Weather in the tropics is decidedly different than it is in the middle latitudes. It turns out, so are the weather systems – the factors that create things like the daily temperature and humidity! Historically, most weather forecasting models have been based on data from high-income countries in the northern hemisphere. But different factors drive weather and climate near the equator – meaning that these weather forecast models are much less accurate at predicting weather in the tropics. This has implications for storm readiness, flooding preparedness and more. Atmospheric scientist <a href="https://www.macfound.org/videos/2025-macarthur-fellow-adames-corraliza"target="_blank" >Ángel F. Adames-Corraliza</a> is aiming to change that. His research focuses on how water vapor – humidity – plays a key role in tropical weather systems. It’s earned him a spot as one of this year’s Macarthur Fellows.  Interested in more science about how weather happens? Email us your question at <a href="mailto:shortwave@npr.org"target="_blank" >shortwave@npr.org</a>.Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/shortwave"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org/shortwave</a>. Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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Why The Tropics Have A Weather Forecasting Problem

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