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UIFCW 2026: July 20 – 24, 2026, A UFS Collaboration Powered by EPIC

Unifying Innovations in Forecasting Capabilities Workshop A UFS Collaboration Powered by EPIC   Monday, July 20, 2026 – Friday, July 24, 2026 Boulder, CO Join us this July at the College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in College Park, Maryland or online for the Unifying Innovations in Forecasting Capabilities Workshop 2026 (UIFCW26). This event is…

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A bigger, brighter SPARK: Now office-wide with new features

WPO’s Portfolio Analysis and Research Transitions (PART) Program is proud to announce the launch of SPARK 3.0—the System for Public Access to Research Knowledge—expanding the platform’s capabilities and broadening access to WPO’s research portfolio. Previously, SPARK featured only projects from WPO’s Science, Technology, and Society Division. The latest update expands coverage across the entire office,…

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The power of S2S predictions

This scenario isn’t hard to imagine: It’s the middle of summer. The entire year has been unusually dry, drought conditions took over months ago, and they’ve only gotten worse. Your phone dings, and you see a notification telling you something that’s been in the back of your mind for a while. Officials are now asking…

Pacific Northwest wildfire smoke. Photo Credit: OSHA Oregon.Gov

Wildfire and wind: Improving forecasts with the UFS

Wildfires have grown increasingly destructive in recent decades, with impacts felt nationwide. Forecasters rely on fire weather metrics — such as wind speed and vapor pressure deficit (VPD), which indicates atmospheric dryness — to assess when and where conditions may intensify wildfire behavior and strain suppression capacity. WPO selected the “Subseasonal Predictability of Fire Weather…

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Recipients of FY25 Notice of Funding Opportunities announced

To continue advancing improvements in weather forecasting, WPO has announced the recipients of its FY25 research funding competition. These awards support essential work across its Synoptic; Testbeds; Observations; Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBES); and Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) Programs. Alongside these external grants, the Joint Technology Transfer Initiative (JTTI) selected internal NOAA projects to…

WPO staff receive 2025 OAR Awards

WPO is proud to share that members of our team have received 2025 NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) Awards. Steve Thur, Assistant Administrator of OAR, will recognize the award recipients during a ceremony on February 12. Jordan Dale, Testbeds Program Manager, was on the Acquisitions and Grants Team that received an Employees of the…

Nighttime photo of the Houston, Texas skyline.

WPO staff to present at 2026 AMS Annual Meeting

Staff from the Weather Program Office are contributing to the American Meteorological Society’s 2026 Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas. Below is a daily list of the sessions with links to full information. Sunday, January 25 2:00–2:50 p.m.Carmen Davila: Panel Discussion — Tell Me About Yourself: Tips and Tricks for A+ Interviews Tuesday, January 27 9:00–9:15…

NOAA Weather Program Office Social Science Program Data Forums, 2-part series, September 24 and 25, 1 to 3 PM ET.

WPO Social Science Program Announces Data Forums: Building a Connected, Data-Capable SBES Community

  The NOAA Weather Program Office (WPO) Social Science Program (SSP) is excited to announce the SSP Data Forums, a two-part virtual forum series as part of its sustained efforts to support and expand data capabilities and collaboration across the social, behavioral, and economic sciences (SBES) extreme weather community. The series is meant to provide…