News & Features

After a surprisingly rough summer for coral reefs in 2014, NOAA scientists are warning that warm ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans could set the stage for a global outbreak of coral bleaching—the loss of corals’ food-producing algae—in 2015. 

How do we verify forecasts that use probabilities? Read on to find out.

A stalled atmospheric set-up has made Boston and surrounding areas in the Northeast the most popular truck stop for storms travelling the atmospheric highway known as the jet stream. And stop they have, like a caravan of tractor-trailers idling in a rest stop parking lot.

One of nature’s truly awe-inspiring creations, caves and the unique rock formations inside them are not only breathtaking but are also natural recorders of climate. 

The model predictions during 2014 were not that shabby.  A major, strong El Niño was not well justified by the predictions. 

In addition to its primary mission of observing space weather, the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite is carrying two instruments that are important to climate science: the NISTAR radiometer and the EPIC camera. 

Deadly flooding has replaced the dry start to the 2014-2015 southern Africa monsoon, and the wet season has several months left go.

Millions of people in southern Africa depend on monsoon rains that begin around November and last until March or April. If the monsoon is erratic, millions of people can suffer. So far in 2014-2015, the monsoon in southeastern Africa has been anything but normal.

Thanks to back-to-back storms over the last month, most of the Midwest and North-Atlantic regions are covered by snow. But when was the last time there was snow on the ground in all fifty states—even our most tropical destinations, Florida and Hawaii?

For more than 6 months, NOAA has been issuing El Niño watches, but never an advisory. Here we show whether recent patterns in precipitation resemble those expected during El Niño.