Fact Sheets

PSL analyzes and interprets weather and climate processes influencing water availability and extremes from hours to decades to provide scientific information in support of NOAA’s mission.
(PDF, 3.3 MB, November 2022)

Marine resources and ecosystems are important to a variety of sectors. There is a need for improved monitoring and prediction of weather, climate, and water conditions impacting the marine environment.
(PDF, 1.3 MB, September 2020)

The stress of too little and too much water can be destabilizing at local, regional and national scales. Accurate water monitoring and predictions are critical.
(PDF, 1.6 MB, September 2020)

Improved prediction of subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) extreme weather and climate is a high priority to help NOAA meet mission responsibilities.
(PDF, 918 KB, September 2020)

Narrow corridors of concentrated moisture transported in the atmosphere are a key process linking weather and climate.
(PDF, 1 MB, January 2023)

Learn about PSL research to address wildfire, post-wildfire impacts: causes, explanations, and risks.
(PDF, 578 KB, May 2022)

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated money for new studies by NOAA Research to improve fire weather observation gaps in complex terrain.
(PDF, 1.8 MB, March 2024)

Historical weather reconstructions, or reanalyses, provide a crucial link between long paleoclimate reconstructions and climate model forecasts.
(PDF, 565 KB, February 2023)

Since 2008, PSL and NOAA Boulder has partnered with the California Department of Water Resources to address water resource and flood protection issues.
(PDF, 2.3 MB, May 2021)

Improving monitoring and forecasting of precipitation and coastal floding in the San Francisco Bay area.
(PDF, 1.6 MB, June 2020)

A field experiment to investigate atmospheric shallow convection and air-sea interaction in the tropical North Atlantic east of Barbados.
(PDF, 1.2 MB, November 2019)

According to this NOAA-sponsored study, natural oceanic and atmospheric patterns are the primary drivers behind California's ongoing drought.
(PDF, 1.2 MB, December 2014)

Improving extreme precipitation estimates to enhance dam safety and community resilience.
(PDF, 2.7 MB)

Prototype products being designed to inform/enhance NOAA drought monitoring and outlooks.
(PDF, 2.1 MB)

A preliminary assessment of Colorado River Basin snowpack evolution during 2017-18.
(PDF, 1.4 MB)

A study of meteorological causes for the Missouri River Basin flood event to better understand its causes and predictability.
(PDF, 901 KB)

Studying the physical causes for the recent increase of high annual runoff in the Upper Missouri River Basin and present their findings in a new assessment report.
(PDF, 566 KB)

PSL produces 0-10 day forecast guidance products during the fall freeze-up season (Sep-Nov) from a coupled model.
(PDF, 1.5 MB, July 2019)

FEWS NET works with NOAA and other U.S. government science agencies, national government ministries, international agencies and nongovernmental organizations to produce food security outlooks.
(PDF, 609 KB)

FIRO is a management strategy that uses data from watershed monitoring and modern weather and water forecasting to help water managers selectively retain or release water from reservoirs in a manner that reflects current and forecasted conditions.
(PDF, 1.1 MB, July 2019)

Studies to develop, test and improve measurements of air-sea momentum & heat fluxes to help better predict hurricane track and intensity.
(PDF, 2.1 MB)

An overview of the 2nd Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP2) and Hydromet Forecast Improvement Project (Hydro-FIP).
(PDF, 2.3 MB)

Identifying the major sources of observed climate and weather patterns.
(PDF, 1 MB)

An assessment of operational and experimental forecast system skill and reliability in the Missouri River Basin.
(PDF, 901 KB)

A ship-based ice camp that drifted for one year with central Arctic ice pack to collect coordinated observations.
(PDF, 1.5 MB, July 2019)

Improved prediction of weather and water in the CO mountains and beyond to inform societal preparedness and response.
(PDF, 798 KB, March 2021)

PSL contributed to the Stratified Ocean Dynamics of the Arctic (SODA) experiment.
(PDF, 801 KB)

PSL contributed to development of 8–14 day experimental forecasts to help stakeholders plan/prepare for wildfires.
(PDF, 759 KB, March 2021)