1. Computers and Weather
Michael Drews

2. History of Data Collection
Barometer (1643)
Weather balloons (1896)
Weather buoys (1951)
Doppler Radar (1940s)
Satellites ( TIROS1)

3. History of Forecasting
First forecasting calculations were done by hand (1922)
Lewis Fry Richardson
ENIAC computer performs first forecast (1950)
US National Meteorological Center develops atmosphere model (1966)
Increased computing power increases accuracy
Nowcasting
Supercomputers
Very positive effects on society!! Saving lives by predicting severe weather, and allowing people to plan ahead

4. Societal Problems Society depends heavily on forecasts
Incorrect predictions
Sunday golfing
Severe weather forecasts not taken seriously
Hurricane Katrina
Society’s susceptibility to severe weather
Power outages, structural damage
Transportation issues
society gets angry when forecasts are wrong, people make plans according to forecasts; people are uneasy with unpredictability, they want to know things for certain.

5. Solutions? LOTS of data -> Machine Learning
Powerful algorithms for pattern recognition
Distributed/Cloud computing

6. Sources https://eo.ucar.edu/basics/wx_4.html