University of Oklahoma, NOAA Partnership Continues Life-Saving Research with Five-Year Renewal

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NORMAN, OK – The University of Oklahoma will receive up to $220 million over five years from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to continue the life-saving weather research led by the OU-NOAA Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO). The partnership, which began in 1978, marks its fifth decade with this renewal, extending the research partnership between OU and NOAA through Sept. 2031.

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the renewal after a rigorous external review of performance metrics. CIWRO earned the highest possible score on the review and will continue researching severe weather phenomena and developing products often transitioned into National Weather Service (NWS) operations to support the NOAA mission.

“Few places understand weather prediction, mitigation and resilience like Oklahoma, and few research partnerships have done more to address them than what has been built here,” said Matt Hulver, OU vice president for research and partnerships. “CIWRO reflects decades of work that proves what's possible when university researchers and federal scientists work toward the same mission. The research doesn't sit on a shelf. It goes straight into the forecasts that keep Oklahomans and communities across the country safe.”

Based at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla., University of Oklahoma and CIWRO researchers work side by side with NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory, Storm Prediction Center and National Weather Service offices, along with additional state and private partners. This proximity has created a weather research hub that moves research from discovery to operations.

“With the funding provided by the cooperative agreement, OU has become a global leader in severe and high-impact weather research,” said Greg McFarquhar, director of CIWRO. “By transforming the scientific understanding we have gained from our research into operational products now used by the National Weather Service, the Storm Prediction Center and others, the impact of our work is providing innovative, life-saving forecasts that reduce the impacts of extreme weather on communities.”

McFarquhar said over the next five years, CIWRO will focus on research in weather radar and observations, storm-scale and mesoscale modeling, forecast improvements, and subseasonal to seasonal forecasting. Determining the societal impacts of research will also be key to CIWRO’s work, as will increasing the use of machine learning tools to quickly pull data from historical weather accounts.

“CIWRO is a cornerstone of the University of Oklahoma’s leadership in weather research and of the unique research and operational community at the National Weather Center,” said Robert Palmer, dean of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences and director of the National Weather Center. “This five-year renewal strengthens our longstanding partnership with NOAA and ensures that OU will continue advancing weather science, improving operations and helping protect lives and property.”

Since 2021, some of CIWRO’s significant breakthroughs and achievements include:

• Faster radar updates on dangerous storms. CIWRO demonstrated adaptive scanning on the Advanced Technology Demonstrator (ATD), a phased array radar that automatically focuses on important storms and skips clear skies. ATD slashes scan times by up to 90% and gives forecasters much faster updates on fast-moving tornadoes and severe weather.  
• Research put into practice. CIWRO teams have developed more than 55 algorithms and products that NOAA has moved into operational use.
• Earlier warnings. Working with NSSL, CIWRO helped develop the Warn-on-Forecast System, a rapidly updating, high-resolution weather model designed to provide earlier NWS watches and warnings. The work earned a U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal.

CIWRO also trains the next generation of weather scientists. Since 2021, it has supported 32 postdoctoral researchers, 47 graduate students and 130 undergraduates, as well as in-person and online training of National Weather Service forecasters through the NWS Human Capital Management Division.

Learn more about CIWRO at ou.edu/ciwro.