• The Localized Aviation MOS Program (LAMP) system provides objective probabilistic and deterministic forecast guidance of sensible weather with a focus on guidance for aviation forecasting. The LAMP forecasts are available at stations in the United States (US). Gridded LAMP guidance for a number of forecast elements, including convection, lightning, ceiling height, and visibility, is also available on a 2.5-km grid covering the contiguous US.
  • IRIS is a web-based application to assist National Weather Service personnel in managing Impact-Based Decision Support Services (IDSS). IRIS integrates contact management, observation monitoring, impact management and alerting, and the generation of weather reports into a single application to assist NWS forecasters in providing effective IDSS to core partners. The IRIS system also supports the popular iNWS application that provides real time email and text message alerts to core partners for hazardous weather.
  • The NOAA VLab provides solutions and tools to solve a variety of challenges.
  • The NOAA VLab provides solutions and tools to solve a variety of challenges.

Welcome

Welcome to the Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL)! MDL conducts applied research and development for the improvement of diagnostic and prognostic weather information; data depiction and utilization; warning and forecast product preparation and dissemination; forecast evaluation; and impact-based decision support services. Projects involve physical, dynamical, and statistical applications and tools implemented on NWS operational systems. Emphasis is placed on integrated suites of guidance and products for Weather Forecast Offices, River Forecast Centers, and National Centers, and NWS Core Partners.

Latest News

Probabilistic Extra-Tropical and Extra-Tropical Storm Surge Models Upgraded at NWS

Mar 23, 2021

On February 25, the NWS Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL) upgraded both the Probabilistic Extra-Tropical Storm Surge (P-ETSS) and the Extra-Tropical Storm Surge (ETSS) models. The ETSS model, first launched in 1996, is a modification of the Sea Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) model to use Global Forecast System (GFS) wind and pressure input to predict storm tide (surge + tide) from extra-tropical storms. The P-ETSS model, first launched in 2017, is a coastal inundation ensemble model forced by various ensemble wind systems. An article describing the recent MDL upgrades appeared in the NWS Insider on March 18, 2021.

View NWS Insider article»

Jess Charba Announces Retirement

Mar 11, 2021

Dr. Jerome P. “Jess” Charba has retired from the Federal service, effective 2/28/2021, capping an MDL career which spanned nearly five decades. Jess joined MDL (then the Techniques Development Laboratory [TDL] ) in 1972 immediately after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. Since then, Jess has been instrumental in applying and expanding the principles of Model Output Statistics (MOS) to subsynoptic time frames and high-resolution observed data. Many of his innovative techniques have found their way into applications now used in the Localized Aviation MOS Program (LAMP) and other aspects of MDL’s statistical postprocessing efforts.

Read More»
NBM v. 4.0 Screenshot

NBM V4.0 Now "Live"

Feb 24, 2021

Scientists from MDL’s Statistical Modeling Division (SMD), in concert with NCEP Central Operations staff, have successfully implemented the newest version of the National Blend of Models (NBM) into regular production. NBM v4.0 represents a significant leap forward in Blend capability, most notably in that it includes a significant expansion of the amount and types of probabilistic information available to its users. In this article, we examine some of the new products and features of NBM v4.0.

Read More»

Students (Virtually) Join MDL

Dec 01, 2020

This spring/summer, MDL welcomed a new group of student employees into the fold to help us with a variety of projects and to help provide them with “real-world” work experiences outside of academia.  This year, however, those experiences came under some rather unusual and unforeseen circumstances, due to the onset of COVID-19 and the Lab's transition to a completely remote work environment. Despite all this, the students and their mentors alike seem to have adapted quite well. We introduce the 2020 students and their associated internship programs, and take a look at their activities and experiences with MDL.

Read More»
More News

Announcements