Abby Hutson

White House plan to break up iconic U.S. climate lab moves forward Bidders have lined up to take over pieces of the National Center for Atmospheric Research

My latest for @science.org on the fraught future of NCAR as NSF's deadline nears. It can still go so many ways.

🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️ Jeff brings up important uncertainties in the forecast for a potentially dangerous event. Notice how a lot of them revolve around the question “how will the lakes interact with the atmosphere during this event?”. We don’t know! And we need to study it more as HR forecasts become more of the norm

Also: her sweater looks a little ~*fishy*~ to me 😉😉 she made it herself!

Unfortunately, that storm had access to a lot of low-level shear along the warm front

From Lake Malawi to Lake Michigan: A scientist’s lifelong dive into freshwater research Harvey Bootsma has spent decades studying Lake Michigan's ecosystems. His work helps further the health of freshwater systems worldwide.

🌊As we continue celebrating #GreatLakesWeek, it’s a reminder that freshwater research connects lakes worldwide. 🌍 From Africa's L. Malawi to L. Michigan in the #GreatLakes, our UW-Milwaukee partner Dr. Harvey Bootsma’s career explores how large lakes function & support life: uwm.edu/news/from-la...

🌊 Happy #GreatLakesDay! The #GreatLakes hold ~20% of the world’s surface freshwater & support millions of people & ecosystems. Cheers to the lakes that connect us all! 💙 Learn more about our collaborative #science & partners around the region: ciglr.seas.umich.edu/resources/fa...

#GreatLakesWeek: Just days into March & meteorological spring, the #GreatLakes remain nearly half ice-covered at 46.6%. 🧊🌊 Check out NOAA GLERL's website for ice data as conditions evolve & temps warm: www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/ice/#cu...

Superior: 47%
Michigan: 20%
Huron: 69%
Erie: 74%
Ontario: 16%

Some exciting news to share: very soon, NOAA Research will be hiring new federal employees into science positions across the agency! A couple of notes:

1) They will only be open on USAJobs for seven days.
2) Multiple positions at different sites may be in one posting.

(1/2)

Responding to Threats against NCAR The AMS community responds to plans to “dismantle” a linchpin of atmospheric and related sciences.

"Irreparable harm." On AMS Headlines, learn how the AMS community is responding to plans to "dismantle" a linchpin of atmospheric and related sciences, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR): https://bit.ly/4u2mYJ2

For three years my girls’ favorite toy was their “princess wand”. It was a rainbow colored stick with ribbons coming out of the top. Also a cat toy lol

What so many seem not to understand is that if you start breaking everything into separate entities, you lose any efficiency and additive benefits you had by having them all as a single NCAR.

It's worse than shooting ourselves in the foot. It's significant amputations when there's no infection.

VOICES: Time for Congress to step up for the Great Lakes Congressional leaders from both parties pledge support for the Great Lakes, but funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative alone is insufficient, writes Great Lakes policy and politics expert ...

With Great Lakes Day approaching, @realshri.bsky.social's column for @planetdetroit.org reminds us that the lakes are "great uniters...perhaps the last bastion of true bipartisanship in Congress." Still, we need our leaders to do more to best protect our water.
planetdetroit.org/2026/02/grea...

Lake Erie’s Storm Surges Become More Extreme

Nice piece on storm surges in Lake Erie, home to the most "the most dramatic, damaging and deadly surges” in the #GreatLakes. And on how not to build coastal resilience: armoring the shoreline is like "like putting a toddler in a room and closing the door."

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/s...

Insurers want to protect NCAR: "NCAR has long supplied the foundational capabilities that enable catastrophe modeling and climate-informed pricing. Disruption would heighten uncertainty in risk assessments, and undermine the stability and affordability of insurance coverage for U.S. consumers."

Significant air pollution episode over Michigan the past 2 days as 50° temps melt a 7-week-old snow pack, mobilizing PM 2.5 particles that had fallen on the snow. Light winds, low mixing, and fresh emissions contributing to the event. AQI largely in the orange "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range.

Discovering new connections between Great Lakes' winter storms and global climate patterns About a year ago, researchers at the University of Michigan found that the extratropical cyclones that are the biggest drivers of winter weather in the Great Lakes region are warming and trending nort...

new links between #GreatLakes winter storms & global climate patterns uncovered. Findings show how large-scale teleconnections shape storm temp, moisture & precip, key for improving seasonal forecasts: news.umich.edu/discovering-... by @abbathehut.bsky.social and other @UMich
CIGLR researchers

Data centers are important for the future of Michigan and Great Lakes' water not only because of their direct and indirect effects on water supply and usage but - perhaps more importantly - because they are exposing flaws in our water protection policies.
www.detroitnews.com/story/news/l...

Excited to share a new paper (EOR) from the group, led by Evan White, in which we derive probabilistic 1-8 day severe hazard forecasts from global AI weather prediction models!

Check it out here: journals.ametsoc.org/view/journal...

AOS professor Fraser King

We're thrilled to welcome Fraser King to our faculty as an assistant professor. Learn more in a brief Q&A with Fraser about his background, research, and what excites him about UW–Madison and AOS: www.aos.wisc.edu/news/q&a_fra...

A five-minute masterpiece to brighten your day ❤️

The U.S. Is on the Verge of Meteorological Malpractice The Trump administration says it will dismantle a premier climate center, while somehow keeping weather forecasting intact.

“White House officials characterized the dismantling of NCAR as a return to the center’s original mission—to make the weather great again… Weather and climate aren’t easily separable, though, and never have been.” www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...

For example: “In 1987, NCAR began testing a new Doppler radar that predicted dangerous wind shear events and alerted pilots…There has not been a microburst-induced crash of a commercial airplane in the United States since 1994.”

I love how so many news outlets have spotlighted NCAR’s deep back catalog of scientific advancements. www.cpr.org/2025/12/19/s... @coloradopublic.bsky.social

Save NCAR from being dismantled today! The Trump Administration has vowed to dissolve the center that provides critical extreme weather and climate data for our nation.

The Trump Administration's plan to dismantle the @ncar-ucar.bsky.social is senseless & dangerous.

It would weaken weather forecasting, climate research, & the science that keeps people safe.

We urge that this plan be abandoned.

Call Congress to #SaveNCAR today. buff.ly/7ka1BQA

In case you want to share with your networks, this is a good article by the NYT on the broad scope of work done by NCAR and some of the key discoveries (e.g., microbursts and aviation accidents).

On Kindness, Power, and Hypocrisy Earlier this week, Vanity Fair published a two-part story about the Trump regime’s “inner circle”, including extensive interviews with his chief of staff, who was openly critical of the people that she works with, from

On Kindness, Power, and Hypocrisy. “And [Stephen Miller] says to me, ‘You know, you have a lot of power in the discretion you use to be kind to people.’ And I looked at him and I said, ‘You know, you do, too.’” [kottke.org]

Join us for a critical conversation on the future of U.S. atmospheric science.

UCAR President Antonio Busalacchi hosts this town hall on what’s at stake if NSF NCAR is dismantled.

buff.ly/jR6tGwo

Check out #CIGLR's new blog post: Lake-effect snow is dramatic, but hard to predict. A recent study by #CIGLR’s @abbathehut.bsky.social w/ @NOAA @UMich & @UofIllinois explores how snowflakes grow in these storms & why models often struggle: ciglr.seas.umich.edu/big-lakes-bi... #GreatLakes

California's Central Valley has been shrouded in Tule fog for the last 16 days.

Join us TODAY @ 12pm! for a #GreatLakes #seminar titled: "Modeling the Fate and Transport of Plastic Pollution Using Great Lakes Hydrodynamic Models and Exploring the Potential Impact of Data Assimilation"

Who: Matthew Hoffman (RIT)

Registration & more: ciglr.seas.umich.edu/event/120420...