CIWRO - Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations

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A NOAA - UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA COOPERATIVE INSTITUTE

The Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO), formerly known as the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (CIMMS), is a research organization formed in 1978 by a cooperative agreement between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Oklahoma.

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CIWRO News

Posted - August 11, 2022

Hazardous Weather Testbed Allows Researchers and Forecasters to Experiment With New Weather Software

During severe weather, colored polygons on radar maps represent traditional weather warnings. But for researchers with the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO), the future of forecasting isn’t tied to a static shape. Adrian Campbell and Rebecca Steeves, research associates for CIWRO at the University of Oklahoma, were part of a team that recently conducted ...

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Posted - July 25, 2022

OU receives $888,000 grant to study Arctic clouds - Research will address blind spot in cloud microphysics

A research team from the University of Oklahoma has been awarded an $888,000 grant to explore how Arctic clouds form over time and to unlock secrets about the release of heat and radiation from the atmosphere. The three-year grant was one of 22 projects totaling $14 million funded by the U.S. Department of Energy this month to advance fundamental scientific understanding of atmospheric processes.�Andrew Dzambo, ...

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Posted - June 22, 2022

CIWRO Research Leads to Improved Storm Forecasts for Spanish Speakers

Joseph Trujillo Falc�n saw confusion among how Spanish speakers were receiving severe storm warnings while he was an undergraduate broadcast meteorology student at Texas A&M University. Direct translations from English didn’t carry the same urgency across the wide range of dialects. This issue spurred him to change his professional focus from forecasting to bilingual risk and crisis communication, and he joined ...

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Justin Gibbs, a scientist from the National Weather Service, instructs meteorologists during the Radar and Applications Course (RAC) on April 18, 2022, at the National Weather Center in Norman, OK. The flagship course allows forecasters to practice issuing severe storm warnings in a simulated environment.

Jim LaDue, a scientist from the National Weather Service, instructs meteorologists during the Radar and Applications Course (RAC) on April 18, 2022, at the National Weather Center in Norman, OK. The flagship course allows forecasters to practice issuing severe storm warnings in a simulated environment.

Kevin Grempler, a scientist from CIWRO's Warning Decision Training Division working with NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory, instructs meteorologists during the Radar and Applications Course (RAC) on April 18, 2022, at the National Weather Center in Norman, OK. The flagship course allows forecasters to practice issuing severe storm warnings in a simulated environment.

Stephanie Edwards, a research scientist from CIWRO's Warning Decision Training Division working with NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory, instructs a meteorologist during the Radar and Applications Course (RAC) on April 18, 2022, at the National Weather Center in Norman, OK. The flagship course allows forecasters to practice issuing severe storm warnings in a simulated environment.

Andy Wood, a research scientist team lead from CIWRO's Warning Decision Training Division working with NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory, instructs a meteorologist during the Radar and Applications Course (RAC) on April 18, 2022, at the National Weather Center in Norman, OK. The flagship course allows forecasters to practice issuing severe storm warnings in a simulated environment.

This data plot shows real-time analyses from the combined data of both OU SR mobile radars. The real-time analyses were conducted by Addison Alford and Gordon Carrie (SoM). The left panel shows the maximum wind observed east of New Orleans by the SRs at 1500 meters above ground. The right panel shows the time at which that maximum wind occurred. The plot highlights the wind maximum associated with the

The Shared Mobile Atmospheric Research and Teaching Radar (SR) 2 deployed near Franklin, Louisiana, during Hurricane Ida in late August 2021. (Photo by Addison Alford/CIMMS)

CIMMS Researcher David Schvartzman with OU CIMMS Senior Research Scientist Sebastian Torres at the 39th AMS International Conference on Radar Meteorology. (Photo provided)

Dr. Rex Inman, the first director of CIMMS

Dr. Peter Lamb, CIMMS's fourth director, and longest serving director.

CIMMS Researcher Kimberly Hoogewind speaking to two people at the National Weather Festival in 2019. (Photo by Emily Jeffries, CIMMS/NSSL)

CIMMS Researcher Kevin Thiel at the National Weather Festival in 2009, sharing the work he does at CIMMS. (Photo by James Murnan, NOAA)

Researchers release a weather balloon during the RiVoRS field project. Photo by Matt Mahalik (OU CIMMS/NOAA NSSL)

CIMMS Researcher Hannah Wells takes notes as OU School of Meteorology students undergo forecaster training. University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology students partook in training normally provided to NOAA National Weather Service forecasters by the NWS Warning Decision Training Division, with support from CIMMS researchers, in March 2019 as part of their coursework.

CIMMS Researcher Dale Morris works with an OU School of Meteorology student. Students partook in training normally provided to NOAA National Weather Service forecasters by the NWS Warning Decision Training Division, with support from CIMMS researchers, in March 2019 as part of their coursework.

CIMMS Researchers with the ARM Data Quality Office visit the field site to inspect on-site instrumentation.

CIMMS Researcher Jorge Duarte Garcia and NOAA NSSL Researcher Danny Wasielewski install a stream radar in southern Oklahoma in 2018. (Photo by Emily Jeffries, CIMMS/NSSL)

$CIMMS and NOAA Researchers at the NOAA\'s Air Resources Laboratory\'s Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division in Tennessee completed field experiments and tests in 2020.$

NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory Researcher Elizabeth Smith and CIMMS Researcher Tyler Bell test a LiDAR system. The LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection And Ranging, is unlike radar systems. A LiDAR utilizes laser light. (Photo by Emily Jeffries/ CIMMS/NSSL)
*Photo was taken before COVID-19.

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