Science AMA Series : Hi Reddit, we’re Harold Brooks, Adam Clark, Kim Klockow and Patrick Marsh, NOAA scientists in Norman, Oklahoma. We’re here to answer your questions on severe weather research and forecasting. Ask us anything!

Abstract

Severe weather touches every state in the U.S. Tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, hail, strong winds and floods are real threats to our property and our lives. NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed works to understand and predict severe weather to help everyone be prepared. We work in the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma, which houses scientists from a variety of organizations, including NOAA’s National Severe Storm Laboratory (NSSL) and Storm Prediction Center, as well as the University of Oklahoma Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies. Spring has arrived and with it come efforts to study and learn to better predict severe weather like tornadoes. Hazardous Weather Testbed and VORTEX-SE (Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment-Southeast), which are designed to learn more about storms, help improve our abilities and bring you better forecasts. We are ready to answer your questions today from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. about all of it, so ask us anything!