Saving Lives & Property…
NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory serves the nation by working to improve the lead time and accuracy of severe weather warnings and forecasts in order to save lives and reduce property damage. NSSL scientists are committed to their mission to understand the causes of severe weather and explore new ways to use weather information to assist National Weather Service forecasters and federal, university and private sector partners.
At NSSL, our basic and applied research focuses on understanding severe weather processes, developing weather observation technology, and improving forecast tools, with emphasis on:
NSSL News
NSSL using tornado tools to study post-wildfire flash floods and debris flows
You likely know the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) for its tornado research or radar developments, and its support of the National Weather Service (NWS) mission. However, you may not know the lab has…
Where Have All the EF5 Tornadoes Gone?
The way violent tornadoes in the United States are rated has changed over time, resulting in no EF5-rated tornadoes since 2013, according to researchers from the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory in a paper published…
Warn-On-Forecast Hits Milestone: Runs Three Domains at Once
For the first time, the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory’s Warn-on-Forecast System (WoFS) has successfully run short-term forecasts for three geographic areas at once—predicting severe weather, winter weather, and fire weather. The historic milestone demonstrates…
A CLEAR VISION: Phased Array Radar innovating for the future
For more than 30 years, the nation’s weather forecasting has relied heavily on the NEXRAD radar network. This network has been the global gold standard in weather radar, however the system is reaching the end of its designed lifespan. Phased array radar stands as a potential paradigm-shift solution for the future of weather radar in the United States.
SCIENCE IMPACT: Experimental Warn-on-Forecast System yields 75-minute lead time on violent tornado
SCIENCE IMPACT: NSSL's Warn-on-Forecast System yields 75 lead time on Greenfield, Iowa tornado, demonstrating potential for long-range tornado warnings.
NSSL Video
Threats in Motion
In nature, hazardous weather is almost always in motion. New research and technology are making it possible to provide more continuous information about the storm and its movement. Threats in Motion (TiM) is the next step in the evolution of how weather information is provided to the public. Learn more →
Advanced Technology Demonstrator
Radar research at the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory has taken another step forward. The Advanced Technology Demonstrator is the first full-scale, S-band, dual-polarization phased array radar built from the ground up and designed specifically for use as a weather radar. Learn more →
