How AI is changing weather forecasting... and what it could mean for Norfolk's firms |
WeatherQuest, a private weather forecasting and analysis company based at the University of East Anglia (UEA), said the rise of AI and machine learning will “change the face of weather forecasting over the next couple of decades”.
Chris Bell, a senior meteorologist at the company, now in its 25th year, said the AI era could prove to be another “step change in meteorology”, making forecasts more accurate than ever before.
Chris Bell, a senior meteorologist and chief communications officer at WeatherQuest (Image: Supplied)
“Some of the fastest supercomputers in the world are weather forecasting computers,” said Mr Bell, who is originally from Houston, Texas, moving from the States to join WeatherQuest in 2004.
He first came to the UK to study meteorology and climatology at the UEA as part of a study abroad programme while attending Louisiana State University as an undergraduate.
“The big forecasting agencies like the Met Office are now running AI models alongside their supercomputers," he added.
“They require a lot less power, and the forecast output is not significantly worse.
“In some cases, it even beats it.”
Jim Bacon, one of the founding directors of WeatherQuest, pictured when the company was first established in 2001 (Image: Supplied)
Unlike the Met Office, which provides weather forecasts to the public, WeatherQuest is a private company offering specialist weather services to businesses, including the region’s farmers, offshore wind farms and........