From Short Fuse Warnings to Long Range Forecasts: The
Role of the Meteorologist in America's Weather Industry (257)
Marshall Moss, AccuWeather,
State College, PA
Daniel DePodwin, AccuWeather
Jonathan Porter, AccuWeather
Abstract:
As our understanding of the
atmosphere evolves and the computing resources to model the atmosphere become
more accurate, meteorologists are increasingly tasked with the communication of
weather events rather than the traditional role of the forecaster. The
significant advancement of Big Data and the Internet of Things are providing
data sources and data density never before seen. Even with these advances, the
human forecaster plays a critical and quickly-evolving role in the development
and issuance of weather forecasts. Meteorologists across America's Weather
Industry are part of an innovative forecast process that combines human
expertise with proprietary state-of-the-science data ingestion, processing, and
analysis methods. This combination allows Industry to serve users and customers
in various ways whether it be issuing &ldquojust-in-time&rdquo warnings
for severe weather, regularly targeting high-impact weather events, or
compiling seasonal predication products. At AccuWeather, this process has been
honed over the course of many decades. We continuously evolve to ensure accurate
forecasts that are provided to a variety of users such as governments,
businesses, and the general public are the most actionable, timely,
understandable, detailed, and in the correct format. Reaching billions of users
around the globe, AccuWeather and America's Weather Industry provide accurate,
localized, and impact-based forecasts that communicate weather information that
saves lives, protects property and helps people make decisions to improve their
lives. Over the last several years, there has been much discussion within the
weather community, and increasingly outside of it, about the future role of the
forecaster. The transformational role of the meteorologist will be discussed
along with how America's Weather Industry serves its users in innovative ways
across a range of forecast time scales.