This past weekend, Winter Storm Fern struck the States. Sleet, snow and ice battered Americans all the way from New Mexico to New York. Scientists predicted its arrival in mid-January, and in anticipation of the storm, more than 20 state governors issued emergency declarations. But how did scientists know so much, so early, about the approaching storm? NPR climate reporter Rebecca Hersher says it has to do with our weather models… and the data we put into them. Which begs the question: Will we continue to invest in them?

Interested in more science behind the weather? Check out our episodes on better storm prediction in the tropics and how the Santa Ana winds impact the fire season this time of year. 


Have a question we haven’t covered? Email us at [email protected]. We’d love to consider it for a future episode! 


Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.


This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn. It was edited by our showrunner Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones and Rebecca Hersher checked the facts. The audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez. 

News clips were from CBS Boston, Fox Weather, Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, and PBS Newshour.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy