Weather plane to provide more accurate forecasts

A National Weather Service aircraft – for the first time – will be on patrol over the Pacific Ocean gathering crucial weather data, according to U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA).

Over the next several months, the plane will provide detailed data unavailable through other means on storm systems developing far out in the Pacific Ocean.

The result will be more accurate long-term forecasts for winter storms that threaten Washington state.

Over most of the Pacific Ocean, weather satellites currently provide limited data on temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed, and direction. Information collected by the National Weather Service aircraft will fill in crucial gaps.

“It is critical that those of us who live in the path of potentially deadly Pacific storms have the best weather predictions possible,” Cantwell said. “Deploying this plane over the Pacific Ocean will improve forecasting of winter storms that have historically hit Washington state hard, enabling residents to be better prepared, and potentially saving lives.”

The data from the planes will go directly to global operational forecasting centers via satellite and feed into sophisticated computer forecast models. These computer model improvements will help predict approaching weather conditions three to six days in advance, and improve the accuracy of precipitation forecasts by as much as 15 percent.

Last month, Washington state received full funding for a new Doppler radar system for more accurate short-term forecasting, paid for by $7 million in the 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act, along with a $2 million down-payment previously secured by Cantwell.

The National Weather Service plans to have the system installed and fully operational sometime in 2012.

Cantwell is chair of the Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Subcommittee. In May of 2009, she released a study that found that a gap in coastal radar coverage makes it difficult for National Weather Service forecasters in Washington state to track large, dangerous storms.