The National Weather Center
In the middle of tornado alley lies the
National Weather Center
research facility. This is a sign of the times.

Where else besides Oklahoma would there be an institution dedicated to
tornado
research? Well, neighboring states could be for sure, but the University of Oklahoma got together with the US federal and state governments as well as other interested organizations to create this research facility.
The focus is on
mesoscale weather.
This category of events includes
thunderstorms,
tornadoes, hurricanes and the like. Storms which take anywhere from about half an hour to more than half a day to pass. The National Weather Centre's two main activities are observation and prediction. They also claim to concern themselves with the interaction between
mesoscale
and other scales. In other words, how both big synoptic systems and tiny microclimates contribute to, and are affected by, the
storms
in question.

The fundamental tool meteorologists use for identifying medium-sized storms is the
radar.
With it, one can find heavy precipitation, distinguish its type (rain, hail, snow etc.) and pinpoint which way it is moving. With a
Dopplar radar
we can also determine wind directions and patterns of rotation, conducive to finding and predicting tornadoes.The National Weather Center states that they extract data from radar output and use it to feed their physical mesoscale models. Setting initial and/or boundary conditions. Herein lies their specialty. Storm prediction and research, in which knowledge is then accumulated and used to refine forecasting techniques. Then they use existing structures to distribute their information. Want to see climate guides for all fifty states? Find detailed climate information and current weather information for all fifty states at visitusa.com,
your outdoor adventure guide.
What's the point?
Their
website
says it can be applied to:- Understand climate change,
- establish a network of critical storm information, through their observing system,
- improve other NOAA weather radar images through research and development, and
- provide portable radar units for emergency situations
Contact them at...National Weather Center (NWC) University of Oklahoma 100 East Boyd St. SEC Suite 710 Norman OK 73019
Phone (405) 325-3101 E-mail nwc(at)ou.edu
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