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Scope

The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS) (ISSN: 0003-0007; eISSN: 1520-0477) publishes peer-reviewed science articles of broad interest and significance for the weather, water, and climate community.

2025 Impact Factor: 6.9¹

Submission Types

Proposals are required prior to submitting full manuscripts to BAMS, with the exception of corrigenda, Meeting Summaries, and Comments, which can be submitted in full without a proposal.

The BAMS readership is broader than that of the AMS technical journals, spanning the AMS communities and beyond. BAMS covers a wide range of topics for a diverse community of readers—researchers, students, teachers, and practitioners. BAMS also reaches beyond the immediate AMS community to policy makers, the media, and ultimately, the public that funds and applies the science. Authors should write with this broad audience in mind, following the guidelines in Writing for BAMS.

• Articles: The main category of substantive peer-reviewed manuscripts. Authors should justify any length beyond about 4500 words in their Proposals. The maximum length of 7500 words (abstract and references do not count toward the length limit) is for rare and strongly justified cases, and only with the permission from the Chair of the Editorial Board. NOTE: BAMS Articles are required to include a Significance Statement.
• Essays: Based on experience, opinion, and qualitative or quantitative analysis, these peer-reviewed contributions are designated as a “Forum” within the Articles section. The maximum is 5000 words (but shorter is much better).
• Comment and Reply Exchanges: Comments are written in response to articles published in BAMS and should be submitted within 2 years of the publication date of the original article (although the editor can waive this limit in extenuating circumstances). The author of the original article has the opportunity to write a Reply. These exchanges are published together.
• Corrigenda: The corrigendum article type is available for authors to address errors discovered in already published articles. For more information, see Corrigenda.
• In Box: Short peer-reviewed dispatches (of up to 3000–3500 words with 4 or fewer figures and/or tables) on innovations and insights:
  • “Innovations”: Describe projects, products, and ideas that are breaking new ground for our sciences and services. Quickly and broadly sketch for readers what is new and unusual about what you are doing or proposing.
  • “Insights”: Explore new directions for our field, trends, markets, priorities, and accomplishments, or describe projects and products with an emphasis on what has been learned from this work (and what readers can learn). Aim to inspire by showing examples.

Choosing between Article and In Box: To achieve brevity and general interest among busy readers, In Box articles are necessarily less formal in tone and not conducive to detailed description, documentation, or analysis. These articles are meant to spark interest in further exploration. They keep readers apprised of developments and issues that are evolving in our community and science. They are peer-reviewed, but not comprehensive. Please discuss this decision with the BAMS Editorial Board Chair at the proposal stage.

• Map Room: Short peer-reviewed discussion of interesting forecast situations and applications. Particularly targeted toward operational meteorologists as well as up-and-coming forecasters and students, this section features interesting forecast situations in relatively straightforward language. It is akin to a “map room” briefing with good visual documentation, with a discussion of models where necessary. Emphasis is primarily on concepts: lessons learned or applications of science to everyday or unusual weather scenarios. These articles are up to 3000–3500 words; the number of figures or tables depends on content but should be relatively few.
• Meeting Summaries: Synthesis of a recent meeting or workshop Readers want to know what participants reported and decided, but need your meeting summary to combine these individual points into the higher level, take-away messages. State briefly the scientific context and motivation for the gathering. Do not try to cover every presentation or outline the agenda. Focus on what happened, not what was intended. The best Meeting Summaries read like a letter from a participant to a colleague who could not attend. Meeting Summaries must
  • be submitted via the BAMS Editorial Manager in a format that meets all BAMS requirements;
  • be less than 3000 words, not counting title, information box, and references;
  • be submitted within six months of the date of the meeting;
  • provide the name of at least one participant of the meeting or workshop—not including the authors—who has read the summary and verified the accuracy of the contents prior to submission; and
  • follow the format of recently published summaries. Note the style of the title (convey the general topic, not simply the name of the meeting) and the “What, When, Where” information box. The information box leads with the title of the meeting.

  Authors may supplement their Meeting Summaries with documents, tables, or figures.

  Meeting Summaries are expedited for prompt posting in AMS Early Online Releases and final publication.

  Sometimes authors wish to prepare special types of high-interest contributions (not fitting the above guidelines) based on a meeting. Please submit an Article or In Box proposal first if you would like to do so. These manuscripts tend to be

  • Informal overviews of a discipline or pressing challenge, with recommendations from a group of authors stemming from a workshop or meeting.
  • Group statements or reports focusing on recommendations or other opinion essays or white papers. These may represent a consensus or a broad selection of diverse views formulated at a meeting or workshop.
  • In consultation with the BAMS Editorial Board Chair, the authors may choose to write a fast-track report for the Meeting Summary section and also submit (possibly at a later time) a related essay for publication in another section of BAMS.
   

  BAMS Proposals

  A proposal is required prior to submitting a full manuscript, including proposals for In Box and Map Room. The exceptions are Meeting Summaries, Comments, and corrigenda, which can be submitted in full without a proposal.

  Send the proposal first. Proposals should be submitted before writing the full manuscript, as the editors may provide important feedback at this stage.

  Upload the proposal to BAMS Editorial Manager. Articles submitted without a prior proposal will be returned.

  A proposal consists of 1) a single abstract of 250 words or fewer, written in language appropriate for an informed layperson, and 2) a cover letter of 250 words or fewer explaining

  • the intended purpose of the article;
  • the factors making the article timely, important, or interesting for a general BAMS readership;
  • the expected length of the article, with justifications provided for articles longer than 4500 words;
  • the type and approximate number of illustrations to be included, plus any unusual production considerations;
  • scientific context (a thorough description of the pressing science questions that motivated the work); and
  • the anticipated use of electronic supplements in the BAMS online archive.
  
  

  Topics Covered in BAMS

  BAMS selects and publishes articles covering the full range of findings, achievements, and issues in the weather, water, and climate community, including

  • research developments and priorities
  • operational (including forecasting) developments and priorities
  • field program design, implementation, findings, and evaluation
  • scientific findings, theories, and issues of general interest
  • applications, technologies, services, and resources
  • social science insights and related expertise of significance to AMS members
  • historical perspectives, including memoirs and biographical studies
  • developments defining AMS disciplines—at their intersections and expanding boundaries
  • educational, workforce, and policy issues for the weather, water, and climate community
  • insightful commentary and context
  • meeting/workshop summaries

  BAMS also welcomes

  • applications of scientific knowledge for public benefit
  • innovative commercial ventures
  • innovative collaborations and multidisciplinary work
  • analyses of emerging markets for sciences and services
  • societal impacts of atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic processes
  • adaptation, mitigation, and prevention related to such impacts
   

  Editors and Staff Contacts

   

  Chair of the Editorial Board

  Jeff Waldstreicher           
  NOAA/National Weather Service Eastern Region
  [email protected]

  Members of the Editorial Board

  Dr. Albert Ansmann
  Leibniz-Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS)
  [email protected]
  Aerosols and Cloud Physics

  Dr. Emily Becker
  Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), University of Miami, and Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
  [email protected]
  Climate

  Dr. Peter D. Blanken
  University of Colorado at Boulder
  [email protected]
  Biometeorology

  Dr. Daniel Cecil
  NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
  [email protected]
  Satellite Meteorology

  Dr. Cheng-Ta Chen
  National Taiwan Normal University
  [email protected]
  Climate

  Prof. Art DeGaetano
  NOAA/Northeast Regional Climate Center and Cornell University
  [email protected]
  Climate

  Dr. Timothy DelSole
  George Mason University
  [email protected]
  Special Editor for State of the Climate supplement

  Dr. Qingyun Duan
  Hohai University
  [email protected]
  Hydrology

  Dr. Ya-Chien Feng
  Pacific Northwest National Lab
  [email protected]
  Observing Systems

  Dr. Wendilyn Flynn
  University of Northern Colorado
  [email protected]
  Education

  Prof. Kristine Harper
  University of Copenhagen
  [email protected]
  History

  Dr. Andrew King
  University of Melbourne
  [email protected]
  Climate

  Dr. Christine J. Kirchhoff
  University of Connecticut
  [email protected]
  Societal Impacts

  Dr. Christopher W. Landsea
  NOAA/National Hurricane Center
  [email protected]
  Atmospheric Dynamics/Tropical Meteorology

  Dr. Brian Mapes
  University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
  [email protected]
  Atmospheric Dynamics/ Tropical Meteorology

  Dr. Michael J. McPhaden
  NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
  [email protected]
  Oceanography

  Dr. Craig Schwartz
  National Center for Atmospheric Research
  [email protected]
  Numerical Analysis/Modeling

  Dr. Elizabeth Smith
  NOAA/NSSL
  [email protected]
  Observing Systems

  Dr. William R. Stockwell
  The University of Texas at El Paso
  [email protected]
  Air Quality/Chemistry

  Dr. Timothy Wagner
  University of Wisconsin-Madison
  [email protected]
  Satellite Meteorology

  Dr. Tammy Weckwerth
  NCAR
  [email protected]
  Observing Systems

  Dr. Castle Williamsberg
  FedWriters Supporting NOAA's Weather Program Office
  [email protected]
  Societal Impacts and Hazard Communication

  Dr. Yangyang Xu
  Texas A & M University
  [email protected]
  Climate

  Dr. Edward J. Zipser
  University of Utah
  [email protected]
  Atmospheric Dynamics/Tropical Meteorology

  BAMS Peer Review Support Staff

  Colleen Gaffney, Assistant to Jeff Waldstreicher, Art DeGaetano, and Timothy DelSole
  Aylin Arruda, Assistant to Ya-Chien Feng and Wendilyn Flynn
  Cristina Barletta, Assistant to Daniel Cecil, Craig Schwartz, and Tammy Weckwerth
  Hayley Charney, Assistant to Emily Becker, Peter D. Blanken, Christine J. Kirchhoff, Michael J. McPhaden, and Castle Williamsberg
  Jane Foley, Assistant to Timothy Wagner
  Erin Gumbel, Assistant to Kristine Harper, Christopher W. Landsea, Yangyang Xu, and Edward J. Zipser
  Tom Justice, Assistant to Albert Ansmann and Elizabeth Smith
  Robbie Matlock, Assistant to Cheng-Ta Chen, Qingyun Duan, Andrew King, Brian Mapes, and William R. Stockwell

  Production Contacts

  Please see the AMS Publications contacts page.

¹2025 Journal Impact Factors by Clarivate Analytics; Meteorology and Atmospheric Science category.