Rob Carver
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wundersooner.com
Rob Carver
@wundersooner.com
Research scientist at Google Research. Meteorologist from Penn St., OU, and NM Tech. All opinions are my own, not my employers.
Reposted by Rob Carver
Without Unidata, the company I co-founded, Weather Underground, would never have come to be.
May 9, 2025 at 4:37 PM
It's that time of the year when all college football fans show their spite towards their rival fanbases by trying to give the most money to @newap-georgia.bsky.social #weathersky here is how some of the better known met programs are doing www.moneycannon.org?t=head-to-he...
2025 CHARITIBUNDIBOWL
www.moneycannon.org
April 15, 2025 at 5:43 PM
This may be a sea story, but there is a tale that in the 90’s, NWS was considering slashing radiosonde launch frequency/locations. Ron McPherson, then head of NMC/NCEP ran an experiment showing the impact of the proposed cuts on forecast quality. (1/x)
🚨 This is important as this is some of the foundational weather data for initialization of all weather models, not just NOAA ones. In other words, even the ECMWF (Euro) models could see degraded performance over time if this becomes a regular issue. Very troubling stuff here.
More fallout from the indiscriminate NWS firings:

"Effective immediately, and until further notice, the [NWS] is temporarily suspending some weather balloon launches in Albany, New York, and Gray, Maine, due to a lack of Weather Forecast Office (WFO) staffing."

www.weather.gov/media/notifi...
March 7, 2025 at 10:50 PM
My jaw dropped reading this (seriously).
Salt caves 2000 feet underground in New Mexico hold the radioactive nuclear waste from US defense projects. It's the world's only deep geologic repository.

And DOGE says it has terminated the very large office in Carlsbad that oversees it. Details 👇
DOGE Is Trying to Close a Field Office That Directly Manages a Nuclear Waste Site
The Department of Energy office in Carlsbad, New Mexico, is specifically set up to handle emergency situations at a nuclear storage facility. DOGE says it terminated the lease.
www.notus.org
March 4, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Four years ago and today, we had snow the day before Valentine’s Day. Things can change so fast:
February 14, 2025 at 2:10 AM
For my friends at NOAA and elsewhere who are about to be laid off: 🫡
February 14, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Reposted by Rob Carver
Rose-Tu’s baby met Auntie Shine and much trumpeting ensued 🐘💕🐘
February 7, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Reposted by Rob Carver
Elephant calf update: very baby
February 5, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Had some nice columns in the hoar frost this morning #wawx
January 20, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Rob Carver
I wrote about how neighbors can play a role in helping disabled and aging people plan for and evacuate when wildfires hit at @motherjones.com.

www.motherjones.com/environment/...
Your local government isn't ready to evacuate disabled people
California's fire-prone counties left people to die. Other communities don't have to.
www.motherjones.com
January 18, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Hey #wxsky, Tim Marshall’s Facebook page is reporting that Chuck Doswell passed away this morning. Memorial service to be scheduled later.
January 18, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Just closed out my #AMS2025 trip, and am waiting for the big jet to take me home. My takeaway ? is “If the purpose of a thing is what it does, then what does Annual Meeting do?” I don’t have an answer for that, right now.
January 16, 2025 at 9:15 PM
I'm cutting it a bit close, but I just finished my first pass through the #AMS2025 program selecting all of the events that interest me. Now, to find out how many slots are double or triple-booked.
January 10, 2025 at 10:28 PM
A brief announcement, I will be in New Orleans for #AMS2025. Not presenting anything, just trying to keep track of what's going on in meteorology. If you've ever been in the Sarkeys Energy Center or Walker Building, be sure to say hi.
January 7, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Not feeling particularly optimistic about the future of atmospheric science at NASA.
December 25, 2024 at 7:10 AM
This is a welcome development for my family. We like to travel, but we’re always nervous if our wheelchair actually makes it into the cargo hold.
Today marks a major milestone in improving air travel for people with disabilities. The new DOT rules will require airlines to provide timely assistance + proper care for wheelchairs. DREDF will continue our work to make sure these rules are followed.

Our full statement: dredf.org/dredf-applau...
December 17, 2024 at 3:41 AM
Reminds me of my days at #wunderground. The METAR parser was, shall we say, baroque....
December 13, 2024 at 8:09 PM
I’m unable to travel to #AGU24 but I’m curious to know how the #AI sessions there compare to what we can expect from #AMS25.
December 9, 2024 at 3:50 AM
Reposted by Rob Carver
I must not be the only one who feels this way
December 2, 2024 at 1:21 AM
Reposted by Rob Carver
One of my favourite data discoveries this year: Google's mind-blowing ARCO-ERA5 dataset: hourly data for ~300 climate variables, available globally from 1940! 🤯

Loadable with a single line of Python code from a single cloud-friendly Zarr file! Below: a month of wind waves + swell: 🌊
November 27, 2024 at 4:02 AM
Reposted by Rob Carver
Lava covers the Blue Lagoon parking area.
"The path the magma needs to take is now more easily accessible because it has already followed a similar route many times."
"The force and size of the eruption are smaller than the last one"
However, it is not a minor event. 🌋🧪⚒️
www.ruv.is/english/2024...
November 21, 2024 at 3:19 PM
The winds are really boring down here in Chehalis. They’re only 6 knots at KCLS, and it’s practically calm at my house.
November 20, 2024 at 3:24 AM
Why am I here? Well, #wxtwitter has moved here, and it looks like most of the AI/NWP posters are here as well. And I have to be honest, the LinkedIn vibe doesn't fit well when you're discussing preprints...
November 19, 2024 at 11:00 PM
A friendly reminder that ERA5 is an estimate of the atmospheric state, but not the perfect estimate of the atmospheric state.
Important caveat:

ERA5 is the standard reanalysis used for past weather, but can occasionally have some discrepancies. A previous bomb cyclone in a similar location in October 2021 reached 942 hPa per WPC analysis, but was noticeably weaker in ERA5 reanalysis (h/t @gdimeweather.bsky.social):
November 19, 2024 at 10:53 PM