Illinois Department of Climate, Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

22/10/2026

Yesterday, Liberal Arts & Sciences at Illinois announced that CliMAS professor Kelvin Droegemeier has been selected to give the 2027 Dean's Distinguished Lecture.

His talk, titled “The American Research and Education Enterprise: Changes, Challenges, Opportunities, and Unknowns,” will be at 4 p.m. on March 11 at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center.

Congratulations, Kelvin!

10/10/2026

We’re watching the remnants of Hurricane Isaias skirt by the area - expect only some cloudiness this afternoon (Saturday, 10/10)

08/10/2026

29/09/2026

Have you considered advancing your skills through advanced education such as a graduate-level certificate or master's degree in the Weather and Climate Risk fields? There are opportunities for you! Atmospheric Scientists/Meteorologists jobs are projected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to grow about 3% from 2025 to 2035 while Environmental Scientists & Specialists have a projected 6% growth through 2033, driven by a greater focus on climate risk assessments and adaptation planning (~7,000 annual openings). Contact us to learn more about how you can advance in this ever-growing field! http://atmosonline.illinois.edu

23/09/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Hailong Wang (PhD 2007) for receiving the Ascent mid-career award from the American Geophysical Union. Hailong is an Earth Scientist at PNNL, studying atmospheric aerosols, cloud physics and dynamics, aerosol-cloud-precipitation-climate interactions, light-absorbing impurities in snowpack and sea ice, radiative feedbacks, and high-latitude climate change and its associated impacts.

10/09/2026

🌊 The strongest El Niño on record may be only weeks away. Ecuador is on the front line, and CliMAS is on it.

Sea-surface temperatures along the Ecuadorian coast are already running more than 4°C above normal, and the WMO expects a very strong event peaking between November and January. For coastal Ecuador, that means an elevated risk of extreme rainfall, flooding, and landslides through early 2027.

We’re putting CliMAS faculty expertise to work with partners in Guayas Province, Ecuador to reduce risk and build resilience, drawing on three areas where our department is uniquely strong:

⛰️ Extreme rainfall-producing orographic convection: how the Andes shape the storms that flood the coastal region
💧 Hydrometeorology: turning rainfall into runoff, flood, sea-level, and water-security forecasts
🗣️ Societal impacts: risk communication and community preparedness that reach the people who need it

The project is led by Profs. Stephen Nesbitt, Francina Dominguez, and Joseph Trujillo-Falcón, and will involve postdocs and graduate students from CliMAS and the Department of Communication (Communication @ Illinois), with support from the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies (Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies(CLACS)).

🇪🇨 El Niño más fuerte jamás registrado podría estar a semanas de distancia, y Ecuador está en primera línea. CliMAS trabaja con socios ecuatorianos para reducir el riesgo y fortalecer la resiliencia ante lluvias extremas e inundaciones.

08/09/2026

🌡️ 2026 is unlike anything we’ve seen since satellites started watching the Pacific.

One way of measuring the El Niño Southern Oscillation — just hit +2.9°C above normal — the highest ever recorded for this date in 44 years of satellite records. And El Niño usually keeps strengthening all the way into January. 👀

Swipe through to see:
1️⃣ How 2026 stacks up against every major El Niño since 1982
2️⃣ Recent sea-surface temperature anomaly showing warming in the East Pacific, live from satellites
3️⃣ What events this strong have historically cost — from Ecuador’s coastline to Indonesia’s forests

Oh, and while the Pacific is roaring, the Atlantic has gone eerily quiet: just 5 named storms and zero hurricanes so far — the slowest start to hurricane season in 60+ years. Same phenomenon, opposite ocean. 🌀🚫

We’ll be tracking this one all winter.

05/09/2026

We had a blast hosting On Air from the National Air and Space Museum - and let them know about all things meteorology!

30/08/2026

CliMAS and the Illinois 3D Mesonet participated in the National Weather Service Lincoln-Illinois Office’s 2026 Open House, where hundreds of visitors learned about our department and its impact on Illinois. Here, Assoc. Prof. Deanna Hence talks to families about weather forecasting.

📸 Landon Moeller

25/08/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Alicia Klees, who was recognized this evening by the College of LAS for her promotion to teaching associate professor