The tornadoes of the past week in Oklahoma made Oklahomans realize once again the importance of accurate and timely weather forecasting.
We might like to poke fun sometimes at TV meteorologists about their accuracy of when it might rain or snow, but leave no doubt, when it comes to tornadoes, it becomes a deadly serious business.
Congressman Frank Lucas told members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology there is still a growing need for the National Weather Service to continue to do better. He spoke at a full committee hearing that explored “The Future of Forecasting: Building a Weather-Ready Nation on All Fronts.”
While the congressman lauded the accomplishments of the Nation Weather Service (NWS), he also emphasized the need for continued forecast improvement, STEM workforce development, and private-industry data partnership.
“Despite the many successes of NWS, no government office is perfect, and challenges always remain,” said Rep. Lucas. “At the forefront of my mind is how NOAA and NWS can more efficiently utilize and engage in commercial data buys to improve our nations’ weather models.”
Lucas said as made evident by the National Blend of Models, U.S. weather models cannot achieve their full capabilities without support from the private weather enterprise.
“Another challenge we are facing is inspiring and training the next generation of STEM and meteorology students. Improving our models, data, and information won’t help us if there are no professionals to utilize them in the next decade.”