The federal government is spending another $15.3 million to improve climate projections of extreme weather. That’s to help communities in the Mountain West and beyond prepare for future disasters brought on by climate change.

The money, which comes from the Inflation Reduction Act, will address the rising demand by public and private sectors for reliable, long-term extreme weather forecasts.

A $5 million project is being co-led by Colorado State University, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), based in Boulder, the University of Miami, and Florida International University.

The team of researchers will forecast climate conditions 20 years or more into the future. The goal is to provide customized information so agencies and communities can plan and prepare for extreme weather events, such as coastal flooding, wildfires, and heat waves.

Stephen Yeager, a project scientist at NCAR, said their research will also answer important questions for Western cities and farmers, like, “What can water managers, particularly in the U.S. West, pin their planning on in terms of what the availability will be in our reservoirs and in our rivers, kind of decades into the future?”

Moreover, their data will help engineers plan and build resilient buildings and infrastructure, like bridges, roads and energy systems, Yeager said.

Another project receiving $4.2 million in federal funds is being led by the University of Colorado, Boulder. The project aims to predict climate conditions on a 30- to 50-year timeframe, and create online tools to help decision-makers plan for extreme weather.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.