The system tested recently in the Detroit area will ultimately help protect drivers from surprises such as black ice, fog, and other hazardous weather conditions ahead.

The 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak swept through several southern states and the lower Ohio Valley, killing 57 people. NCAR scientist Julie Demuth helped the National Weather Service assess the societal impacts of the deadly storms.

NCAR scientists are exploring the use of a novel statistical technique to help steer intercontinental flights away from thunderstorms.

NCAR scientist Fei Chen is collaborating with colleagues at China’s Institute of Urban Meteorology to explore how growth in Beijing is changing the city’s summer rainfall patterns, focusing specifically on the relationship between urban expansion, aerosols, and summer rainfall.

The highly detailed forecasts will help the utility use power from turbines when sufficient winds are predicted.

Accurate, high-resolution weather forecasts are a critical part of wind energy production. In December, UCAR signed an agreement with Xcel Energy to develop a wind prediction system for the company’s wind energy farms in Colorado, Minnesota, and Texas.

Several red-eye commercial flights were rocked by moderate to severe turbulence as they flew across northeast Kansas early on June 17, 2005. A new study by NCAR scientists Stan Trier and Bob Sharman uses modeling to connect storms in Oklahoma with the Kansas turbulence.

Contrary to earlier projections, few developing countries will be able to afford more efficient technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the next few decades, new research concludes.