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Models: The basic tools of the meteorologists
Posted by Jack Broom
No, weather forecasters don’t roll dice to predict the weather. They use hammers.
Taking advantage of this relative down time between significant weather systems, University of Washington meteorologist, author and blogger Cliff Mass discusses how forecasters use computer models and atmospheric data to develop their forecasts.
Computer models are the basic tools of the trade, and various models fit various conditions, says Mass “so a meteorologist is like a carpenter with a dozen or more hammers, each different, each better in some situations than others.”
Mass says the science of weather forecasting continually improving, but laments the fact that what he considers the best global forecast model is not American, but based in Europe.
UPDATE - 8:32 PM
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