Eddie Wolff

And unfortunately we're faring better than several other NSF directorates...

The Trump administration plans to dismantle NSF’s National Center for Atmospheric Research, potentially closing its main lab in Boulder.

UCS's @carlonimbus.bsky.social explains how NCAR keeps us safe and how you can help protect it.

Take action: act.ucsusa.org/4ceWei9

Raspberry pi with an adafruit pressure/temperature sensor

Raspberry pi desktop with code to record temperature and pressure from attached sensor

Thursday night fun with Raspberry Pi and an Adafruit sensor. Jumped for joy when I finally started logging data from this thing. Now to code up some functional logging software… And build the actual mesonet this is going on…

That means one or two newsrooms and sets of staff in a city instead of four (sometimes more in big markets). That's 6-8 meteorology jobs rather than 12-15. And that staff is being stretched thinner and thinner every year. Not to mention stations trying to outsource weather to national hubs...

Also worth mentioning that a study commissioned by DirecTV of all people is not without its own biases. They want leverage to pay station owners less in retransmission fees (it's always about the money). But the overall conclusions are true: if a company buys multiple stations, they downsize

TV Station Group Consolidation Leaves Markets With Less Local News, According to New Study That DirecTV Has Filed With the FCC DirecTV has filed a study with the FCC showing how local TV consolidation leads to fewer news sources, as management, talent and resources are merged.

Mergers don't just result in a decline in local news, but also broadcast meteorology jobs...

Far from the most pressing issue facing the world right now, but just another example of companies focusing on nothing besides increasing "shareholder value" 😒

variety.com/2026/tv/news...

I'm constantly trying (/failing) to get this point across.

If you're a trained expert in a field, then it may be worthwhile to question the scientific consensus of your peers.

If you're not, the scientific consensus is absolutely the best you can do and it's arbitrary foolishness to disregard it.

Radar image of tornado warned storms near Robinson,IL

List of recent storm reports. Two tornado reports from Crawford county in Illinois

3 tornado-warned storms along the Illinois-Indiana border currently. Southernmost storm has been confirmed by spotters

Tornado watch creeps closer to Champaign. Set-up hasn't changed much, though WoFS guidance does try to place some storms farther north this evening. Worth watching

Answer: tornado watch well south, centered on the Ohio River.

Radar image with a mesoscale discussion across southern Illinois

We’ll likely see a tornado watch for southern IL soon (mesoscale discussion out now). Will be curious to see if the SPC decides to include Champaign County or not (I’m leaning towards no)

Surface map showing a low over western Missouri with a warm front stretching across central Illinois

Not expecting anything too severe here in Champaign. While the front has pushed to our north, skies remain overcast and moisture hasn’t been meaningfully advected this far north. Also expecting the stronger low-level flow (and better shear/hodographs) to stay south of I-70

SPC Day 1 convective outlook showing an enhanced risk across southern Illinois and Indiana

SPC day 1 tornado outlook showing a hatched 10% risk across southern Illinois and Indiana

Severe thunderstorms and perhaps a strong tornado possible across southern IL, IN, and OH this afternoon/evening. Chance we could see some long-track supercells that eventually grow upscale.

What the National Center for Atmospheric Research means to the atmospheric sciences Born out of a time of great need for the federal government, NCAR plays a role with few analogues.

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.

Lab workspace featuring some outreach posters our newly unboxed 3D printer

A 3D printed anemometer cup

Friday fun in the fab lab 😎

As someone who didn't know how to go about submitting a public comment on NSF's NCAR plan, this is greatly appreciated @agu.org

Please take some time to fill this out if you're able!

As the Trump administration targets NCAR, scientists rally to defend the ‘mothership’ of atmospheric research A letter published by the National Science Foundation asks for ideas to dismantle the research hub. Scientists are responding en masse.

#SaveNCAR
www.cpr.org/2026/01/28/s...

Incoming AMS president Alan Sealls, UCAR President Tony Busalacchi, and outgoing AMS President Dave Stensrud talking about the evolving situation at NCAR. #AMS2026

Attention folks in the weather, climate, disaster, wildfire, and Earth science communities: NSF has just published a new "Dear Colleague" letter inviting feedback (by Mar 13) on the proposal to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). www.nsf.gov/funding/...

Important update about Congressional efforts to prevent the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) from being dismantled. Last week the White House threatened to veto any appropriations bill that protects NCAR. Despite this attempt at intimidation ... (1/ )

Takeaways from Congress’ latest spending package Lawmakers are moving to cut funding but rejecting severe reductions sought by the White House to energy and environment programs.

The battle to save NCAR has faded from the headlines, but it is not over.
www.eenews.net/articles/tak...
Call your Congressional reps and ask them to add language explicitly protecting NCAR to the spending package:
5calls.org/issue/ncar-n...

We hear that protection of NCAR from breakup is in peril in the CJS bill - be sure to contact your representatives to ensure that they hear your support!

Watching woman die 'will change my life forever,' neighbor says Emily Heller, 39, wasn't even dressed when she heard whistles alerting the neighborhood that ICE agents were in the area this morning. “I’ve never seen

"They carried her body out, just like by her limbs, they didn’t even have a stretcher," a witness says. "She was carried out like a sack of potatoes."

From @AGU.org: Senators are working on legislation to save NCAR, but we need extra support for these 8 states. Your Senators in Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas, and Wyoming need to hear from you.

Easy way to start voicing support for NCAR and science in general. Thanks AGU :-)

What truly sucks about all this is that, even if we can eventually undo the damage that's been done, so much time will have been spent fighting for the right to do science that would have otherwise been spent on doing the actual freaking science. Just unbelievably wasteful...

Absolutely not. We'll fight it in the court of public opinion, in the literal courts, in Congress, whatever it takes. I'm sick and tired of these people decimating the institutions that hold this country together. Science belongs to the American people. It's not theirs to destroy on a whim

NCAR and UCAR have released a statement. NSF has not provided any guidance to UCAR or NCAR leadership about this whole situation. news.ucar.edu/133054/ucar-...

Before the 1990s, plane crashes caused by microbursts used to kill planeloads of people fairly regularly.

Dr. Ted Fujita and NCAR scientists figured out how to detect microbursts and warn pilots about them.

Since then? Zero airliner crashes from microbursts.

Infrared satellite image showing cold temps corresponding not to cloud cover, but the snow-covered ground. Some winding regions of warmer temps highlight where unfrozen rivers are located.

Fun to see the snow-covered ground (and relatively warm rivers) show up clearly on satellite thanks to the lack of cloud cover. Not as thrilled about the extremely cold temps we’re getting as a result though…