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National Weather Service Upgrades Storm-Tracking Supercomputers

Posted by Soulskill on from the maybe-the-weatherman-will-stop-lying-to-me-now dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes "Just in time for hurricane season, the National Weather Service has finished upgrading the supercomputers it uses to track and model super-storms. 'These improvements are just the beginning and build on our previous success. They lay the foundation for further computing enhancements and more accurate forecast models that are within reach,' National Weather Service director Louis W. Uccellini wrote in a statement. The National Weather Service's 'Tide' supercomputer — along with its 'Gyre' backup — are capable of operating at a combined 213 teraflops. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which runs the Service, has asked for funding that would increase that supercomputing power even more, to 1,950 teraflops. The National Weather Service uses that hardware for projects such as the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model, a complex bit of forecasting that allows the organization to more accurately predict storms' intensity and movement. The HWRF can leverage real-time data taken from Doppler radar installed in the NOAA's P3 hurricane hunter aircraft."

3 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. Dupe? by wrp103 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This seems to be another dupe: http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/07/26/005230/noaa-goes-live-with-new-forecasting-supercomputers

  2. Anxiously awaited new feature... by ackthpt · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It'll extend a robotic arm out a window, palm upward and feel for drops of rain.

    Further enhancement will extend a wet digit out the window, digit pointed upward, to detect wind direction and velocity.

    it done be amazin'!

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Anxiously awaited new feature... by NoKaOi · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Spoken by somebody who has not experienced a severe storm. Just 2 days ago we had tropical storm Flossie hit us. The predictions saved *a lot* of damage and maybe lives. It gave time to inform fisherman of the coming ocean conditions. It gave time for first responders and utilities to prepare. It gave me time to secure my home. It turns out that in my area, it didn't last very long but had intense lightning/thunder that shook my house, followed by intense wind that shook my house, and heavy, horizontal rain. I only lost power for about an hour and half and water was unaffected, thanks to the preparations of our utility providers.

      Now that said, we didn't know exactly when it would hit or what areas would be affected how much. Were we to have had more precision, we could saved a lot of time and effort in the areas that it didn't hit while focusing on the areas that it did hit. So, while supercomputers are expensive, storm prediction saves more money than it costs [citation needed, I know I know]. If it had been a full on hurricane, then the more precise the prediction the more millions of dollars in damage (not to mention grief and potentially lives) it'll save.