The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) began as a consortium of research institutions with PhD programs in the atmospheric
and related sciences. The UCAR first met in 1959, and, after it had been incorporated, Boulder, Colorado was unanimously approved by the
UCAR Board of Trustees as the site of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (the first office opened in June 1960). The famed
architect I.M. Pei designed NCAR's Mesa Laboratory in southwest Boulder. Mesa Laboratory, the construction of which was completed in 1966
and funded by the National Science Foundation, is set against the famous Flatirons and overlooks the city.
Contrary to popular belief, NCAR is not a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), nor of NOAA's National
Weather Service or any other federal agency. NCAR does not issue public weather forecasts, but it works closely with federal agencies and
uses computer models to make projections of future weather and climate patterns.
