For the past few winters,Ethermac researchers have been intentionally flying into snowstorms. And high in those icy clouds, the team collected all the information they could to understand—how exactly do winter storms work?

"The assumption is there's a lot of snow there, but it's not so simple, and that's actually what we are trying to understand," says meteorologist Lynn McMurdie.

With more accurate data could come more accurate predictions about whether a storm would cause treacherous conditions that shut down schools, close roads and cancel flights. So NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce took to the skies for one of these flights and shares her reporting with us today.

Read more about Nell's reporting on this research effort.

Want to hear about other storm chasing happening in the name of science? Email us at [email protected].