National Severe Storms Laboratory

The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather research laboratory under the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. It is one of seven NOAA Research Laboratories (RLs).^[1]

NSSL studies weather radar, tornadoes, flash floods, lightning, damaging winds, hail, and winter weather out of Norman, Oklahoma, using various techniques and tools in their HWT, or Hazardous Weather Testbed. NSSL meteorologists developed the first doppler radar for the purpose of meteorological observation, and contributed to the development of the NEXRAD (WSR-88D).

NSSL has a partnership with the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO) at the University of Oklahoma that enables collaboration and participation by students and visiting scientists in performing research.^[2] The Lab also works closely with the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) and the National Weather Service Norman Forecast Office, which are co-located at the National Weather Center (NWC) in Norman, Oklahoma.^[2] The NWC houses a combination of University of Oklahoma, NOAA and state organizations that work in collaboration.