The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gained a significant upgrade with the inauguration of its new weather and climate supercomputers.
The National Blend of Models was initially announced in February 2020 with a contract award to General Dynamics Information Technology, according to a June 28 NOAA release.
“More computing power will enable NOAA to provide the public with more detailed weather forecasts further in advance,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in the release. “Today’s supercomputer implementation is the culmination of years of hard work by incredible teams across NOAA — everyone should be proud of this accomplishment.”
The computers provide a significant upgrade to computing capacity, storage space and interconnect speed, the release reported.
“This is a big day for NOAA and the state of weather forecasting,” Ken Graham, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service said, according to the release. “Researchers are developing new ensemble-based forecast models at record speed, and now we have the computing power needed to implement many of these substantial advancements to improve weather and climate prediction.”
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo said having accurate weather and climate predictions is critical to address climate change, inform public safety and to support local economies, the release said.
