About the journal
Journal of Weather Changes
A peer-reviewed record of how the atmosphere behaves and how it changes — from a single storm to a shifting season, and from the instruments that measure it to the decisions that rest on it.
Weather is the part of the Earth system that everyone experiences directly and that remains among the hardest to describe precisely. It is produced by a thin, turbulent fluid responding to uneven heating, rotation and moisture, and it is observed through instruments and models that each carry their own assumptions.
The journal exists to give that work a scholarly home. It publishes research on atmospheric processes, on variability across time and space, on the observations and models used to represent it, and on the consequences that follow for environments, infrastructure and communities.
The journal
- Published by
- Open Access Pub
- ISSN
- 3070-3379
- Short code
- JWC
- Access
- Open access, CC BY 4.0
- Language
- English
The shape of the subject
Systems, evidence, consequences
Weather science runs on three questions that continually feed one another: how the atmosphere behaves, how that behavior is established, and what follows from it. The journal is organized around that structure rather than around a list of techniques, so a process study, an observing-system paper and an impacts analysis are read with the same seriousness.
01
Weather systems
Most of what is called weather is the behavior of a fluid at scales from a few minutes to a few weeks. Work here asks how systems form, organize and decay, and how energy, moisture and momentum move between the surface and the free atmosphere.
- Synoptic and mesoscale meteorology
- Boundary layer, turbulence and surface exchange
- Cloud microphysics and precipitation
- Radiation, aerosols and atmospheric composition
02
Evidence
A statement about the atmosphere is only as strong as the record and the model behind it. This is where weather is measured, reconstructed and predicted, and where a forecast system is tested against what actually happened.
- Observing systems and instrumentation
- Radar, satellite and other remote sensing
- Reanalysis, numerical prediction and data assimilation
- Ensembles, probabilistic forecasts and verification
03
Consequences
Weather reaches people through the places they live and the systems they depend on. Work here treats exposure, warning and impact as evidence about the atmosphere and its reach, reported with the same care as a process study.
- Storms, floods, drought, heat and wildfire weather
- Hydrology, water resources and agriculture
- Early warning, preparedness and adaptation
- Environmental, infrastructure and public-health effects
A distinction the journal keeps clear
Weather and climate
Weather is what the atmosphere does. Climate is the distribution that weather is drawn from.
The distinction matters, and so does the connection. A single storm is weather; a change in the frequency, intensity or seasonality of storms is climate. Research published here is free to work on either side of that line and, most usefully, across it.
What the journal asks for is a match between the claim and the evidence offered. A study of one event describes one event. A statement about a trend needs a record long enough to carry it, and a statement about attribution needs methods that support attribution. Holding to that standard is what lets weather and climate research sit together in one journal and keep the full force of both.
Readers and contributors
Who the journal is for
Atmospheric researchers
Scientists working on the dynamics, physics and composition of the atmosphere, who need a venue that will read a mechanism carefully.
Forecasting and observing services
Practitioners for whom instrument work, assimilation schemes and forecast verification are scholarly contributions in their own right.
Scientists in dependent fields
Researchers in hydrology, agriculture, ecology, energy, health and infrastructure whose questions begin with a weather variable.
Students and new researchers
Readers for whom a clearly reported method, a stated uncertainty and an honest limitation are as valuable as the headline result.
What the journal undertakes
Editorial responsibility
Peer review
Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts.
Decisions
Editorial decisions are based on scope, scientific quality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and relevance to the journal. They remain independent of fees, services, memberships, and editorial or reviewing roles.
Open access
Articles appear under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, and authors retain copyright.
Article processing charge
The charge is payable after acceptance and is set out on the journal's Article Processing Charges page.
The editors who carry this responsibility are listed on the Editorial Board page, and the full set of publishing policies on Editorial Policies.
Reading and taking part
Where to go next
Detailed subject coverage is set out on Aims and Scope. Published work is listed in the current issue and the archive, and author requirements on Instructions for Authors.
Manuscripts are welcome throughout the year from researchers working anywhere across the subjects described above.
Submission routes
Primary route
Alternative route
Assisted route
Authors must use only one submission route for the same manuscript.