A cutting-edge wind and solar energy forecasting system that has saved electricity consumers $40 million to date has won a prestigious 2014 Colorado Governor’s Award.

To help provide guidance to utilities, scientists at NCAR and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have produced maps that show how U.S. wind and solar energy resources may evolve by 2060 . The maps include projections for each season and for different times of day, while taking into account natural variability.

Almost a year after Colorado’s deadly and destructive floods of September 2013, a group of NCAR scientists has just completed testing an innovative new system for detecting and predicting torrential rainfall as well as the risk of local flooding.