses emulation in some… maybe new and maybe interesting ways? aresluna.org/frame-of-pre...

Come for the UI history, stay for the fully usable and complete app and game nostalgia. Really remarkable.

From Marcin Wichary, a history of Mac settings (1984-2004). The article includes several embedded emulators, so you can actually use the setting panels under discussion. Amazing. [aresluna.org]

Siegfried’s Long Call from Twilight of the Garage (Gäragerdämmerung)

To make reiterate for others: the Big Murder Bill that *just* passed is completely separate from next year's budget for NSF, NOAA, and NASA (set via separate appropriations). Will take a little bit longer to hear more about science agency budgets (were originally supposed to hear more next week):

Excellent piece from @zoeschlanger.bsky.social on what Schlanger aptly calls the "miserable cascade of losses for the American hurricane-safety apparatus." Quoted: @drkimwood.bsky.social, @michaelrlowry.bsky.social, @franklinjamesl.bsky.social + Andy Hazelton. www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

We are losing access to key weather satellite data important for hurricane forecasting. But remember when we said that computer models were less reliant on balloons because they now use satellite data? Well, this is some of that satellite data and we're losing it. open.substack.com/pub/balanced...

See, it is possible to love linear algebra!

Today’s weather report styled like The Weather Channel in the 90s: WeatherStar 4000+. [weatherstar.netbymatt.com]

The moon in crepuscular rays illuminating a supercell

A quadrilateral of supercells emerges. #quadrilateralsupercellconspiracy

A yin-yang of lightning channel density from the tornadic supercell storm over Lubbock, and lightning in two overshooting tops showing the updraft of the main supercell and one that merged from the rear as the HP transition happened.

This is so very resonant with the philosophy seeping more every day into faculty affairs, and students are dragged into this same financialized logic that doesnt let them slow down enough to think vigorously. manganiello.social/objects/1bf4...

I want to extend my heartfelt thanks for the support and kind words from everyone in the community. It really helped in getting through this rough time not to mention made clear the importance of our mission and the positive impact we have. Rough waters remain ahead but I’m grateful to be here.

It’s hard to overstate how important Unidata is to weather research & communication, but the program paused most of its operations this month due to a lapse in funding from the NSF freeze. Staff is furloughed & it is unclear when they will be able to resume operations thebulletin.org/2025/05/deco...

✨Reminder: The 2025 NSF Unidata Community Survey is still accepting responses✨ Your input is vital to help shape how our program center supports the Earth systems science community, especially as we prepare to resume work. 🔗 Take the Survey: arcg.is/zLOSW #PoweredByUnidata

Unidata maintains a lot of key weather data infrastructure, including the netCDF data standard and libraries, metpy. data dissemination servers for accessing models and observations from NOAA, and educational resources for the university community. Now everyone is furloughed b/c of Trump and DOGE.

A reinsurance industry group began pushing to protect NOAA's billion-dollar disaster list back in February -- because it helps convince “the public and public officials to embrace resilience," driving down insurance costs. Story w/ @weathersullivan.bsky.social (free link):

Due to the current gap in funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the NSF Unidata Program is pausing most operations effective 12 May 2025. Nearly all staff will be furloughed until funds from our existing NSF grant become available. For more information, see buff.ly/d2TC1Oy

MetPy 1.7.0 is out! Highlights include saturation vapor pressure (including over ice) and LCL calculations, automated high/low identification, and clients for accessing S3 archives of NEXRAD L2/L3, GOES, and ML weather prediction output (from NOAA/CIRA), and more! github.com/Unidata/MetP...

AGU has filed a new lawsuit to prevent the Administration’s dismantling of U.S. scientific agencies. We’re proud to take this stand with our plaintiffs’ coalition for our federal workforce. buff.ly/3U56ooz

NOAA Research introduced and is redeveloping our national Doppler radar network. It provides the radar observations used to keep you safe in severe weather (the same ones seen on TV & your phone). NOAA Research faces elimination. Learn more: www.ametsoc.org/ams/about-am... #SaveNOAA

✨The 2025 NSF Unidata Community Survey is now live! ✨ Share your insights, support community progress. Take 15 minutes to complete the survey, and as a thank you, you'll have the chance to enter a drawing for an NSF Unidata swag bag. 🔗 arcg.is/zLOSW #PoweredByUnidata