Colorado State University Research

Data can better inform us about the future of Northern Colorado wildfires. Here’s what the numbers are saying:

🌳 The likelihood of another fire season comparable to 2020 is up to 10x more likely than 50 years ago. Study finds climate change, forest management and the pine beetle kill all contribute: https://col.st/FtLHu

🌳 Before the embers had cooled, CSU researchers collected data on the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire to learn more about high-elevation burns. They found that high-elevation wildfires reduced snowpack, impacting the water supply Front Range communities rely on: https://col.st/LpJMf

🌳 By measuring river systems near the CSU Mountain Campus, experts can better predict which areas are at risk of flash floods and how landscapes change after wildfires: https://col.st/Iwal7

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CSU College of Natural Sciences Colorado State University Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering Colorado State Forest Service Colorado State University Warner College of Natural Resources

Artificial intelligence is transforming industries all over the globe, and weather forecasting is no exception. 🤖 🌩️

Colorado State University is at the forefront of the next evolution, leveraging AI to generate faster and cheaper weather models that hold the potential to help meteorologists increase accuracy and allow for earlier warnings at a time when weather extremes are more frequent and often catastrophic

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates the cost of the most extreme weather and climate disasters impacting the United States during the past seven years at more than $1 trillion.

Globally, the World Bank estimates that, in addition to saving tens of thousands of lives, improved forecasts and early warning systems could yield an annual economic benefit of $162 billion.

“There is very limited information available to forecasters at lead times of four to eight days, basically just information about possible storm environments,” says CSU Department of Atmospheric Science professor Russ Schumacher. “So being able to use machine learning to provide actual probabilities of severe weather has been a big advance.”

Learn more: https://col.st/ZrhPF

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