I hadn't had time to follow up on this.
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I hadn't had time to follow up on this. We used to be able to say that if a tornado hit without warning, it was a pretty good chance that you just weren't paying attention.
But a localized tornado outbreak south of the Kansas City metro on Monday evening was not captured in severe weather outlooks issued earlier in the day. And while the NWS ultimately issued a tornado watch once they realized what was happening, it happened suddenly enough to catch people by surprise.
'We are missing data': NWS weather balloon changes scrutinized as tornados hit Midwest
Five tornadoes hit the Kansas City area Monday night. Did a change in National Weather Service balloon launches leave forecasters in the dark about the threat for much of the day?
NBC News (www.nbcnews.com)
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I hadn't had time to follow up on this. We used to be able to say that if a tornado hit without warning, it was a pretty good chance that you just weren't paying attention.
But a localized tornado outbreak south of the Kansas City metro on Monday evening was not captured in severe weather outlooks issued earlier in the day. And while the NWS ultimately issued a tornado watch once they realized what was happening, it happened suddenly enough to catch people by surprise.
'We are missing data': NWS weather balloon changes scrutinized as tornados hit Midwest
Five tornadoes hit the Kansas City area Monday night. Did a change in National Weather Service balloon launches leave forecasters in the dark about the threat for much of the day?
NBC News (www.nbcnews.com)
There are other similar events that have happened over the past year, and I've noted a sharp drop in forecast quality and accuracy where I need it the most to perform my job duties.
The culprit here appears to be rooted in balloon launches that have been shifted, delayed, or eliminated, reducing input data that supports numerical weather models and provides critical observational data for meteorologists to review. It's a key broken chain in a system that was once the envy of the world.
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There are other similar events that have happened over the past year, and I've noted a sharp drop in forecast quality and accuracy where I need it the most to perform my job duties.
The culprit here appears to be rooted in balloon launches that have been shifted, delayed, or eliminated, reducing input data that supports numerical weather models and provides critical observational data for meteorologists to review. It's a key broken chain in a system that was once the envy of the world.
@paulknightly Nailed it
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There are other similar events that have happened over the past year, and I've noted a sharp drop in forecast quality and accuracy where I need it the most to perform my job duties.
The culprit here appears to be rooted in balloon launches that have been shifted, delayed, or eliminated, reducing input data that supports numerical weather models and provides critical observational data for meteorologists to review. It's a key broken chain in a system that was once the envy of the world.
@paulknightly I'm no meteorologist and I don't live in Kansas, but Pittsburgh (!!) is getting *way* more funnel touchdowns and severe storms and I've anecdotally noticed that they're spooling up faster or perhaps appearing more suddenly (without warning, no sirens). I got caught in one two summers ago and was like "where did this come from??" I signed up for all the alert systems I could find, but if they're messing with balloon launches...
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@paulknightly I'm no meteorologist and I don't live in Kansas, but Pittsburgh (!!) is getting *way* more funnel touchdowns and severe storms and I've anecdotally noticed that they're spooling up faster or perhaps appearing more suddenly (without warning, no sirens). I got caught in one two summers ago and was like "where did this come from??" I signed up for all the alert systems I could find, but if they're messing with balloon launches...
@paulknightly I used to work for NCAR doing climate research (aerosol stuff not weather per se) and I'm still horrified that they're breaking it up.
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