Using AI to predict the weather

Using AI to predict the weather

Author: PNAS June 15, 2026 Duration: 13:40

Using AI to predict the weather

Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.

In this episode, researchers discuss advances in AI-enabled weather forecasting.

In this episode, we cover:
•[00:00] Introduction
•[01:12] Jeffrey Shrader explains what 48 expert forecasters had to say about how weather predictions might further improve through 2100, including the potential role of AI.
•[03:43] Ignacio Lopez-Gomez explains how he used generative AI to downscale large-scale earth system models into finer-scale regional climate projections.
•[05:35] Xiaofeng Li explains how he used a machine learning model to forecast whether tropical cyclones will rapidly intensify.
•[07:40] Hui Su explains what nowcasting is and how her deep diffusion model works.
•[09:52] Pedram Hassanzadeh explains what grey swans are and why they may be challenging for AI to predict.
•[10:47] Qiang Sun explains how he and his colleagues tested the ability of AI to predict gray swans.
•[12:28] Final thoughts and conclusion.

About Our Guests:
Jeffrey Shrader
Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs
Columbia University

Ignacio Lopez-Gomez
Research Scientist
Google

Xiaofeng Li
Research Scientist
Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Hui Su
Chair Professor
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Pedram Hassanzadeh
Associate Professor
University of Chicago

Qiang Sun
Research Scientist
University of Chicago

View related content here:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2523372123
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2420288122
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2415501122
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2517520122
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2420914122

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Tune into PNAS Science Sessions for a direct line to the people shaping modern science. Produced by PNAS, this podcast offers more than just summaries of published research; it’s where you hear the candid, often personal stories behind the headlines. Each episode features concise conversations with the researchers themselves-from emerging voices to established Academy members-alongside the policymakers whose decisions are informed by this work. You’ll get a genuine sense of the questions that drive these experts, the unexpected hurdles they face in their labs and field studies, and why their findings matter right now. The scope is deliberately wide, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of science itself, covering discoveries that range from microscopic processes to planetary-scale phenomena. This isn't about dry lectures, but about capturing the human endeavor of investigation. For anyone curious about how science actually unfolds and wants to understand the context of breakthroughs as they happen, this podcast serves as an essential, engaging resource. It connects the dots between a published paper in a prestigious journal and the real-world implications that ripple out from it.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

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