Across Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Mesonet, operated from the National Weather Center by the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, gives forecasters, emergency managers, farmers and residents a real-time picture of conditions statewide. Designed by scientists at OU and Oklahoma State University and commissioned in 1994, the network’s 120 automated stations, with at least one in each of the state’s 77 counties, report research-quality observations every five minutes, around the clock.
The work done at the National Weather Center extends far beyond the state. The Storm Prediction Center issues tornado and severe thunderstorm watches for the contiguous United States, the National Weather Service Norman Forecast Office issues warnings for 48 Oklahoma counties and eight in western north Texas and the Radar Operations Center supports all 158 NEXRAD radar systems deployed worldwide.
The center is also an economic engine for Oklahoma. More than 900 jobs in Norman are tied directly to NOAA and weather research, including OU research faculty, students and federal scientists. Over the past decade, OU has completed 243 NOAA-funded projects totaling $350 million, and the highly trained workforce and research pipeline have drawn private weather companies to the state.
OU has ranked No. 1 in the nation for federal research expenditures in atmospheric sciences and meteorology every year since 2019, according to the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development Survey. In the past five years alone, OU researchers have produced 655 NOAA-funded scientific papers, which have been cited more than 6,800 times.
That record was reaffirmed last month, when the U.S. Department of Commerce and NOAA renewed CIWRO for five more years with up to $220 million in funding, extending a partnership that began in 1978 through September 2031. CIWRO earned the highest possible score in an external performance review.
The building is the center of a weather research ecosystem that spans OU’s South Research Campus and the wider university. The Advanced Radar Research Center works steps away on next-generation radar, and OU’s Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis partners with NOAA and the National Weather Service to study how the public receives, understands, trusts and responds to forecasts and warnings, and how emergency managers use weather information to make decisions. Private weather companies have also located in Norman to be near the center’s highly trained workforce and research pipeline.
The celebration continues when the National Weather Center opens its doors to the public for the National Weather Festival10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7. The free, family-friendly event typically draws more than 4,000 guests and features meteorologists from local news stations, helicopters and emergency vehicles, hourly weather balloon launches and drone demonstrations. This year’s festival also includes an inaugural photo competition. Parking is free, and OU’s clear bag policy applies.
Source: ou.edu
