EAPS faculty and students use observations and numerical modeling to better understand the physics, predictability and impacts of extreme weather systems, including thunderstorms, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones, and their variability within the climate system.
Atmospheric and Climate Sciences
Extreme Weather
Climate Dynamics
The fundamental physics and processes of the regional and large-scale climate system and its variability (such as monsoons, El Niño, and the jet stream), and intraseasonal variability are topics of research by our faculty and students.
Surface-ATMS Interactions
Select EAPS faculty and students study the exchange of energy and matter between the atmosphere and the Earth’s surface, including sea, land, and vegetation.
Atmospheric Science News
Purdue launches weather balloons for the National Weather Service
07-30-2026
WLFI — Every day, worldwide, nearly two thousand weather balloons are launched from weather service stations. Here at home, Purdue University launches weather balloons ahead of severe weather, just like they did on Monday. Professor Robin Tanamachi was interviewed for this story.
Dinosaur-killing asteroid also created a dust cloud that insulated Earth, ‘charbroiling’ Cretaceous creatures
07-29-2026
Planetary scientists Brandon Johnson and Alexandria Johnson studied the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago, killing most of the dinosaurs. They discovered the impact swathed the planet in an insulating dust cloud that caused planetwide spontaneous combustion, atmospheric contamination and population collapse in any species that couldn’t take shelter.
Atlantic 'cold blob' is responsible for shifts in the Indian summer monsoon that threaten over 1 billion people
10-10-2025
LiveScience — An abnormally cold patch of water in the North Atlantic Ocean has triggered changes in the Indian summer monsoon via the jet stream winds, new research suggests. This is new research co-authored by Purdue EAPS professor Matthew Huber and covered by LiveScience.
Imagination Station teaching families about disaster and emergency preparedness up close
05-27-2026
Imagination Station is helping kids and their families explore the world of disaster and emergency preparedness. The free event will showcase all kinds of different emergency response and preparedness groups. EAPS's Robin Tanamachi was interviewed for this news article.
When the atmosphere gets stuck, extreme weather can follow
05-18-2026
EAPS Purdue researcher helps lead international call to improve how scientists understand atmospheric blocking and its role in heat waves, droughts, floods and cold spells.